Role design and job descriptions for SEO agencies: clear remits for analysts, writers and outreach staff
Without written roles, SEO agency work slides toward whoever answers fastest. Analysts end up writing, writers end up fixing pages and nobody can say what a senior analyst is meant to do.
Not sure what you need? Tell us about your business in six short steps and we will come to the first meeting prepared.
Share your requirementsWhy role design and job descriptions matters in SEO agencies
Most small SEO agencies grow by adding hands when a client signs. The first analyst did everything, and the next hires inherited a blur. A writer may be asked to chase links one week and fix title tags the next. Titles such as senior and lead are given but mean different things to different people.
Clear role pages help hiring, reviews and handovers. They say what the role owns, what it passes to others and how a person moves up. This is especially useful when accounts are shared across a technical analyst, a content writer and an outreach specialist.
How to set it up
1. List the real work first
Spend a week noting what each person actually does across an account cycle, from audit to report, before writing anything.
2. Draw the lines between roles
For each task name the owner and the person who checks it. Pay special attention to reporting, content approval and client calls.
3. Write one page per role
Purpose, regular tasks, what good looks like and the skills needed. Keep plain words, and avoid lists of tools that change each year.
4. Define the step up
Say what a senior analyst or lead writer does that others do not, such as running audits alone or coaching juniors. Link it to performance review.
5. Use the pages in hiring and handover
Share the page with candidates and with anyone taking over an account, then fix gaps you see.
Check these first
Before changing anything, find out what is true today. These take an afternoon and use your own records.
- Ask three people what they believe their top task is and compare answers.
- List tasks that have no clear owner, such as the monthly narrative or checking a published page.
- Check whether juniors know what they must do to move up.
- Look at your last job post and see whether it matches what the person now does.
GullyHR can do this with you. Read how we approach role design and job descriptions in general, or share your requirements and we will tell you where to start.
Questions owners ask
Yes, though they can be short. One page per role takes little time and prevents repeated arguments about who does what, especially after the third or fourth hire.
Detailed enough to separate roles and set expectations, usually one page. Avoid long tool lists, which date quickly. Focus on outcomes, skills and decisions the person owns.
The team lead drafts, the people doing the work review, and the owner signs off. A draft written alone often misses the real tasks.