A whole ton of ninja techniques to advertise for SEO talent, screen the applications, interview them, hire them, onboard them, train them, and more.

1. Stephan Spencer
SEO Expert/Author/Speaker
How to Hire an Insanely Great SEO
@sspencer
http://www.slideshare.net/stephanspencer

2. STEPHAN SPENCER
SEO Expert/Author/Speaker
www.stephanspencer.com
Twitter: @sspencer
Facebook.com/stephanspencerseo
• Consulted for Fortune 500 companies
• My 3 books: The Art of SEO, Google
Power Search, and Social ECommerce
• Helped clients make tens of millions
from SEO
• Founded an international SEO agency
• Top ranked speaker
• My 2 podcasts: Marketing Speak and The
Optimized Geek
@sspencer #brightonSEO

3. @sspencer #brightonSEO

4. @sspencer #brightonSEO

5. @sspencer #brightonSEO

6. QUESTION:
Are you in the
market to hire an
SEO employee,
contractor, or
agency?
@sspencer #brightonSEO

7. 1 GETTHEGARDENTOWEEDITSELF
@sspencer #brightonSEO

8. @sspencer #brightonSEO

9. THEJOBPOSTING
@sspencer #brightonSEO

10. DELEGATETHESCREENING
@sspencer #brightonSEO

11. INCLUDEARIDDLEORTESTASSIGNMENT
@sspencer #brightonSEO

12. QUESTION:
What are some
test assignments
you would give?
@sspencer #brightonSEO

13. DIDTHEYDEFENDTHEIRWRONGANSWER?
DEALBREAKER!
@sspencer #brightonSEO

14. 2 ReviewTheirSocialMediaProfiles
@sspencer #brightonSEO

15. ASKYOURSELFTHESEQUESTIONS
@sspencer #brightonSEO

16. @sspencer #brightonSEO
SOCIALMEDIAQUESTIONS
• Are they connected and active with other SEOs?
• Do they ask and answer SEO questions?
• What kind of content do they share?
• Have they ever publicly criticized or bashed their employers
or clients?
• Is there evidence they participate in SEO conferences,
Meetups, discussion groups?

17. @sspencer #brightonSEO
SOCIALMEDIAQUESTIONS
• How are their spelling and grammar in their social media posts?
• Do they participate in events or donate time to volunteering?
• Are there "personality flags" such as anti-social behavior or mood
swings?
• Is there racist, sexist, or other prejudiced content in their profiles?
• Is there evidence of excessive drinking or illegal drug use?
• Are there other red flags that the candidate is not a good cultural fit
with your team?

18. BECAREFUL
@sspencer #brightonSEO

19. 3 UseA/BTestingforYourJobPostings
@sspencer #brightonSEO

20. @sspencer #brightonSEO

21. 4 UseTrickQuestionsinthe
FirstInterview
@sspencer #brightonSEO

22. QUESTION:
What are some
trick questions you
would ask?
@sspencer #brightonSEO

23. @sspencer #brightonSEO
TRICKQUESTIONS
• What's your process for optimizing meta keywords?
• What's a good keyword density to aim for?
• What's the difference between Panda and Penguin?
• What’s more important: attention to detail, honesty,
dedication, technical acumen, creativity?

24. QUESTION:
What’s most
important of these
5 qualities?
@sspencer #brightonSEO

25. @sspencer #brightonSEO
TRICKQUESTIONS
Email
bs@marketingspeak.com

26. 5 AskSpecificQuestionsthat
CanProveExpertise
@sspencer #brightonSEO

27. QUESTION:
What’s your
wellspring? What’s
your quicksand?
@sspencer #brightonSEO

28. @sspencer #brightonSEO
EXPERIENCE/EXAMPLES:
GETSPECIFICS,CONTRARYEVIDENCE,KEEP
YOURMOUTHSHUT

29. TRAINING&TEACHING
@sspencer #brightonSEO

30. LINKBUILDINGPHILOSPHY
@sspencer #brightonSEO

31. 6 TheSecondInterview–Bringin
anExpert
@sspencer #brightonSEO

32. HIREANEXPERTFORTHEDAY
@sspencer #brightonSEO

33. 7 ConfirmtheFitDuringthe
TrialPeriod
@sspencer #brightonSEO

34. @sspencer #brightonSEO
WHATARETHEIRSTRENGTHS,PRIMARY&
SECONDARYADVANTAGES,DISC,VALUES?

35. QUESTION:
What’s your
wellspring? What’s
your quicksand?
@sspencer #brightonSEO

36. @sspencer #brightonSEO
DEFINEROLES,RESPONSIBILITIES,HANDOFFS,
SUCCESSMETRICS

37. @sspencer #brightonSEO
DETERMININGVALUES
Dr. John Demartini's Value Determination test
https://drdemartini.com/value_determination/determine_your_values

38. MATCHDUTIESTOVALUES
@sspencer #brightonSEO

39. FINALTHOUGHTS
@sspencer #brightonSEO

40. QUESTION:
What’s the best
indicator of future
behavior?
@sspencer #brightonSEO

41. @sspencer #brightonSEO
THANKYOU!
You can reach me directly at stephan@stephanspencer.com
For my free SEO Hiring Practices PDF & SEO B.S. Detector PDF,
email bs@marketingspeak.com