How to Hire an SEO Team: Tips from a Successful Link Building Agency CEO

If you're looking to hire an SEO team, it can be daunting to know where to start. However, with the right structure and principles, you can save time, money, and energy while hiring profitably and effectively. In this article, we'll cover everything you need to know to build a strong SEO team, including:

• Why hiring an SEO team is beneficial
• When and how to start hiring
• How to structure your SEO team
• Budget and price range for each team member

Why Hire an SEO Team?

The first question you may have is why you should hire an SEO team in the first place. Here are a few reasons:

• It frees up your time. As a business owner, it's important to focus on growth rather than getting bogged down in tasks like blog writing, link building, and social media management. By hiring an SEO team, you can delegate these tasks and free up valuable time to invest in your business.
• It allows you to scale. As you grow your business, you'll need to be able to handle more clients and more work. Hiring an SEO team that can handle the workload means you can take on more clients and scale your business without becoming overwhelmed.
• It's easy to hire online. With the rise of online job boards and freelance platforms, it's easier than ever to find talented SEO professionals.

When and How to Start Hiring

So, when should you start hiring an SEO team? According to the CEO of a successful link building agency, you should only hire when it hurts. In other words, you should hire when you have a system in place that's working but is becoming too much for you to handle on your own.

To start the hiring process, you'll want to follow these steps:

• Create job descriptions that clearly outline the role and responsibilities of each team member
• Decide where to hire from, taking into account factors like cost, skill level, and time zone
• Filter applicants based on qualifications, experience, and cultural fit
• Interview candidates to assess their skills and personality
• Make an offer to the best candidate and onboard them into your team

How to Structure Your SEO Team

The structure of your SEO team will depend on your business needs and the tasks you need to delegate. To figure out what roles you need to hire for, start by doing a time audit.

A typical day of an SEO professional might include tasks like posting on social media, writing blog content, doing outreach to build backlinks, reformatting blog posts, and scrolling through Facebook groups.

To determine which tasks you should delegate, you'll need to evaluate the impact they have on your business. For example, posting on social media may not have a significant impact on traffic or rankings, but doing outreach to build backlinks can provide a substantial boost to your SEO efforts.

Once you've identified the tasks that have a high impact, you can create job descriptions for each role. For example, if you need someone to handle blog writing, you'll want to create a clear job description that outlines the type of content they'll be writing, the frequency of posts, and any relevant experience or qualifications.

Budget and Price Range for Each Team Member

The budget and price range for each team member will depend on a variety of factors, including their level of experience, the complexity of the tasks they'll be handling, and your budget.

Generally, you can expect to pay anywhere from $20-$100 per hour for an SEO team member, with higher rates for more experienced professionals. Keep in mind that paying more for a highly skilled team member can ultimately save you time and money in the long run, as they'll be able to handle tasks more efficiently and effectively.

Hiring for Your SEO Team

Hiring the right people for your SEO team can make or break your business. In this article, we'll cover how to figure out the breakdown of your team, the budget and price range for each team member, the best places to hire people, and how to set up your team for success.

Figuring Out Your Team Breakdown

The first step in hiring for your SEO team is to figure out the breakdown of your team. This involves doing a time audit to see where your time is going and identifying the highest leverage tasks, also known as the impact. From there, you'll know who to hire to fill in the gaps.

Action Item: Time Audit

Take a close look at your daily tasks and track your time for each one. This will help you identify where you're spending the most time and which tasks are high impact.

Budget and Price Range

Once you know what roles you need to fill in your SEO team, it's time to determine the budget and price range for each team member. To keep your team lean and profitable, figure out how much money you're already making from your website and how much you can afford to reinvest into your team.

Recommended Budget

As a general rule, aim to spend no more than what you're making to avoid running out of cash flow. For example, if you're making $38 per day on your website, you could afford to spend $20 to $30 per day on your team.

Best Places to Hire People

When it comes to finding the right people for your team, there are many places you can look. However, we highly recommend starting with Upwork. It's a simple and fast way to find highly qualified candidates in any field, and you can easily filter by skills, hourly rate, and job success score.

Upwork Filters

By filtering your search results on Upwork, you can quickly sort through top-rated candidates with proven track records and great reviews from previous clients. Plus, you can message potential hires directly on the platform or invite them to the job.

Job Setup

Setting up your new team members for success is crucial, and it starts with clearly defining their role, responsibilities, goals, and requirements. This means identifying the key competency skills and qualifications needed for success in each role.

Creating SOPs

Additionally, you want to have systems in place to ensure that your team members can hit the ground running. Creating standard operating procedures (SOPs) for tasks like link building or content generation will help to ensure that your team understands exactly what needs to be done and how to do it.

How to Set Up Job Scores and Hire the Right People

When it comes to hiring, setting up job scores is an essential part of the process. It helps you get clear on the responsibilities, goals, and requirements of the job. In this article, we'll take a look at how to set up job scores and hire the right people for your team.

Steps to Set Up Job Scores

Below are the steps to set up job scores:

1. Clearly define the responsibilities, goals, and requirements of the job. You can do this by creating Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) and videos to train your team. This will help you and your team continually learn and improve the system.
2. Create a job scorecard. Use tools like Harper AI, a free Chrome extension, or Chat GPT, an AI-based language model, to create a scorecard that outlines the title, objective, responsibilities, and evaluation criteria for the job. This will help you find and hire the right person for the job.
3. Grade candidates based on qualifications and evaluation metrics. When grading candidates, look for more than just qualifications. Consider their character traits, attitude, and cultural fit. For example, if your company values continuous improvement, make sure to find people with the same values.

Hiring and Managing a Team

Once you have set up job scores, the next step is to hire and manage the right team. Here are some tips:

1. Hire from platforms like Upwork or agencies. Hiring from agencies allows you to leverage a whole team of resources, saving you time and money. Agencies also provide a team of professionals who have a broad range of skills and expertise.
2. Avoid hiring from recruiters. Although recruiters have good intentions and can work in some situations, it's challenging for them to find the right cultural fit because they don't work directly with your team.
3. Manage and coach your team effectively. Managing and coaching your team are critical skills that require constant attention and improvement. Look for areas where you can delegate tasks and focus on high-priority tasks to get the most out of your team.

How to Build a High-Performing SEO Team

Building a high-performing SEO team can be a daunting task. From hiring to managing, there are many factors to consider. However, with the right approach, you can successfully assemble a team of A-players who will help you achieve your SEO goals. Here are some key tips:

Hiring

• When hiring, it's important to understand your specific needs and create a job scorecard to objectively measure candidates against.
• Consider hiring through platforms like Upwork and agencies as they can make the hiring process faster and cheaper.
• Focus on hiring A-players who are the right fit for the job and your company culture.

Managing

• A-player team members should be performing well and hitting their KPIs. If they're not, they may not be the right fit for the job or the company culture.
• Invest in your team's skills, always raise the bar, and challenge them to become more. This will encourage a high-performing culture of winners who grow the business.
• Avoid mediocrity and negativity through weekly one-to-one meetings with your team. Mentor and coach them to help them grow and progress in their career.

Additional Insights

• It's important to note that recruiters may not have the same standards as you when it comes to hiring. Hiring in-house may be a better option for those with high standards of excellence and mastery.
• Using a scorecard to filter candidates is a great way to objectively measure their qualifications.
• Always encourage your team to move the needle and raise the standard for everything they do. The market rewards value, and investing in your team's skills will pay off in the long run.
• Consider offering a free course as an additional resource for those interested in learning more about SEO.

Building a high-performing SEO team takes time and effort, but following these tips can make the process smoother and more successful.Hiring an seo team can be a smart investment for your business. by following these guidelines and principles, you can build a strong team that will help you achieve your business goals and scale your operations.
Hiring for your seo team can seem daunting, but with the right approach and tools, you can quickly and easily find qualified candidates to help grow your business. remember to budget responsibly, use upwork to your advantage, and set your team up for success with clear roles and well-defined systems.
Setting up job scores is a crucial step in hiring the right people for your team. it helps you define job responsibilities, evaluate candidates effectively, and determine the right fit for your team. by following these tips, you can set up a hiring system that works for you and your team.