What is the best way to assess the performance of a full-time SEO specialist?
Given the input data: there is a trading organization's website, currently being promoted by a third-party organization.
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They are considering hiring someone who would handle not only promotion but also general technical support of the site (such as updating banners, writing text, adding photos, etc.). There is a suitable candidate, but it's unclear how to compensate them: a fixed salary might not provide sufficient motivation to surpass targets. Additionally, there is no intention to individually price each service - instead, a range of functional responsibilities are included in the minimum bid.
How can we accurately calculate the bonus for successful promotion? Should it be based on achieving high rankings for specific keywords? And what if some of these keywords fail to make it into the top 10 search results, should there be a penalty?
Assessing the performance of a full-time SEO specialist can be challenging, but there are several approaches you can consider to accurately calculate bonuses and incentives. Here are some suggestions:
1. Key Performance Indicators (KPIs): Define specific KPIs that align with your organization's goals. This could include metrics like organic traffic growth, conversion rates, lead generation, or revenue generated from organic search. Set realistic targets for these KPIs based on historical data or industry benchmarks.
2. Keyword Rankings: While it's important to track keyword rankings, solely basing the bonus on specific keyword rankings may not be ideal. Search engine algorithms are ever-changing, and focusing on a few keywords might not capture the full impact of an SEO specialist's efforts. However, you can include it as one metric among others.
3. Overall Website Performance: Consider the overall improvement in website visibility, organic traffic, and user engagement metrics like bounce rate, time on site, or page views. These metrics provide a broader view of the SEO specialist's impact on the website's success.
4. Revenue or ROI: If feasible, tie the bonus to the revenue generated from organic search or the return on investment (ROI) generated through SEO efforts. This approach directly links the specialist's work to the financial performance of the organization.
5. Penalty for Underperformance: It is important to set reasonable expectations and understand that not all keywords will perform equally. Instead of penalties for individual keyword failures, focus on trends and overall performance. Regularly evaluate the specialist's strategies and tactics to identify areas for improvement rather than penalizing them for specific failures.
6. Continuous Monitoring and Feedback: Regularly monitor the SEO specialist's work and provide constructive feedback. Conduct regular performance reviews to discuss progress, challenges, and areas for growth. This helps maintain transparency and ensures ongoing improvement.
7. Quality of Content: Evaluate the quality of the content created or optimized by the specialist. This can involve assessing factors such as relevancy, readability, originality, keyword optimization, and user engagement with the content.
8. Technical SEO Skills: Assess the specialist's ability to identify and address technical issues on the website that could impact search engine visibility. This can include elements like site speed optimization, mobile-friendliness, URL structure, meta tags, and structured data implementation.
9. Backlink Portfolio: Analyze the specialist's efforts in building high-quality, authoritative backlinks to the website. Look for an increase in the number of backlinks, improvement in the overall backlink profile quality, and diversity of referring domains.
10. Competitive Analysis: Evaluate the specialist's ability to conduct thorough competitor analysis, identify areas of opportunity, and develop effective strategies to outrank competitors in search results.
11. Reporting and Analytics: Consider the specialist's proficiency in generating comprehensive reports and sharing data-driven insights. This can include regular reporting on the performance of key metrics, as well as providing actionable recommendations for website improvements.
12. Continuous Learning and Industry Knowledge: Assess the specialist's commitment to staying updated with the latest SEO trends, algorithms, and industry best practices. This can be demonstrated through participation in relevant conferences, webinars, training courses, or certifications.
By considering these additional factors, you can gain a more holistic view of the SEO specialist's performance and make informed decisions regarding compensation and bonuses. Remember to tailor the assessment criteria to your organization's specific goals and priorities.
It is an unproductive approach, as words can enter the Top 10 for entirely different reasons.
If you have a trading organization, develop performance indicators linked to the number of website inquiries (considering seasonality and other aspects of your field). Based on the outcomes, then make decisions. However:
Fines are not a motivator for everyone; in fact, they can be a significant demotivator, leading individuals to seek new jobs and neglect their current ones. This is especially true when fines are imposed for biased reasons. It's not like a factory where workers are expected to tighten 150 bolts per shift...
In SEO, in addition to standard technical tasks, there is also analytics, the search for effective solutions, competitor analysis, and other activities where it is impossible to determine in advance how long a particular task will take, say, 16 minutes.
Moreover, it is important to consider the complexities and uncertainties that come with these endeavors.
It is important to note that an SEO specialist has an impact on the functioning of another company, namely search engines, and thus is not immune to unforeseen events. It is crucial to avoid hiring SEO specialists who have a history of incurring fines.
Furthermore, a skilled SEO specialist will always find a way to comply with the formal requirements for evaluating their work, even if they do not fully meet them. For instance, they may be able to manipulate website traffic by targeting bots.
When it comes to ranking positions, a savvy SEO specialist may focus on promoting low-frequency requests. However, if you try to corner them into promoting a highly competitive request to the top spot, they may refuse.
Moreover, a competent SEO specialist may discuss additional expenses beyond their salary. These costs may include purchasing links and posting articles, even if the specialist writes them for a fee.
Considering the various tasks involved, I would suggest setting comprehensive metrics for the website's performance. This could include tracking the number of calls generated from the site, the engagement with important pages, and the overall visibility of the site across the network, not just limited to search engine rankings.
Creative ability. You want to hire an SEO expert who can generate ideas, put them into practice, and assess the results. An SEO must be at ease performing repetitively nerdy analytical and technological tasks. The expert will have to sort through a lot of data, so they should be sharp and able to make inferences.