News SEO specialist for established local news publisher

We are seeking an experienced News SEO / Publisher SEO specialist to carry out a detailed audit and provide an action plan for an established local news website.

Historically, the website has been the dominant source appearing for local news searches within its coverage area, regularly featuring in Google News, Top Stories and at the top of search results for key local news queries.

Following recent Google algorithm changes, the website has lost prominence as a recognised news source and is no longer being surfaced as prominently for these searches.

The primary objective of this project is:

Restore the website's position as a recognised source within Google News.

Regain top visibility for core local news search terms.

Improve visibility in Google News and Top Stories.

Identify any technical, structural, authority, E-E-A-T, publisher or News SEO issues that may be limiting performance.

Provide a clear implementation plan to strengthen publisher signals and restore visibility.

Areas to review include:

Google News optimisation

News sitemap configuration

Site architecture

Category and tag structure

Internal linking strategy

Author and publisher signals

E-E-A-T signals

Structured data

Search Console analysis

Competitor analysis

Publisher authority signals

Requirements:

Proven experience working with news publishers, newspapers, magazines or digital media companies.

Strong understanding of Google News, Top Stories and publisher SEO.

Experience helping publishers recover or improve visibility following Google updates.

Ability to provide evidence-based recommendations and implementation guidance.

Please provide:

Examples of publisher or media websites you have worked on.

Details of any Google News or publisher SEO projects.

A brief outline of how you would approach this project.

This is not a link-building project. We are specifically looking for a specialist with proven experience in News SEO, Google News and publisher visibility.