9 TIPS ON MANAGING IN-HOUSE SEO
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The document provides 9 tips for managing SEO as a solo practitioner or small team. The tips include becoming the in-house SEO expert by sharing knowledge, training others, leveraging tools, building relationships with key stakeholders, defining SEO processes, providing detailed guidelines, outsourcing non-core tasks, and setting company-wide SEO goals. Managing SEO alone requires evangelizing SEO principles throughout the organization to distribute responsibilities and ensure SEO remains a priority.
9 TIPS ON MANAGING IN-HOUSE SEO
- 1. THE ONE-MAN BAND 9 TIPS ON MANAGING IN-HOUSE SEO WITH A TEAM OF ONE
- 2. ALLISON FABELLA Twitter: @alli12 • Digital Audience Development Manager • The Atlanta Journal-Constitution – The south east’s largest newspaper – One of the top 10 regional papers in the US • Manage all strategic and tactical SEO & social – All done solo
- 3. DO YOU EVER FEEL LIKE THIS GUY? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uXMuWi0dUBc
- 4. FACT: Over 40% of in-house SEO’s * operate without a staff *SEMPO 2010 Salary Survey
- 5. QUICK SURVEY
- 6. 9 TIPS 1) Be the guru 2) Deputize your champions 5) Buddy up with key players 6) Define SEO in the workflow 3) Train, train, and train some more 7) Provide checklists 4) Leverage tools 8) Outsource 9) Set company goals
- 7. TIP #1 BE THE GURU
- 8. DEFINITION Guru /ˈgooroo/ (noun): A teacher; ͝ ͞ intellectual guide
- 10. EMAIL EXAMPLE
- 13. HOLD SEO OFFICE HOURS
- 14. TOOT YOUR HORN... & YOUR COLLEAGUES’
- 16. ID YOUR CHAMPIONS • Look for folks who: • Send you Search or social articles • Utilizes your SEO office hours • Like to talk Search • Your eyes, ears, and advocates • Every office has them
- 17. DEPUTIZE YOUR CHAMPIONS • Make them co-trainers • Involve in SEO – Forward them articles • Make them feel special • Reward them • Publicly send kudos; CC their boss
- 18. EXAMPLE: HOOK YOUR CHAMP 2. DEPUTIZE 1. IDENTIFY 3. REWARD
- 19. TIP #3 TRAIN, TRAIN, TRAIN (... and train some more)
- 20. Must be MANDATORY NO BROWN BAGS!
- 21. TRAINING • EVERYONE gets SEO 101 primer • Crucial stakeholders get additional tailored training • Dev, designers, project mangers, content producers • Peer to peer training is effective – Tap your champions • Bring in guest speakers & consultants • “SEO” developers, designers, content producers • In-house experts (i.e. Jessica Bowman • Leverage webinars, videos (Fishkin’s White Board Friday)
- 22. PEER TO PEER TRAINING
- 23. TIP #4 USE ENTERPRISE TOOLS
- 24. ENTERPISE TOOLS • Customizable • Scalable • Dashboards • Should make your job easier – not harder
- 25. ENTERPRISE TOOL FEATURES • • • • • • • Keyword research Backlink analysis Ranking data (universal search) Workflow management Analytics & Reporting Competitive data Social media integration
- 26. TIP #5 MAKE KEY PLAYERS YOUR BEST FRIENDS
- 27. FRIEND #1: PROJECT/PRODUCT MANAGER • Your first line of defense • Can help make sure SEO makes it into and REMAINS in the project cycle • Controls the meeting invite list
- 28. FRIEND #2: LEAD DEVELOPER • Holds the keys to the code • Can watch for critical SEO elements • Tip: Give them the keys to Webmaster Tools accounts • Provides ownership of SEO
- 29. FRIEND #3: LEAD DESIGNER/UX • Can create placeholders for SEO elements in wireframes • Can combat SEO-killing design concepts • i.e. HTML5 vs. Flash • Can prevent spider trap site architecture
- 30. TIP #6 DEFINE SEO IN WORKFLOW
- 31. SEO IN THE WORKFLOW • Written documentation of SEO in lifecycle • Saves time, frustration, money • Work with project managers & developers • Training is key
- 32. CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIE SEO (Courtesy of SEOMoz)
- 34. EVERYONE GETS GUIDELINES • Developers: – – – – Details about 301 vs. 302 redirects Canonical code Robots.txt syntax - Do’s and Don’ts XML sitemap syntax • Designers / UX specialists – Wireframe examples • Content producers – Good AND bad examples of SEO-friendly content
- 35. TIP #8 OUTSOURCE
- 36. OUTSOURCING • Good for workload “swells” • Use for quickie needs • Keyword research, content creation • Use one-man (or woman!) shops • Lower cost, no long-term obligations
- 37. TIP #9 SET COMPANY-WIDE SEO GOALS
- 38. COMPANY-WIDE GOALS • ALL have skin in the game • Helps create an SEO culture • Relieves the sole burden on the SEO • Less likely to have SEO requirements bumped from project list
- 39. FINAL THOUGHTS
- 40. FINAL THOUGHTS • You can’t do it alone! • The buck STARTS – not stops – with you • Everyone in your organization needs to own SEO – Together you succeed or fail • Your job is to: *Train* *Evangelize* *Deputize* *Delegate* *Support* *Inspire*... and do some SEO too
- 41. THANK YOU ALLISON FABELLA @alli12 Digital Audience Development Manager The Atlanta Journal-Constitution afabella@ajc.com
Editor's Notes
- #22: Tell about job candidates