“Eyes,” Not ROI, Used to Evaluate Search Engine Employee Performance

More marketers use traffic generated and position in search engine results than sales and return on investment when evaluating search employee performance, according to a new study.

Fifty-one percent of employees involved with their company’s search functions said the amount of Web traffic generated is considered, while another 49% indicated their search engine ranking was a factor. In contrast, only 34% evaluate total sales as part of their search employees’ performances, 26% consider the number of leads generated for products sold online, and 23% take into account leads generated for products sold offline.

Rob Murray, president of search marketing firm iProspect, which hosted the study, was “taken aback” by these results.

“We expected that business results would be the big factor in search marketer performance evaluation since this discipline has significant costs associated with it – costs that organizations would ostensibly need to justify in order to continue investment in it,” Murray said.