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HARRY’S COMMENTS: We’re working with a multichannel retailer in its search for a proven Senior Manager of SEO based in Metro Houston, Texas. If you’re a city-dweller wondering “Why would I ever move to Houston,” there are two great answers.

The FIRST answer is here …

The SECOND (and best) answer relates to our client, who makes it easy for everyone to enjoy the outdoors.

At each of its 200+ locations, the firm stocks a seemingly endless assortment of apparel, footwear, hunting and fishing products, camping equipment, grills and patio sets, plus tons of sports and recreation stuff at everyday low prices. They opened their first store in 1938 and currently employ 22,000 people in 16 states throughout the Midwest, South and Southeast.

Perhaps you’ve shopped there. (Wink, wink.)

The fact is, we are sanitizing our commentary only because we don’t want job-scraping BS sites like Jooble to repost this listing on Linkedin and elsewhere. This is a great client based just 30 minutes from downtown Houston, straight as the crow flies out I-10. We’ve closed many searches for this client and can honestly say they’re amazing.

About the Role

This is a great gig with a first-rate team. Management is mostly new, the firm has a new CEO, and there’s lots of dry, straight, well-lit road ahead. This job would be ideal for an up-and-coming SEO Manager from a matrixed organization with a vast online/offline catalog with dozens of categories and thousands of brands.

Like Wayfare, for example.

On any given day you’ll be integrating white-hat SEO into all customer-facing aspects of the business. Yes, you’ll need to do reasonably technical things — but mostly this job is about discussing things like integrated content marketing and technical SEO with internal and external stakeholders, including IT nerds who might be more technical than you.

Historically, this client has not had huge success with SEO. The firm is under-penetrated with organic traffic — so Job One for you and your two direct reports will be to partner with Marketing, UX and IT to make things better. Among other things, your team will be using Google Analytics, SEM Rush for keyword reporting and Screaming Frog to monitor and improve the site. We’re looking for that perfect blend of technical expert and business person who knows how to “work a building.”

You won’t believe how much we know about this search!

My partner Allan Seibert and I spent 75 minutes on the phone with this client’s hiring manager teasing out exactly what you’ll need to KNOW and DO to hit the ground running in this role. Some of the things I can share with highly qualified candidates include …

1. The “real” background requirements for this position, along with the top five things all resumes MUST have to be considered for the role.
2. The top five problems that exist due to this position being open. These are the little brush fires you will be expected to put out during your first month on the job. Every SEO job has these — and this one’s no different.
3. What your average day/week will look like in this role. There’s what you read in the standard SEO job posting … then there’s reality. We’ve got the reality.
4. The leading and lagging KPI’s that will determine your success in this role. In a nutshell: How you keep score as the firm’s new Senior Manager of SEO.
5. The major projects you’ll need to complete by Day 100 to be considered a home-run in this position. We’ve got the lowdown on how you can plug-and-play and drive REAL value in this SEO job.

I have a massive amount of proprietary intel to share with qualified candidates. My industry research for this assignment exceeds 100 pages! Be sure to TEXT Allan Seibert at (706) 318-1196 for this info. Or simply use the email link when you apply for the role below.

View Harry Joiner’s profile

REQUIREMENTS:

• Bachelor’s degree in relevant field of study or equivalent years of related work experience.
• 5-7 years SEO-specific experience
• Must have data analysis skills and ability to make data-driven decisions and comprehensive analyses of program performance
• Superior communication and interpersonal skills. Ability to work well and drive strategies across functional areas.
• Solid experience in web analytics (Adobe/Omniture, Coremetrics, Google Analytics, etc.)
• MS Excel advanced user
• Deep experience with SEO Tools (SEM Rush, Google Search Console, Screaming Frog, Moz)
• Proficiency in HTML, CSS and web site coding languages. A thorough understanding of how search engine crawlers and web sites work.
• Ability to work with various types of data to develop and analyze trends and insights
• High attention to detail, excellent organization skills and efficient problem solver.
• Willingness to learn and follow company policies, procedures and safety rules.
• Duties may change and associates may be required to perform other duties as assigned
• Acceptable level of hearing and vision to perform job duties
• Willingness to adhere to company work hours, policies, procedures and rules governing professional staff behavior

RESPONSIBILITIES:

• Create and implement strategic action plans; manage team members, measure and analyze program results, and iterate on program changes to optimize results
• Manage cross-functionally between Marketing, IT, Merchandising, Analytics and 3rd party vendors to optimize the firm’s SEO investments.
• Set priorities with inputs from a variety of constituents. Clearly articulates those priorities with strong analysis and solid business cases.
• Lead a team and vendors to maximize / optimize SEO content development, Link development, On-page audits and implementations,
• Train team members
• Perform keyword research, mapping and analysis
• Identify search marketing opportunities
• Leverage performance and web analytics data to prioritize next steps for short- and long-term planning purposes

UPDATE: THIS SEARCH IS CLOSED.