BUILDING FOR SEO WITHOUT A DEDICATED

RESOURCEMissi Carmen

VP, SEO

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1. There is no way we can address all of your requests for go live?2. I didn’t know you needed to be involved.3. Do you need to be involved?4. We didn’t have SEO include in the original project scope5. I don’t know SEO so I didn’t include it in the project brief.6. We went with that product name because it was “brand-right”. Who cares

what the customers call it?7. I just don’t understand the value of SEO8. Can you teach me quick SEO?9. Can you put some numbers behind that?10.They’ll never go for it.11.This is how it’s always been done.

SEO BROKEN RECORDDo any of these statements sound familiar?

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• Misconception: – SEO is a job description, a person or a team.

• Reality: – SEO is a process. – SEO is a team culture. – SEO is any input that engines use to rank

pages. – SEO is anything that people or technology

do to influence ranking elements.

Ultimately, everyone is responsible for and can contribute to SEO.

COMMON CHALLENGE FOR ALL ORGANIZATIONSSEO is still the least understood area of marketing today

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• My Background:– Marketing meets IT.– ESTJ (Extravert, Sensing, Thinking, Judging)

• ESTJ is outspoken, a person of principles, which are readily expressed. ESTJ is not afraid to stand up for what he/she believes is right even in the face of overwhelming odds.

• My Work:– Construction Engineer

• Deals with the designing, planning, construction, and management of infrastructures (highways, bridges, roads)

– Detective• Collects forensic evidence to solve crimes.

Interviews informants, suspects and witnesses. • Keeps detailed records. Follow up on leads. Prepare

investigative reports.

MY STORYWho is Missi? What is she really like?

http://milhouseinc.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/Construction-Engineering-large-July-5.jpeg

http://s392.photobucket.com/user/DryKid/media/NoirDetective.jpg.html

SEO WITHIN THE ORGANIZATION

Who has time to embrace SEO?

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• Study*: Respondents asked to identify all of the job functions they were involved with. 

• Findings: “Most search marketers perform an average of five job functions in addition to their core responsibilities.”

Takeaway: Many SEO responsibilities that are successful come with increasing appreciation and awareness within the organization.

WEARING MULTIPLE HATS Have our responsibilities and priorities changed?

http://moz.com/blog/4-essential-seo-infographics

Fight-ing for

SEO Channel,

Voice, Bud-get; 65%

Surviv-ing; 6%

So-cial Media; 6%

SEO Tac-tics; 25%

How SEOs Really Spend Their Time

*2006 Study by iProspect and Juniper Research

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WHERE IN THE WORLD IS SEOOrganization placement could impact SEO productivity and awareness.

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http://www.conductor.com/blog/2011/08/thoughts-on-where-seo-belongs-in-the-organization/http://ww2.conductor.com/rs/conductor2/images/Conductor-Why_2013_Year_SEO.pdf

• 2011: SEO in Marketing, Product, Technology and Web Operations

— SEO on Product teams more successful

• 2012: SEO has matured in the organization, with increased resources, budget and technology adoption

— 16% had SEO in its own department

— 65% say natural search is influences revenue strategy

(SEW & Conductor study “Why 2013 is the Year of the SEO”)

MAKING THE CASEShifting Organization Perspectives to Include SEO

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1. Prepare monthly reporting (high-level)

2. Conduct keyword research– Striking distance and emerging

3. Stay on top of duplicate content issues

4. Maintain good site structure & speed

5. Local SEO (if applicable)6. Conduct or get a site audit

– Create an easy to read scorecard or roadmap of current SEO on/off-page priorities

ATTACK THE LOW-HANGING FRUITHigh value things you can do in the least amount of time

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SEO maintenance

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1. SEO Office Hours: Great way for people to come and ask questions. – Be the guru! Be the go-to person. – HOW SEO impacts them and WHAT can be done about it

collaboratively.

2. SEO News Resource: Filter relevant news, add your spin and tailor it for team priorities or business goals. – Send out SEO articles in-house.– Outline HOW changes impact departments and WHAT can be done

about it.

3. SEO Education Activities: Invest time in regular SEO activities to keep the topic alive.– Meetings with a Purpose, SEO Task Force (Seasonal), Training, SEO

Coffee Talk

BUILD AN SEO EDUCATION PROGRAMNo introverts allowed! Start on an SEO quest.

SEO awareness

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Focus: Five Ws (who, what, where, when, why)Schedule: Piggy back on existing team meetings

SEO Coffee Talk Agenda (example):1. New “Pigeon” Algorithm (impacts to Retail, Social & Local SEO)2. Foursquare to Swarm & Yelps New Video Feature (impacts Social &

Retail)3. Google Adds Images to Quick Answers (impacts Media, Investors, Social

& Retail)4. Paid Search Spend in Q2, Mobile Up 98% (by Covario) (impacts

Marketing)5. SEO Strategy: What Is Really Needed (impacts everyone)

SAMPLE SEO EDUCATION PROGRAMSEO Coffee Talk: 15-minute download of what happened in the world of Search and how those changes impact Teams.

SEO audience

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1. Get out of your chair!

2. Identify key stakeholders: Ask questions and listen.– Share the SEO why behind the what, because understanding builds a sense of

ownership.

3. Discover internal advocates: Those an interest can be your allies, eyes and ears.– Make them co-trainers. Give them kudos and brag about a job well done to their

boss.

4. Get SEO involved: Early in development process. – Example: If UX/UI team has a style guide, ask if you can incorporate SEO guidelines

for internal linking, ALT text, and headlines.

5. Create department internal “aids”: Documentation or best practices early on to avoid repeating mistakes.– Jessica Bowman, founder and CEO of SEO In-House uses the word “aids” not

checklists because they are not always definitive.

BUILD AN INTERNAL ARMY OF SEO’SCreate goal alignment to help others understand and embrace the impact of SEO.

SEO impact

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1. Align with Department Goals: – Know what matters to the business.– Map projects to goals/KPIs by presenting

SEO techniques and initiatives that can help.

– Position projects that benefit the customer or other teams before someone has a chance to push back on a pure SEO project.

2. Align with Reporting:– Know what matters to the business…again!– Choose tools that give you actionable info

and show executives how SEO initiatives contributed to the bottom line.

– Synch SEO reporting into other teams metrics. Make your job easier not harder.

DON’T ALWAYS PITCH YOUR PROJECTS AS “SEO” Building a case for that dedicated resource

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1. Great for Short-term projects: — Wireframes, code review, copywriting, link building,

training.

2. Outsource Recommendations:– Create a relationship with an agency that offloads

workload.

3. Outsourcing cons: – Dependent on individuals and agency turnover.

– Limited access to full business scope or access based on your availability.

Follow through: You’re going to get busy. Don’t assume that just because you’ve hired

them that things are being handled well.

OUTSOURCING & CONTRACTORSAn extension of your SEO initiative.

“top three reasons for using an outside provider for search engine optimization as opposed to doing it in-house are lack of in-house skills (44%), too-time consuming (41%) and lack of in-house tools and technology (38%).”

SEMPO’s 2011 State of Search Marketing Report

MAKING THE CASEShifting Executive Buy-In to Include SEO

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1. Executive sponsorship for building SEO team– Educate and empower

your Executive Sponsor with high-level SEO insights that are or will direct impact a project, a team or a campaign.

– Their initial impression with you and SEO is key to the success of the program sponsorship.

EXECUTIVE BUY-IN: 5 KEYS TO CREDIBILITYGaining the channel recognition for the needed SEO resource

SEMPO’s 2011 report: Challenges for Managing SEO

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2. Use objective measures for comparisons (Goobly-gook!)– Score campaigns or business lines with a search score using

measurements based on competitive research, geo, site performance, pre & post.

– Prove the SEO impact to the business by translating SEO initiatives into revenues or success metrics

3. Establish concrete milestones throughout the project/campaign– Provides team and executives with paced channel performance

against established objectives. If SEO succeeds, attention is gained.

– Visible progress and success measurement are critical to communicate expectedly, on a consistent basis; not by request.

EXECUTIVE BUY-IN: 5 KEYS TO CREDIBILITYGaining the channel recognition for the needed SEO resource

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4. Make SEO part of the regular workflow with ease– Understand current workflow within other departments and merge

SEO activities into their existing process.– Incorporate your SEO reporting with their dashboard for an all up

executive view.

5. Create a sense of SEO comradery– A little competition never hurt anyone! SEO achievements that

gain the recognition of a C-Suite with a little fun can go a long way.– Even weekly report cards on performance with gold stars for top

performing business units brings a new take on weekly reports.• Example: Zebra report card

EXECUTIVE BUY-IN: 5 KEYS TO CREDIBILITYGaining the channel recognition for the needed SEO resource

TAKEAWAYSAll good things must come to an end

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1. SEO Success– Much of SEO success lies in the perception of the current SEO

program and the current resources at play… evaluate yourself

2. Uphill Battle – Embrace that SEO is never easy. Many teams face a battle when

looking to add a dedicated resources. – Reach out to your SEO community for feedback and support.

3. Structure and Workflow – Make SEO part of everyone’s jobs. Get SEO involved early and find

your internal army (product managers, developers, key stakeholders).

4. Avoid SEO Pitfalls– Not speaking up. Not communicating wins & losses. Spread the

love to those who have helped you succeed!

ESTABLISHING THE CASE FOR A DEDICATED RESOURCESumming up the components to build a case.

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5. Be Aware of Politics!– Be aware of it and either try to avoid the conflict OR…– Bring organization to the table and merge ideas.

6. Align with Departments Goals – How they are measured? Don’t forget to explain the opportunity

SEO offers.

7. SEO Channel Contribution– Focus on the HOW, the approach taken, the impact and WHAT was

done.– Show traffic improvement can be attributed to particular tasks or

projects, give those teams credit when it’s appropriate publicly.

8. Executive Perception – Show management the opportunities and competition in natural

search.

EVERYONE UNDERSTANDS NUMBERSBuilding a case for that dedicated resource

MISSI CARMEN, VP OF SEOmcarmen@mtb.comlinkedin.com/in/missicarmen@missmktr