This week several articles covered the ongoing issue of a recession and how it might impact the search community. Although normally a sobering topic, people in the search industry are more upbeat than you might expect going into a recession. This is because of measurability of search marketing.
In Joshua Stylman’s article, Is Search Recession-Proof?, he points out “While online advertising will probably suffer if there is a recession, I predict search will be the last place from which marketers pull their ad dollars.” His reasoning is that because of the measurability of paid advertising, advertisers are able to see where their money is going and whether it is bringing in revenue. If an ad campaign is producing even in hard times it would be foolish to cut its support from the budget.
Week also had an article dealing with the power of search marketing during a recession. In Karen Schwarz’s, Make Your Business Recession-Proof, she stresses looking at the cost effective options associated with search marketing. Many aspects of search optimization and search marketing can be very cost efficient. By using tools like social media, blogging, and SEO, a company is able to boost their exposure online by spending a minimal amount. If used appropriately, these methods will keep you on the front of your customer’s mind, so you aren’t fighting to survive during a recession.
There were two good articles this week about finding the right search marketer for your company. Finding a solid search marketer can be difficult task, and by properly evaluating potential candidates you can avoid bringing on dead weight. Gerry Bravaro released his article, More on the SEM People Problem, at the beginning of the week, which points out the basic characteristics to look for when hiring a search engine marketing professional. The goal hire would be someone who has strong fundamentals, as well as an inquisitive mind about data, problem solving, and how everything relates. Although it can be a long process, finding the right person for your company can be what makes or breaks your search campaign.
Search Engine Land’s, Duane Forrester, wrote a great article this week with a list of potential questions to ask when Interviewing In-house SEO Candidates. He gives 27 questions to help you evaluate potential SEO candidates. Duane has broken his questions into 6 different groups of questions to measure different aspects of the potential hire; general, communication skills, technical aptitude, cross group collaboration, business aptitude, and drive for results. Although it isn’t an exhaustive list of questions, it is a great list to reference when building your own in-house interview process.
That was the search marketing staffing news for this week, check back next week for another update.
