I am hearing from a lot of business people who are trying to hire an in-house search engine optimization expert that they’re having a heck of a time finding people.

All the SEO experts are gainfully employed and already earning a heck of a lot of money, making it very hard to lure them away from their existing positions. This seemed to be one of the key challenges echoed over and over again in the hallways of the last Search Engine Strategies conference in NYC. It seemed like practically everybody I spoke to was on the hunt, or being hunted, or both.

The problem is the easiest people to headhunt are the ones who are working for a search agency or are independent, working from their bedroom.

If they’re working for an agency, they are probably being paid really well, getting to work on a variety of stimulating projects and being given lots of upskilling opportunities. So it is hard to lure such a person away.

However, it may even be harder to lure away the independents who are out there on their own working from home, sitting on their back porch in their pyjamas, charging a lot of money and getting to set their own hours and priorities.

One of our clients, Ritz Interactive, recently sent me a job notice for an SEO specialist, since their in-house specialist has just left. I offered to post their position on my blog in the hopes they get some inquiries. So here it is:

Title: INTERNET MARKETING / SEO SPECIALIST

Position Objective: Ritz Interactive, Inc. has an immediate opening for a smart, hardworking, entrepreneurial individual to join us as an Internet Marketing / SEO Specialist. This person will help manage Internet marketing initiatives supporting our network of ecommerce websites.

Knowledge, Skills and Experience:

• Minimum 2 years of SEO and SEM experience
• Knowledge of search engine algorithms and ranking strategies
• Experience in web metrics (tracking, reporting and identifying opportunities based on pages visited)
• Experience in optimizing Pay Per Click (PPC) programs
• Strong quantitative skills including the ability to understand return on investment
• Strong analytical skills and attention to detail, ownership of own work
• Strong project management and communications skills
• Self-starter, strong team player
• Ability to work in a fast-paced, aggressive growth environment
• HTML / Meta Data working knowledge experience (a plus)

Duties and Responsibilities:

• Help develop and implement search engine optimization strategy and produce reporting
• Manage and analyze web analytics data producing actionable recommendations
• Interpret and make website enhancement recommendations based on research and analytics
• Help optimize and manage paid search and shopping comparison engine marketing programs
• Conduct online competitive intelligence and market-based analysis
• Collaborate with internal content managers on the development of optimized landing pages

Compensation and Benefits:

• Base salary and bonus (competitive)
• Vacation and Personal time
• Medical and dental benefits
• 401K plan plus a company matching percentage
• Life insurance
• Long-term disability
• Great Orange County, California location

Sounds like a great job. Contact them directly if you’re interested.

Oh, and of course my firm, Netconcepts, is always looking for SEO specialists too. So if you’re really good, send us your resume too!

So what happens if you can’t find an in-house SEO? I guess you are forced to use an agency such as Netconcepts, which isn’t such a bad thing. 🙂