Hire single SEO & SEM person or hire separate people?
-
I've been moved to a busines development part of the business but I'm still in charge of all of our SEO and SEM. I was only an advanced beginner to begin with but our needs have grown. I'm not sure whether to contract with one or two people. Can someone be extremely well versed in all things SEO and SEM or is it better to get two people on board that might serve as a better sounding board?
While they certainly work together, both are a constant moving target and it requires us to stay on top of trends and white hat policies of all the major players. My worst nightmare is to get someone that tries to game the system and screws up our rankings long term.
-
I would say that it is generally better to hire a separate person for SEO and SEM. There are so many different tasks that an SEO can be doing to move the organization forward on the SEO front that I think it is often a mistake for SEOs to be given additional tasks like PPC, or managing the company's social media, that will take their focus off doing SEO really well. Also, SEO is changing so fast that it can be a lot to ask to have your SEO stay current on the latest in SEO and also stay up to date on the PPC world as well.
-
If I was going to hire an SEO I would have them explain in detail where my links would be coming from. If I was going to hire an SEM I would ask them to explain in detail Google's quality score. Answers to those questions would end lots of interviews quickly.
Now, getting to your question. There are lots of people out there who are very very smart and know SEO and SEM inside and out. There are plenty of people who could do either job better than most of the competitors out there. If the scope of work needed on both the SEO and SEM side is limited I would try to get both of these jobs done by same provider - if I could find one who could impress me with both of the above questions.
However, if you have a big SEM campaign spending a lot of money you want to hire a person who really knows his stuff and who will watch over your wallet carefully. It is easy to blow an awful lot of money on SEM. The same can be said for SEO. Easy to blow a lot of money on someone who is unable to deliver.
A risk that you have with the above is that Mr SEM or Mr SEO could outsource your work or delegate it to someone of lower abilities.
That's my two cents.
...... Aaron, you seem to be a smart and ambitious person. You are here at the right place asking good questions. The more you learn the better position you will be in to hire and monitor the people who provide these services.... but maybe you would consider learning and doing one or both of these jobs yourself if you can get company support for training sessions, a daily hour ongoing for continued education and the rest of your time to keep these jobs in house instead of worrying about who is doing them and how?
-
I think it all depends on your needs and capacity. If you're asking the question "Are SEO and SEM different enough to merit two different positions?", then the answer is a resounding "Yes". Unfortunately this isn't possible for a lot of businesses so they have to look for someone a little more well rounded. If you can afford it and you have a decent sized business/funding, then yes, you should hire them as separate people.
In our case we are able to have both and so we do. Both of them are knowledgeable in both areas but each prefers his own job respectively. It's nice to have two people to bounce ideas and responsibilities off each other, if they are the right people they will work well together and do much more for your business than one alone.
Got a burning SEO question?
Subscribe to Moz Pro to gain full access to Q&A, answer questions, and ask your own.
Browse Questions
Explore more categories
-
Moz Tools
Chat with the community about the Moz tools.
-
SEO Tactics
Discuss the SEO process with fellow marketers
-
Community
Discuss industry events, jobs, and news!
-
Digital Marketing
Chat about tactics outside of SEO
-
Research & Trends
Dive into research and trends in the search industry.
-
Support
Connect on product support and feature requests.
Related Questions
-
Does the Year according to the URL have an SEO impact
I ask to Godaddy if there is an SEO impact between buying a url for 1 year or 10 years. They said me that there is no impact, however, I read the historical URL has one. So, the question is : buying with 1 year and autorenew might be the right choice. Warm regards,
Industry News | | johncurlee0 -
Do You Work At Home As An SEO Or Have An Office?
I'm curious how many of you all work at home or mostly at home either through an company or freelance. Or are most of you employed at a corporation? My company was recently bought by a very large global company. Recently I found out that all the SEO and web design is contracted through outside sources. With the headquarters in Europe, this being my primary job function I kinda feel well you know.... down.. Websites I put my life into for the last 7 years are going to be handed over to a corporation to do with whatever they feel they should. I know they were never really mine, but when you spend so much of your life to making them the best you can, so much so to attract the attention of a global billion dollar company, you should feel great right? But I feel like my dog just died. I don't have a bad impression of the company but the shift of moving me to the IT guy has begun. Normal web updates I would have done, are now being pushed aside. I don't hate IT I like helping others, but I really loved being able to make a difference through the web. Now I'm left contemplating my future, big corporations have so much bs, I just don't feel comfortable. I would really appreciate you all giving me your thoughts and tell me about any similar experiences you have had in your life. Cheers, Don
Industry News | | donford0 -
Website ROI for organic SEO
A potential client would like to see published industry reports on ROI for SEO projects before they commit to doing. Please could you point me to some credible industry reports that shows the direct impact of organic SEO. I think that it would help if this report had organic click through rates, an increase in organic traffic as well as ranking info. if available. Thanks.
Industry News | | a-b-c0 -
Seeking help with Chinese SEO - Baidu, etc.
Hello, I'm working with a hotel that wishes to establish an online presence in China - they're putting the emphasis on digital marketing, so I'm seeking a Chinese SEO specialist to work with on microsite and optimization.
Industry News | | McTaggart0 -
Looking For A reliable Chinese Based SEO Agency
Hey everyone, my company is looking for a reliable SEO agency to help with our chinese website: http://www.lunwenban.com/ I was wondering if anyone had any possible positive experiences with one? Carl
Industry News | | geekdesign0 -
SearchDex for SEO consultation? Price feedback?
I know the JCPenny story from 2011 and read their CEO response to that. I've been pleased with my conversations with them so far and was given a reference that checked out well. Now us. We are a small business and our expertise is in print manufacturing and fulfillment. A portion of our business is running a network of retail websites related to the print business and that network generates six figure revenue, but we rely entirely on our affiliates to promote and drive traffic. I've been learning SEO for about 9 months - primarily just so that I can be informed while managing our direct to consumer initiative. But we don't have the internal expertise to pull off a campaign that is not heavily outsourced so that is why I'm open to talking with SearchDex. Does anyone have any feelings about them one way or another? Does anyone have a recommendation for me to talk to that might be an even better fit for what we want to do?
Industry News | | rickpeyton0 -
PR Releases? Do they help your SEO?
Do PR releases help? Do links from PRweb.com carry no value? Was Matt Cutts being specific to the user's website in the Google Webmaster discussion, when Matt said "I wouldn't expect links from press release web sites to benefit your rankings, however." https://productforums.google.com/forum/#!topic/webmasters/O178PwARnZw/discussion
Industry News | | Thos0032