30-second summary:
- Business leaders struggle to hire SEO managers, and often wonder if they need one
- SEO visibility is key to business success and is hard to increase your customer base and sales
- SEO is a great contributor to brand growth and essentially needs the right mindset
- This is a checklist to help you hire the right fit for your business
If you’re looking to improve your website’s search engine ranking, you may be wondering how to go about hiring an SEO manager. It can be a daunting task, but with the right information, it can be more straightforward than you think.
In this article, we will discuss some of the things you should consider when hiring an SEO manager. We’ll also provide some tips on how to make sure your team works well together and gets the most out of your SEO manager.
Why hire an SEO manager?
Without an SEO manager, it’s often difficult to know where to start when it comes to improving your website’s search engine visibility. And without valuable organic traffic, it’s hard to increase your customer base and sales. SEO can be a big contributor to brand growth.
An SEO manager can help you identify the best strategies for improving your website’s search presence. They will also be able to monitor overall performance, spot potential improvement opportunities, and create effective tactics to get the best results from your website’s content.
This includes conducting keyword research and creating SEO content, optimizing existing website pages, analyzing traffic sources, managing link-building campaigns, monitoring search engine performance, and regularly reporting on the progress of organic traffic. An SEO manager will ensure that your business sees SEO progress much more quickly.
What responsibilities does an SEO manager have?
The primary responsibility of an SEO manager is to ensure that your website ranks as high as possible in search engine results (not just Google, but Bing, and Amazon too).
If you’re not on the first page of Google for your most important keywords, you’re missing huge sales opportunities. This is particularly true for ecommerce SEO, where a poorly-performing website and SEO strategy can literally be the difference between a thriving business and bankruptcy.
It is crucial to hire an SEO manager who understands all aspects of SEO, including technical SEO, content-related tasks, analytics tracking, website performance, and link building.
They should have the ability to assess the current health of a website, developing plans to improve ranking in organic search results. The successful candidate should also be able to track and analyze performance metrics, such as click-through rates, conversion rates, and bounce rates.
What characteristics make a good SEO manager?
When looking for an SEO manager, you’ll want to find someone who is knowledgeable in the field, has good communication skills, is a self-starter, and can work independently.
Personality traits are key too. The person should be creative, persistent, and have a passion for problem-solving. They should also have good organizational skills and the ability to prioritize tasks.
It is important that the SEO manager you hire is a team player, and can take direction from upper management. Having the ability to build relationships with stakeholders and clients is also essential.
The importance of project management
Project management skills are essential for an SEO manager as they will need to coordinate activities between multiple teams and departments, manage timelines and budgets, and report on project progress.
Without good project management skills, an SEO manager will struggle to get results and could cause delays in achieving desired outcomes.
How can you ensure that your team gels well?
The key to creating a successful SEO team is finding people with complementary skills who work well together. This involves looking for individuals who have experience in different aspects of digital marketing, such as content writing, web design, and analytics.
You don’t want to hire a team of people who are all experts in the same field, as this will limit your team’s ability to think creatively and come up with innovative ideas.
It is also important to ensure that your SEO manager has good interpersonal skills. Having an open-door policy where everyone can easily communicate with each other is essential. This will help build trust between team members and ensure everyone is on the same page.
Having an open dialogue between all team members will also be crucial. This will ensure their feedback and input on how best to optimize the content or improve strategies.
Ideas for welcoming and onboarding your new hire
This could include creating an onboarding checklist, setting up regular meetings, assigning tasks to the team members, and scheduling time for team-building activities. Do make sure your SEO manager has face time with key leads from across the business to get a strong understanding of the business and its needs. This pays off in the long run.
Hiring in-house vs SEO outsourcing
When it comes to deciding if you should hire an in-house SEO manager, outsource the work to an SEO agency, or simply get a freelancer – you need to gauge the pros and cons.
Hiring in-house may be more expensive but can provide a greater level of control and allows for closer collaboration with the team. You totally own your processes and have granular input on everything.
On the other hand, outsourcing to an agency or freelance professional may be more cost-effective and can provide specialized skills that are not available in-house. Many SEO providers will offer types of monthly SEO packages, which make costs predictable and controllable. And depending on the terms of a contract, you likely have the freedom to cancel whenever you like. This can be much less hassle than employing someone – a poorly-performing employee, which can be more troublesome to resolve.
| Hiring in-house | Hiring an SEO agency or freelancer | |
| Pros | • Greater control and collaboration
• Easier to monitor progress • Assign tasks quickly |
• Affordable
• Access to specialized skills • High level of expertise and experience |
| Cons | • Can be more expensive
• Limited experience level • Can be difficult to find the right candidate
|
• Lack of control over the process
• Communication can be more difficult • Accountability can be less clear |
Interview questions to ask your potential SEO manager
When interviewing a potential SEO manager, you should ask some specific questions to make sure they are the right fit. These can include questions about their experience with SEO, how they stay up-to-date on algorithm changes, and what strategies they would use to improve your website’s ranking.
Example starter questions
- What experience do you have with SEO?
- How do you stay up to date on algorithm changes?
- What strategies would you use to improve our website’s ranking?
- How would you optimize our content for search engine visibility?
- What kind of link-building tactics do you employ?
- What do you consider to be the most important SEO trends?
Common mistakes to avoid when hiring a new candidate
When hiring an SEO manager, there are some common mistakes you should avoid:
Not understanding the responsibilities of an SEO Manager
It is vital you have a clear idea of what the job entails and that the candidate has the relevant skills for the position.
Not considering the team’s current culture
When bringing someone new onto your team it is important to consider how they will fit in with existing colleagues.
Not asking enough questions during interviews
Make sure you ask any potential candidates about their experience and qualifications, as well as their ability to work with the team and manage client relationships.
Not setting clear goals for the role
Setting clear expectations will ensure that everyone is on the same page from the outset and that any targets are achievable.
Not agreeing on a budget
Before you start your search, make sure to set a realistic budget for this role. This will help you determine how much you can afford to pay, and what kind of person is best suited to the job.
Not conducting background checks
Background checks are important when hiring an SEO manager as they will provide insight into their past experience and any qualifications they may have. It’s also a good way to make sure that there are no discrepancies in their resume.
FAQ
Q: How do I find an SEO manager?
A: You can look for SEO managers on job boards, or hire a freelancer or agency. Make sure to ask them questions about their experience and qualifications, as well as their ability to work with the team and manage client relationships.
Q: What should I look for in an SEO manager?
A: A good SEO manager should have experience with SEO, and up-to-date knowledge of algorithm changes and strategies to improve a website’s ranking. They should also be able to optimize content for search engine visibility, employ link-building tactics and keep track of the latest SEO trends.
Q: How much does it cost to hire an SEO manager?
A: The cost of hiring an SEO manager will depend on the level of experience, skills, and services required. Generally, in-house managers can be more expensive than agencies or freelance professionals. It’s important to set a realistic budget before you start your search.
Q: Is it a good idea to hire an SEO manager overseas to work remotely?
A: This depends on the situation. Hiring a remote SEO manager can be beneficial if they are highly experienced and able to deliver results, however, communication and accountability can be more challenging with remote workers. It’s important to weigh up the pros and cons before making your final decision. There may also be legal or compliance issues when employing internationally.
Closing thoughts
Finding the right SEO manager is an important step in ensuring your website’s success. Make sure to ask potential candidates plenty of questions and take into account their skills, experience, and ability to fit into the team culture before making a decision. Consider both the benefits and disadvantages of hiring an in-house employee or outsourcing to an agency or freelancer, and don’t forget to set a budget. With the right candidate on board, you’ll be well on your way to achieving long-term SEO success.
Joe Dawson is Director of strategic growth agency Creative.onl, based in the UK. He can be found on Twitter @jdwn.
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