Top 10 things to look for when hiring an internal SEO

Deciding to hire an SEO firm or creating an internal department can be a tough decision. There are a lot of so called SEO Experts out in the field. Yesterday I listened to a pod cast from Shoe Money, http://www.shoemoney.com/2006/09/13/6-tips-to-having-a-successful-website/. I heard a caller on the show state that he has been doing SEO for 10-15 years. Inktomi, the first real search engine did not even start 15 years ago.

Here are a few tips for selecting talent for your own internal SEO department, I currently run an SEO department for a multi billion dollar a year firm.

1). Tame your HR department:

The common resume processing tools, used today by large companies, will destroy any real chance of finding a decent candidate. Make sure you see all resumes.

2). DO NOT combine SEO as a web designer/developer position:

Sorry web guys, but I have YET to meet one web designer that knows SEO. A talented web designer cannot do his or her own SEO, they will botch it up. I have seen 100’s of job postings for engineers and web designers who know SEO, this market is far too new to be doing this.

3). DO NOT combine an SEO and an SEM position together:

SEM is a full time job and will take a lot of time and concentration. Either your Free Traffic will suffer or you will become upside down on SEM spends.

4). SEO is a tactical position not a strategy position:

If you can only hire one person, make sure they are tactical, rather than a strategist. Strategists do not get things done they just talk about it. If you hire a strategist make sure they come after the Tactical leader and support the leader. This should also be done after you hire a link building position.

5). Forums:

Make sure your SEO person spends time on blogs and forums, possibly 50% of their time. Keep them on the leading edge. If they don’t know what’s going on you will suffer.

6). Backbone:

Make sure your SEO person has a backbone; do not hire someone that is not assertive. They need to be able to control your business and get things done. They also need to be able to train your engineers and fight for change to code. This is not a job for the quiet engineering types.

7). Social:

This fall directly in line with having a backbone, make sure you give them enough of a budget to attend SEO trade shows. Especially the Webmaster World Pubcon, your new SEO person will need to network like crazy. Without solid relationships with other webmasters, they will suffer.

8). HTML Knowledge:

Your SEO person will need to be able to understand HTML at a very detailed level, if they cannot quickly look at source code and determine issues. They will have a hard time moving the needle.

9). Out of the box:

This person will need to be able to think out of the box, especially if you have a very large website. Don’t be afraid to put money in to concepts that my not have a direct return on investment. SEO is not a spend a dollar and get a dollar fifty back concept. A good SEO plan consists of several concepts combined. I like to call it the soup pot strategy. If you only put the chick stock in the pot, and boil it, you will only get chicken stock back.

10). Psycho execs:

If you are a psycho executive, meaning you freak out every time a ranking moves one or 2 positions down. Do not hire an SEO, give up on the web and go back to pen and paper. You will cause your SEO person to kill themselves only to add a $1 to your bottom line. SEO takes time and is not something that you can ramp up in 2 days.