SEOs

Where to find good SEOs (as employees)

[sweetjuke]

My firm is looking to hire one (or more) full-time (onsite)SEO specialists in the next month or two. Is there a definitive source for this type of job posting? All the general job posting boards show positions or qualified applicants for webmasters and programmers, but nothing specific and I have a feeling that not many can truly call themselves Search engine optimization specialists - any advice is welcome.

Sweetjuke

[redzone]

Qualified SEO specialists are hard to find. Those of us that have been in the game awhile, have our own businesses and clients.

Your best bet is to find someone that is willing to work with your company on a consulting basis.

Many of us have worked hard to build our own technology and techniques to obtain prominent rankings. Our work is protected on our own servers.

But, many would possibly be interested in helping your company set up an SEO marketing plan.

The problem you run into is:

(1) Your company most likely can't afford one of the top SEO individuals out there, to dedicate their efforts for just your company, working on-site.

(2) Do you really want to trust your SEO effort to an individual that fits your company's budget, but doesn't deliver? Especially, when results can't be gauged for up to 3-6 months?

I sympathize with your situation, but that's the bare facts.. A top notch SEO individual is most likely grossing over 100K annually in the US. Most are doing much better. I keep in touch with several in the business, but we never discuss revenues, so I can't verify that number I threw out.

Again, there are possibly some SEO specialists that may work on a consulting basis, with an hourly/project rate, and maybe bonuses based on increased traffic levels, corresponding to their efforts. That would be an option to investigate.

We are a unique breed, and rarely fit into a corporate environment structure.

[DaveAtIFG]

sweetjuke - Welcome to WmW! You may want to add an email address to your User Profile so people visiting here and interested in a consulting arrangement could contact you, if you choose to explore this option.

[ritualcoffee]

okay hold it - I am an onsite SEO for my company. The hard part is finding a qualified SEO but it is a great idea to bring them on full-time. I can now use all my time promoting one site, one message, and one brand name. I work with all the internal departments and I am proud to be a part of the company. I think that having a vested interest in the company helps. I didn't know a thing about SEO when I was brought on board - I taught myself everything (too a degree, I was already a content developer). Don't rule out bringing someone on -consultants are not always the way to go.

As for the listings - suggest a new job category - I've seen many people asking questions about where to look for SEO jobs because they can't find the title on tech job sites.

Good Luck!

[Marshall Clark]

RitualCoffee
"suggest a new job category - I've seen many people asking questions about where to look for SEO jobs because they can't find the title on tech job sites."

Great idea - I've been trying to locate SEO job listings on the major job boards and haven't come across many. Where are all the contract job positions for an experienced SEO independent contractor lately? :)

[littleman]

Hello Marshall,
Welcome over here...
And it is another familiar voice. It's good to see you.

[Marshall Clark]

thanks littleman - glad to have finally found this place. I feel like I just stumbled into the hallowed halls of SEO-dom. :)

[drbill]

I have to agree with RedZone. I personally would never fit into a company I like working for myself Also I have bad work habits :) Sleep all day (most of the day) and work all night.

Marshall has a point about there being no listings on the net for SEO positions. Nevr thought of that before. New Ideas coming to me..

[Mike_Mackin]

>Sleep all day (most of the day) and work all night.

What's bad about that? ;)

[littleman]

I've done both. I have to say that the stability of a paycheck is nice.

[Marshall Clark]

drbill,
"Nevr thought of that before. New Ideas coming to me.. "
an SEO jobs forum maybe....?

what do ya think Brett? :)

[redzone]

The point I was making was that a "single" company isn't going to fork out the dollars, that most experienced SEO's can generate representing multiple clients.

I've looked into doing some specialized consulting, in addition to representation of existing clients, but usually work that on a percentage of incremental profits from my efforts...