Senior SEO Content Writer (Part-Time Contractor)

Why join us

Trail Digital is a small Cape Town consultancy of three: founder, content developer and web designer.

We work across SEO, content, video, and a little paid media for a portfolio of clients we actually care about. Our philosophy is simple: good work for a few, not average work for many.

The content workload has grown to the point where we need a fourth person. That's where you come

in.

Being small is the advantage. No layers, no approval chains, fewer meetings and more doing. Good work gets noticed immediately, and the person deciding whether your hours grow is the same person reading your drafts.

The deal

• Start at 40 hours per month (R12,000)
• Clear path to 80 hours per month (R24,000) as trust and workload build
• R300 per hour throughout
• Happy to pay slightly more if you're an outreach king or queen.

The energy we're looking for

Senior enough to run without hand-holding. Humble enough to take feedback, because feedback on your work is part of the process here, not a criticism of you. You own your mistakes and fix them fast.

You're fluent with AI and you're honest about it. You use Claude for first drafts, then apply real editorial judgment to make the work accurate, on-brief and genuinely good. If your process is "prompt, paste, send," this isn't for you.

What you'll do

Every day looks a bit different, but the core of the role:

• Write articles, landing pages, metadata, H1s, internal links and other on-page SEO elements
• Help formulate content and landing page strategy that answers commercial queries and questions
• Connect content decisions to business goals: this is content that has to perform, not just publish
• Bonus points if you've done digital PR, including outreach and data-driven pieces

How long things take

So we're aligned on pace from day one, this is the benchmark for a senior AI-assisted workflow:

• 1,000-word blog article: 3 hours
• Landing page based on template for copy: 2-3 hours

That includes research, drafting, editing and SEO elements.

If these numbers feel impossible, this probably isn't the right fit.

What success looks like

Content that ranks, gets cited and converts. Clients who trust your drafts. Deadlines that don't need chasing. Within a few months, you should be someone we hand a brief to and stop worrying about.

A day in the role

We hand you a task and you run with it. Pick up the brief in ActiveCollab, check the keyword and SERP data, draft with Claude, edit properly, and deliver a piece that answers the commercial query better than anything else on page one. Feedback comes through ActiveCollab, Slack is for quick messages. Apply the feedback, done.

You'll thrive here if you know

• Google Workspace
• Claude
• Project management tools (we use ActiveCollab)
• SEO software (SE Ranking a bonus)
• How content drives business results

Working setup

Remote. Cape Town only, or willing to drive to Cape Town, as we meet or work together in person from time to time. You'll need to be responsive on Slack during agreed working hours.

How to apply

Email the following to Sign in to view email:

1. Your CV
2. Two or three relevant samples
3. One paragraph describing your AI writing workflow
4. Contact details for two references from previous bosses or clients.

Shortlisted candidates will complete a paid test brief: a real article for a real client, paid at R1,000.