Survey: 18% of Search Engine Marketers Believe Their Job Makes the World a Worse Place

Caid Christiansen• July, 22 2015

18%.

That’s the number of search engine marketers who, according to a recent PayScale survey, believe that “my job makes the world a worse place.” 25% of fast food workers said the same thing. SEM strategists were tied with merchandise planning managers, valets, and legal assistants at 18%.

Why the hell do it if you don’t believe your job as an SEM makes the world a better place?

While PayScale’s definition of search engine marketer is quite broad, the survey still points out a problem. The industry definition of SEM and SEO includes the best of the best and the worst of the worst. At least according to this definition, firms that boast content marketing as a way to increase search engine rankings and web traffic are lumped under the same umbrella as companies selling backlinks or otherwise black-hatting their way around Google search results.

That’s an issue. The two may technically be within the same industry, but they’re hardly the same in terms of the value they bring to an organization.

We hope, as Search Engine Land does, that the search engine marketers who say their job makes the world a worse place are the same ones selling bad tactics as a way to improve SEO. If true content marketers and strategic marketing agencies are part of the audience giving that same answer, we have to ask: why bother?

If your search engine marketing, content, social media, marketing, and advertising tactics aren’t improving your business–making your world a better place–then what’s the point? Why even make an effort in the first place?

If there’s one thing this survey says to us, it’s that there are still many search engine marketers–who are technically in an industry adjacent to ours–who don’t take pride in their work. That’s something to look out for as you go through your outsourcing process and look for a company you can trust.

Are you confident that your marketing partner is helping your business and making the world a better place?