The purpose of the survey is to better understand the evolution of the search industry in Australia and New Zealand and especially measure the changes in terms of salary and employment.
Over the last 3 years, many changes occurred. The market is more and more mature, professionals are more and more qualified, which has a direct impact on salaries and mentalities.
We have noticed that Australian and New Zealand professionals tends to change job quite frequently. In the same way, jobs tends to be more and more specialised.

In the 2010 edition, we are aiming at measuring the latest changes and provide free and useful data for both employers and employees. The survey format is the same as the previous years. 10 questions, which take less than 2 mins to answer. The entire survey is anonymous and the results will be published for free on the blog.

If you are an SEO/SEM professional living in Australia or New Zealand, we would greatly appreciate if you could take 2 minutes of your time to take the survey.

Chris Chris Genge started 1st on the List Promotion Inc. in 1996 at the beginning of a very young industry and as such, He had to devise his own methods and ways to determine why websites were not ranking. He developed his own highly effective Search Engine Optimization strategies for improving websites, enabling them to rank well for related keyword terms. The company essentially grew out of a one-man operation where he oversaw and did everything. Chris continues to oversee all projects, keeping current with today?s SEO technologies with his highly skilled staff of SEO professionals.

When hiring new SEO expert, what would you look for?

We look for a SEO expert that has a range of skills. One of the most important skill is problem solving. Each SEO campaign is different and requires the ability to assess a website, the client and the objectives; then decide on the best process to achieve the goals. Every project requires a slightly different approach and cookie cutter SEO methods are ineffective in most cases. We like to work with SEO experts that have a wide range of experience so they instinctively know what the best approach is. We used to a number of skill testing questions during an interview but found them to be too easily faked or manipulated. The end result being that we really didn?t know how skilled they were o what their true capabilities were. Currently in all our interviews for open positions we have a number of problem solving assignments that we use to gauge their abilities to look at various situations or problems and develop a method of evaluating the options and deciding the best approach. Some of the tests have several different correct answers but by watching how a person approaches a problem it?s easy to find out if they have problem solving abilities or not.

What do you think is the best type ? freelancing or in-house workers?

The answer is both. You could run an SEO firm with just one or the other but it is more difficult since if you have all in-house staff what happens when a project comes along that requires an unbalanced amount of one type of work or skill set. You either have staff that are not kept busy or they are sometimes overloaded and don?t work effectively.

Advices that you have for people that come for job interview?

I have interviewed hundreds of people over my professional life.

What I dislike: I dislike fakes; people that will tell me exactly what they feel I want to hear just to stand the best chance of getting the job. Even if you get through the interview at hand you will have a hard time hiding your secret and will get discovered in the first few weeks at the new job.

What I like: I like people that research the company that they are interviewing with. It shows you have taken to time to find out something about them and what they do, and it also enables you to decide if you want to work for them. I am always looking for people that want to contribute to the improvement of the company they work for and really care about the clients whom they will be working for. There is no such thing as a good company there is only companies that have good employees or workers. It is the workers and management that make a good company.

How do you think SEO Jobs Finder can help SEO companies?

SEO Jobs Finder is a vertical specific to our industry. SEO Jobs Finder can help by having a central location where SEO companies can look for people with the specific skill set they need to staff their companies.

If there was a process of testing people and evaluating their skills based on a measurable baseline you could guide companies trying to hire personnel based on skill sets and levels they are looking for. People with higher demonstrated skill sets could also demand and receive hire remuneration for their experience and skills.

Jobs from 1st on the List Promotion Inc in SEO Jobs Finder:

> Social Media Marketer at 1st on the List Promotion Inc in Canada

More About 1st on the List Promotion Inc:

Main Services offered by 1st on the List Promotion
Search Engine Friendly Web Design
Organic Search Engine Optimization
Link Building to Improve Link Popularity
Social Book Marking & Networking
PayPerClick Management
Affiliate Program Management

What makes 1st on the List Promotion Different?
SEO is still a young and continuously evolving industry. When search engines first appeared we quickly discovered that making changes to a website?s content and links often provided varying ranking results; rankings for some websites improved while for others, they did not.
Currently we have found there to be four main factors that affect website rankings. These include:
? website content/links
? reputation with the search engine
? web design
? web server configuration
1st on the List addresses all four with services that include detailed analysis of web server configuration and website design to ensure both are search engine compatible. The search engines must first be able to easily access and read a website if any further Search Engine Optimization is to be effective.
While the goal is to make a website as organically compliant as possible, the fundamental philosophy behind this approach is that if a website can concisely portray what it has to offer to the search engines it will have the best opportunity for ranking for its related keyword phrases. Additionally, the more natural a website is, the better it will be able to weather algorithm changes without losing its rankings.

The Firm?s Success Story
Over 50% of 1st on the List staff has been with the company for more than 10 years and I think this stems from our company?s commitment towards continued professional development for our SEO professionals.
In the fall of 2004, three of our staff traveled to Simi Valley, California to complete the Bruce Clay, Inc. SEOToolSet? Certification. In January 2005, 1st on the List became the first SEO Company to attain the SEOToolSet? certification designation. This permits our company the right to promote itself as a Bruce Clay SEOToolSet? Certified Organization. To date, only one other firm has attained this level of certification although many SEO firms have tried.
1st on the list Promotion Inc. from Abbotsford B.C. is identified as an outstanding organic optimization firm in the month of September 2008 by topseos.com. 1st on the list Promotion Inc. was included in the TOPSEOS list for its consistent performance and the superior services rendered to its clients throughout Canada and the United States.

New presentation that talking about how to find SEO Jobs. You can get more info about how to find SEO jobs in the full article. When you ready search now for SEO jobs in SEO Jobs Finder site.

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