Expert B2B SEO Specialist (Technical Fixes + Ongoing Strategic Growth)

Project Overview: We are a B2B supplier of STEM, science, and robotics equipment to schools across South Africa (www.bmseducation.com, built on WooCommerce). We recently completed a site overhaul, including basic speed optimizations (WP Rocket, Cloudflare) and UX improvements. However, the site is still slow and clunky. Furthermore, while we have an automated AI blog workflow handling our content creation, we need a seasoned SEO professional to fix our technical foundation and drive our national authority.

This project is divided into two strict phases. You must leverage AI and efficient tool stacks to keep costs competitive. National South African SEO is the priority.

Tool Stack & Initial Data: You must hold your own active licenses for premium SEO tools (e.g., Ahrefs, SEMrush). We will provide our foundational list of 20 target keywords/URLs immediately upon hire.

Phase 1: Foundational Technical & Speed SEO (Once-Off Project) We need the foundation of the site to be completely error-free, lightning-fast, and optimized for maximum search visibility.
Advanced Speed Optimization: Basic caching is done, but the site is still slow. You must identify and fix the underlying server-side, database, or code-bloat issues causing this.
Deep Technical Audit: Identify and fix any crawl errors, 404s, or indexation issues in Google Search Console.
Deliverable for Phase 1: Before we award this phase, you must provide a comprehensive, itemized list of every foundational fix you intend to execute and the total number of items to be resolved. We will review this list before proceeding.
Verification (How you get paid): Milestone 1 will only be released when the agreed-upon itemized list is completed, Google Search Console shows zero critical indexation errors, and the site passes Google PageSpeed Insights (Mobile & Desktop).

Phase 2: Ongoing National Authority & SA Educator Search Mapping (Monthly Retainer) Once the foundation is solid, we require a flat monthly retainer for ongoing Off-Page SEO and strategic keyword expansion driven entirely by local data.
The SA Educator Search Map: You must use professional tools (Ahrefs, SEMrush) to pull a complete, data-driven master list of exactly what South African educators, HODs, and school procurement officers are actively searching for. We have a preliminary Top-20 list, but you must expand this into a comprehensive map of high-intent B2B searches for our market.
Actionable Execution: Once we approve your master list, you must execute whatever is required—specifically high-quality Backlink Outreach and internal linking strategies—to get bmseducation.com ranking on Page 1 for those exact searches.
Verification (How you get paid): This phase will be paid via Freelancer Escrow on a month-to-month basis. Monthly funds will strictly only be released upon delivery of a verifiable Backlink Report (showing live URLs and Domain Authority) and a Keyword Ranking Movement report proving we are climbing the ranks for the terms on the approved SA Educator Search Map.
How to Apply: Please read this brief carefully. In your proposal, you MUST provide:
Your flat-rate quote for Phase 1 (Foundational Fixes).
Your flat monthly retainer quote for Phase 2 (Ongoing Authority/Backlinks).
A brief explanation of how you will approach the advanced speed optimization, given that basic caching is already implemented.
An explanation of your research process for expanding our keyword targets beyond our initial ideas.