I was posed these questions the other day and thought I would share my answers with you.  If you take a look at your site’s SEO ranking, unless you’ve had an SEO analyst take a look at it your score may not be what you would like,  thus the results from search engines may leave you out of the picture.  I can go into details if you are interested, (just contact me for a discussion), however the purpose of this post is to help you find the right SEO Analyst for your needs.

1. When & how did you get started in search engine optimization?

I started my internet hosting and web development business back in the 90’s.  The landscape has changed significantly over the past few years so I needed to refurbished my SEO education this last year.  I had an artistic blacksmith business and also took over the volunteer management of the Arizona Artists Blacksmiths Association’s Website.  I encouraged the association to start expanding there revenue streams into the web with Affiliate and Online Marketing, E-commerce, online registration and a Classified Ads area.  Of course I also upgraded my business strategy to incorporate these same components.  The bottom line was I needed to focus on fine tuning SEO for both myself and the AABA websites.

Since my initial delving into the SEO frontier I’ve focus my blog efforts toward individual campaign strategies (i.e. the environment, running, spiritual, etc).  The way I have done this is on several fronts.  I’ve incorporated Wordpress as my blog site software and have utilized Wordpress plug-ins to fine tune my SEO tags, descriptions, and naming standards.  I’ve made sure my naming convention of individual blogs match my campaign strategy for my site.  The same holds true for tags and description.  I’ve also incorporated social bookmarks to make sure my blogs are referenced with appropriate tags, descriptions, and titles for posting to the top 10 or so social bookmark sites.  In addition I’ve incorporated social networking components like Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn.  I make sure I create and maintain a sitemap.xml to make my site’s are SEO search friendly.

In addition, I visit several related blogs daily that are in line with my campaign strategy and make comments where I can reference my relevant blogs.  The more a site is referenced the better the SEO ranking, however one must be careful that this doesn’t appear as blatant marketing.

Another key component is how dynamic the site is.  Static content scores low.  So I employ some autopilot blogging to help keep my content dynamic and fresh with twitter tools and Google alerts along with my own blog articles.  I try to have at least one article per week per blog, but life gets in the way from time to time, so the autopilot feature really helps.

2. If you were hiring an SEO expert, what would you look for?

I would look for an individual that was passionate and energetic toward the marketing profession.  I believe it is critical to have the type of personality that thrives on an environment that is dynamic.  Marketing is a very dynamic field and requires a person that can flow with the whims of the needs of the day.  They may be different tomorrow.  A person that likes an operational type work flow may struggle in a dynamic marketing situation.

Depending on the level of individual an understanding of campaign management and how to bring together target markets or groups and a product offering are paramount.  Capable of understanding what demographics would related to a product also is extremely important.  I would also want an individual that understands the importants of SEO and traffic management.

3. What do you do in a typical day?

Typically my day starts with coffee, email and social networking.  Then a run and/or trip to the gym is usually in order.  This may not sound relevant to the topic, however in my case this morning ritual is critical to my state of mind.  My state of mind is important to my daily enthusiasm.

After I’m awake I review my to do list for the day to see what is planned and make a few additional plans adjustments for the day.  Typically, each day has a specific campaign to focus on.  I then visit a few blog sites related to that specific campaign strategies.  A variety of tools for this like Google Alerts, RSS feeds, Twitter, LinkedIn and Social Network group affiliations are part of working each campaign.  I write comments and responses to as many blogs as my creativity allows.

After this I focus on Campaign refinement.  This may come in the form of writing blogs or enhancing blog site in some fashion.  I’m working on some various business strategies to enhance my business plan, however I won’t get into the detail of that just yet.  This takes up the majority of my day, however marketing is a dynamic venture and requires a bit of nimbleness.

Last but not least I prepare dinner, one of my other passions, for my wife and I.  This gets back to the state of mind and wellness of my home life.

4. Any interesting/funny experience regarding search engines that you can share?

Nothing to hilarious.  When I first started using Google alerts to autopilot some of my blogs and campaigns my seemingly relevant search criteria at times brought up unpredictable results.  One of my search criteria was for intitle:running. When I first ran the search it looked like it was right, however I notice over time on occasion some of the results were not exactly what I expected.  So rather than go into specifics I would just say be careful of autopilot blogging if you are concerned about offending your audience.

5. Advice that you have for beginners: on where to start, how to learn, and become a successful search engine optimization professional?

There are several basic tips to help get started in this profession:

• Embrace social networking and media.  Get on Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook.
• Learn Non-marketing marketing.  Build relationship in your network with trust and integrity.
• Read SEO educational publications.  SEO is not exactly a science, often more of an art, but there are basic principals.  If interested I can supply several publication.
• Understand Campaign management.  Understand your product and understand your related target market.  This combination is what niches are made of.  Products alone are not a niche.

6. What do you think is the best career path – freelancing, marketing agencies, or in-house corporate jobs?

I think the answer to this question is based on each individual.  A natural entrepreneur can do very good at freelancing, however, this is not for everyone.  For some that boss you see in the mirror can be to easy on you.  However, trade off of a flexible schedule and control of direction can be very rewarding.

As for marketing agency vs in-house corporate jobs, major difference is the company’s object.  Marketing Agency will likely be committed to online marketing and SEO objectives as part of its business plan, where as a corporate entity will be more committed to its own product line.  SEO and Marketing is the market agencies product.