Wendy Weber on Executive Recruiting

According to a piece by Danny Goodwin in Search Engine Watch, there are reports that websites have started to see a recovery from the drop in traffic that ensued from Google’s Panda Update: click here.

Here are specific changes that were implemented that resulted in a resurgence of search traffic and higher Google rankings:

-Firing one SEO firm and hiring another company to acquire backlinks. We now know that low quality links can hurt your rankings.
-Hiring four copywriters to write original, SEO-friendly product descriptions. Websites must decide what keywords they want to rank for, and write copy around those keywords that is unique, topic-focused, well-written, and checked for spelling and grammar.
-Restructuring bloated pages to increase page load speed. Google has been preaching about making the web faster for two years, most recently in April releasing Page Speed Online.
-Duplicate content has been removed.
Using the canonical tag to return one preferred URL location (e.g.,www.example.com vs. example.com/ vs. www.example.com/index.html vs. example.com/home.asp.
-Making “better use” of 301 redirects (moved permanently).
-Adding noindex meta tags to SERP-like pages and tag clouds.
-Improving page load times.

In recent weeks, we have had several new clients provide us with a valuable tool in launching a successful search for talent: they have shared specific information about candidates that they have already spoken to about open positions.

Although these candidates fit the profile of an “ideal fill for the position”, for one reason or another, they were unable to come to terms that resulted in a hire.

By blocking out identifying personal information, and sharing the resumes of these candidates with us, we gain a clear picture of what a “bulls-eye” presentation would look like as we initiate our search for talent. It is tremendously helpful, as sometimes a position description – or even the notes taken from our conversation with the client before we start speaking with prospects – doesn’t fully illustrate the clients vision of an ideal hire. No time is wasted presenting candidates that match the bullet points on the position description, but do not capture the essence of what the client is “really looking for.” By seeing the composite picture of what type of a candidate the client would actually be prepared to extend an offer to, we can hit the ground running and conduct a much more informed search.

I was asked by DM News to comment on salary negotiation for direct marketers.

My piece, entitled How to Find the Middle Ground Between Salary Negotiation and Value, appears in this month’s issue of DM News: click here.