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Advice for impressing a full-time SEO employer

by Icematikx
16 replies
  • SEO
    • |
So,
I've just been handed a 12-week temporary contract from a local company. After having a discussion with the director, he wants to expand his recruitment company into the online market.

Right now, their business comes from cold-calling and recommendations. They have basically no web presence.

I was told that if, after the 12-week period, their internet presence had grown and profits had risen, it would 100% be a permanent full-time position.

Currently, I'm working 10-12 hours a day (my hours are flexible - though I choose to do full-time).

This week, I've been building their new website on WordPress. Custom designing it to their existing branding and color schemes, they are extremely impressed with the work done thus far. In fact, every member of staff has praised me for a great job.

Next week and onwards, I'll be focusing on SEO. Getting them to #1 for city-related searches won't be difficult. They have basically no decent competition.

The problem is, once they hit #1, how do I convince them that I am worth a full-time position? What else do I do for the business to make me worthwhile? I have already took control of their social media, website & SEO - but is this really a 10-12 hour a day job?

The only reason I ask, is that I'm being paid an extremely lucrative wage now, on a temporary contract. If, after 12-weeks I'm offered a permanent position, the wages will again rise - making it far more beneficial than being a freelancer.

Does anybody have experience with performing SEO/Internet Marketing for one business, during full-time hours (40-50 hours/week)? What more can you do after you get them to #1?
#advice #employer #fulltime #impressing #seo
  • Profile picture of the author lutherlars
    They obviously know nothing about SEO, so tell them that you need to keep working on things, or they will lost those awesome number one rankings! True to an extent, but not 12 hours a day true lol
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    • Profile picture of the author Icematikx
      Originally Posted by lutherlars View Post

      They obviously know nothing about SEO, so tell them that you need to keep working on things, or they will lost those awesome number one rankings! True to an extent, but not 12 hours a day true lol
      They don't.

      They've been outsourcing everything. They pay a guy £100 to setup a PC. I set one up in the office the other day for free, in a matter of 10-minutes - saving them £100.

      I'm thinking of going down the route that I can be the "IT" guy to go-to. Since they outsource everything, from logo design to invoice designs, to setting up PC's (lol), they may actually save money from employing me.
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      Just got back from a #BrightonSEO. I was given room 404 in the hotel I stayed at. Couldn’t find it anywhere!

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  • Profile picture of the author Dokemion
    What's your niche?
    What are the target keywords?
    How high/low the competition is?
    Are you sure you can rank your target keywords at #1 on various Search Engines (Or just Google) in just 12-Weeks?

    If you just accepted the contract and haven't done your research you'll fail badly but if you had done your homework and you are confident enough that your SEO Skills is sharp that you can impress your client in less or at 12-weeks work period, good for you.

    Anyway 12-weeks is still a job temporary/regular. It will be worth the pay even if you fail. LoL
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    • Profile picture of the author Icematikx
      Originally Posted by Dokemion View Post

      What's your niche?
      What are the target keywords?
      How high/low the competition is?
      Are you sure you can rank your target keywords at #1 on various Search Engines (Or just Google) in just 12-Weeks?

      If you just accepted the contract and haven't done your research you'll fail badly but if you had done your homework and you are confident enough that your SEO Skills is sharp that you can impress your client in less or at 12-weeks work period, good for you.

      Anyway 12-weeks is still a job temporary/regular. It will be worth the pay even if you fail. LoL
      I've been freelance SEO'ing for 3-years for some well-known local companies. I've delivered impressive results and have an impressive portfolio. That's why the Director personally called me to offer me an in-house employment opportunity.

      Getting ranked #1 is no issue at all. 12-weeks is more than enough time. The problem I have is, wanting to keep the job after 12-weeks. To put it blunt, after the 12-week period, my hourly rate would rise to around £23/hour. So yes, it's a permanent job that I'd love to snap up.
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      Just got back from a #BrightonSEO. I was given room 404 in the hotel I stayed at. Couldn’t find it anywhere!

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      • Profile picture of the author Dokemion
        Originally Posted by Icematikx View Post

        I've been freelance SEO'ing for 3-years for some well-known local companies. I've delivered impressive results and have an impressive portfolio. That's why the Director personally called me to offer me an in-house employment opportunity.

        Getting ranked #1 is no issue at all. 12-weeks is more than enough time. The problem I have is, wanting to keep the job after 12-weeks. To put it blunt, after the 12-week period, my hourly rate would rise to around £23/hour. So yes, it's a permanent job that I'd love to snap up.
        Good for you! I believe you can do it man.

        I often keep my client for more than a year working with them and my latest client, I believe I'll work with her forever.

        Ok here's my advice, The 12-weeks time-frame they gave as you said is more than enough to ranked them at #1. (Indeed it is) Given this time-frame, try to slowly gain their trust by showing them that the things you're doing shows good results (Use Graphs, Analytics Results etc. etc.) Let them feel that they didn't made a mistake when they decided to give you this 12-weeks temp job. By developing a good relationship through honest results and quality work try to explain them the basic of SEO this way they have an insight of what you are doing and that you are willing to help them understand even teach them a few SEO tricks/tips.

        Now remember every client wants these --> Progress, Result and Profit.

        And if they see that you are that KEY to unlock their treasure chest they will keep you working for them and even be afraid to replace you or lose you.

        Be the man let them know that you are that KEY but always... always give a suggestion. A suggestion to help the company, A suggestion to open more opportunity for the company to grow online and gain more profit.

        Don't mess up! A salary around £23/hour is HUGE!

        This is your cave of gold.
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        Contact me for any SEO Services you need I'm glad to be of your service.

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  • Profile picture of the author dennis09
    Or you could show them the work that their competitors are doing (Recent links etc.) and explain that if you do not continue they will likely be overtaken in the same manner that you overtook them.
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  • Profile picture of the author GGpaul
    Originally Posted by Icematikx View Post

    So,
    I've just been handed a 12-week temporary contract from a local company. After having a discussion with the director, he wants to expand his recruitment company into the online market.

    Right now, their business comes from cold-calling and recommendations. They have basically no web presence.

    I was told that if, after the 12-week period, their internet presence had grown and profits had risen, it would 100% be a permanent full-time position.

    Currently, I'm working 10-12 hours a day (my hours are flexible - though I choose to do full-time).

    This week, I've been building their new website on WordPress. Custom designing it to their existing branding and color schemes, they are extremely impressed with the work done thus far. In fact, every member of staff has praised me for a great job.

    Next week and onwards, I'll be focusing on SEO. Getting them to #1 for city-related searches won't be difficult. They have basically no decent competition.

    The problem is, once they hit #1, how do I convince them that I am worth a full-time position? What else do I do for the business to make me worthwhile? I have already took control of their social media, website & SEO - but is this really a 10-12 hour a day job?

    The only reason I ask, is that I'm being paid an extremely lucrative wage now, on a temporary contract. If, after 12-weeks I'm offered a permanent position, the wages will again rise - making it far more beneficial than being a freelancer.

    Does anybody have experience with performing SEO/Internet Marketing for one business, during full-time hours (40-50 hours/week)? What more can you do after you get them to #1?
    Ice,

    I do full time SEO (Salary) for a clothing company. Trust me, there's SO MUCH to do 40-50 hours a week. I get paid a good amount of $$ plus benefits. 300 employees.

    What do I do? I work with the tech team constantly. Our page have thousands of indexed pages that needs to be properly optimized. What else do I do? Link removal. I dissect every link pointing back to our site and make sure they're not "shitty" links. If so, I request for a removal and/or disavow. The company wanted to go international, so what do I do? Research competitors as far as what they're doing, and implement the same strategy if not better.

    Google Crawl errors. Log into webmaster tools on a consistent basis. And then there's link building. So yeah, there's a lot of shit to do.

    So there's the whole "maintenance" going on. And also targeting other "striking distance" keywords to continue on with traffic. Ultimately you want to get into ONLINE MARKETING as a whole and not just SEO and branch even further make more $$$$$$ .
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    RIP Dad Oct 14 1954 - Mar 14 2015.

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    • Profile picture of the author Icematikx
      Originally Posted by GGpaul View Post

      Ice,

      I do full time SEO (Salary) for a clothing company. Trust me, there's SO MUCH to do 40-50 hours a week. I get paid a good amount of $$ plus benefits. 300 employees.

      What do I do? I work with the tech team constantly. Our page have thousands of indexed pages that needs to be properly optimized. What else do I do? Link removal. I dissect every link pointing back to our site and make sure they're not "shitty" links. If so, I request for a removal and/or disavow. The company wanted to go international, so what do I do? Research competitors as far as what they're doing, and implement the same strategy if not better.

      Google Crawl errors. Log into webmaster tools on a consistent basis. And then there's link building. So yeah, there's a lot of shit to do.

      So there's the whole "maintenance" going on. And also targeting other "striking distance" keywords to continue on with traffic. Ultimately you want to get into ONLINE MARKETING as a whole and not just SEO and branch even further make more $$$$$$ .
      This is a smaller business. Their a recruitment agency, with around 10 employees. They make huge sales and profits though. But, there isn't any e-commerce action.

      Big companies want new employees, they scout potential and put them forward. The only way I could maintain consistent content is to blog and create guides - create an information portal so to speak.

      I like the idea of emphasizing that other agencies are employing SEO teams though, and if I was to leave, they would soon drop in rankings. I explained this initially, and I think that's why he wanted a 12-week temporary position to start (to see if I truly do deliver).

      Right now, their all sick of cold calling and scouting business themselves. They want businesses to contact them directly, and that's what I intend to achieve. Once it's achieved, I just need to subtlety hint that it's a constant on-going thing.

      I also need to brush up my Photoshop skills. They spend quite a lot outsourcing graphics work. If I can do it inhouse, it saves them money.

      Ah well, we'll see as time goes on. My official hours are 8AM-4.30PM, but I've been staying till 6PM to show my dedication. All the employees have praised the site, referring to past SEO firms that have done bodge jobs.

      One of the staff there explained that it took a freelancer 2-weeks to setup a Contact Form for people to send their CV's. It took me 5-minutes - he was shocked.
      Signature

      Just got back from a #BrightonSEO. I was given room 404 in the hotel I stayed at. Couldn’t find it anywhere!

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      • Profile picture of the author GGpaul
        Originally Posted by Icematikx View Post

        This is a smaller business. Their a recruitment agency, with around 10 employees. They make huge sales and profits though. But, there isn't any e-commerce action.

        Big companies want new employees, they scout potential and put them forward. The only way I could maintain consistent content is to blog and create guides - create an information portal so to speak.

        I like the idea of emphasizing that other agencies are employing SEO teams though, and if I was to leave, they would soon drop in rankings. I explained this initially, and I think that's why he wanted a 12-week temporary position to start (to see if I truly do deliver).

        Right now, their all sick of cold calling and scouting business themselves. They want businesses to contact them directly, and that's what I intend to achieve. Once it's achieved, I just need to subtlety hint that it's a constant on-going thing.

        I also need to brush up my Photoshop skills. They spend quite a lot outsourcing graphics work. If I can do it inhouse, it saves them money.

        Ah well, we'll see as time goes on. My official hours are 8AM-4.30PM, but I've been staying till 6PM to show my dedication. All the employees have praised the site, referring to past SEO firms that have done bodge jobs.

        One of the staff there explained that it took a freelancer 2-weeks to setup a Contact Form for people to send their CV's. It took me 5-minutes - he was shocked.
        Nice. Well definitely present to them as far as maintenance goes. And start pushing forward of hiring a writer .

        I mean if all else fails, there's always the latest expansion coming up for WoW? LOL!
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        RIP Dad Oct 14 1954 - Mar 14 2015.

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        • Profile picture of the author Icematikx
          Originally Posted by GGpaul View Post

          Nice. Well definitely present to them as far as maintenance goes. And start pushing forward of hiring a writer .

          I mean if all else fails, there's always the latest expansion coming up for WoW? LOL!
          I wouldn't want them to hire a writer - that's what I think most of my time will be spent doing.
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          Just got back from a #BrightonSEO. I was given room 404 in the hotel I stayed at. Couldn’t find it anywhere!

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  • Profile picture of the author Michael Nguyen
    Well done for getting the role but you need to manage your clients expectations. What happens when you can't get them to number 1? You need to be straight with him and tell him that nothing is guaranteed and be firm. Focus more of your activities on which can give you more measurable results such as PPC. SEO is probably the worst thing to rely on if you want quick results.
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  • Profile picture of the author yukon
    Banned
    You still have plenty of work to do even If you ranked #1 for all your keywords on the main site.

    Start building feeder sites to move targeted traffic back to the main site.

    Example, the first thing people do that have been laid off by an employer is they start looking for info. on building a professional resume, that's one more traffic source to help fill jobs back on the main site. So, build a 2nd site that only targets keywords that match your main sites job description (ex: [job niche keyword] resume).

    Repeat with additional feeder sites...

    Keep an eye on local news sites (ex: Google News (local)) & local TV news for jobs that are laying off, get on Facecrook & find every single person that's local to that business that's having the layoff & they've Liked the business in the past, those are ex-employees. Start making contact with those laid off employees, help them find new jobs similar to their old job. Example, nobody Likes a dog food factory unless they're an employee.

    Current Google News layoffs:
    All those people in those 3 examples will be at the unemployment office within a week after being laid off (employee leads).

    Get creative..., all your employer cares about is jobs/employees/leads/money.
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    • Profile picture of the author nik0
      Banned
      What I always wonder, do you guys, GGpaul and Ice get a certain budget to work with, for example to build a private blog network, or does all the link building work involve manual link outreach?
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      • Profile picture of the author Icematikx
        Originally Posted by nik0 View Post

        What I always wonder, do you guys, GGpaul and Ice get a certain budget to work with, for example to build a private blog network, or does all the link building work involve manual link outreach?
        Haven't checked on this topic in a while.. but to answer your question..

        The business I work for isn't exactly a huge corporate business, and they do have a limited budget..

        What I do is I'll approach the boss. I'll say we need this, or why we need this, and I'll say the price. He either says yes or no. 99 times out of 100 it's a yes as he takes my word for it.
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        Just got back from a #BrightonSEO. I was given room 404 in the hotel I stayed at. Couldn’t find it anywhere!

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        • Profile picture of the author nik0
          Banned
          Originally Posted by Icematikx View Post

          Haven't checked on this topic in a while.. but to answer your question..

          The business I work for isn't exactly a huge corporate business, and they do have a limited budget..

          What I do is I'll approach the boss. I'll say we need this, or why we need this, and I'll say the price. He either says yes or no. 99 times out of 100 it's a yes as he takes my word for it.
          Guess that makes sense yeah.
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  • Profile picture of the author NicholasCage
    ask them to rank different keyword with different URLs..
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