Let me ask you something, something I want you to think about –
Do your competitors support their SEOs more than you do?
I want you to really consider this question.
If the answer to it is yes, then perhaps it is only a matter of time before they outperform you in the SERPs.
Let’s delve into this.
I’ve been very fortunate in my career to work agency-side, client-side and now as a consultant.
I can tell you a big difference between brands that succeed in the SERPs versus those that perform subpar comes down to the level of support a brand provides to their SEOs.
You see, the typical way of treating SEO, within a business, is to have the board buy into the channel.
Once the business agrees to invest in SEO, the channel is left to its own.
The investment in SEO is seen as the end goal, rather than the beginning of a journey – a long, never-ending one.
SEO is isolated, barely incorporated into the marketing mix.
This is the fate of the channel for a very long time – I’m talking months to years, here.
In this state, the channel can only do so much.
Why?
Because, in reality, the channel requires implementation in order to flourish.
This is a key term, here – im-ple-men-ta-tion.
This is where the channel must (must) collaborate with other channels, departments, teams, in order to have changes carried out.
These changes are the improvements needed to realise traffic growth with the channel.
Well, how do you intend to realise these changes if SEO is isolated from other channels, departments, teams?
How to you expect the channel to flourish if, for example, Website Editors do not know what the equity pages for SEO are…?
How do you expect the channel to grow…?
The reality of a business investing in SEO is that SEO is brought in to battle with other channels, departments, teams.
And it is SEO, yes, SEO, who are the odd ones out.
It’s the one channel that non-SEOs find hard to grasp.
As a result, they stay away from it.
Any opposition with SEO usually sees SEO losing out.
This is why budget is an issue.
This is why implementation time is an issue.
This is why support is an issue.
Well, if you’re not providing SEO with the support the channel needs, and your competitors are providing their SEOs with the support they need, what do you think is going to happen with their SEO performance, and what do you think is going to happen to yours?
SEO, you see, is a lot more than optimisation of your website.
In some ways, in many ways, it’s optimising your departments, teams, individuals to work together for the betterment of your website.
As you aim to achieve this, your competitors aim to do the same.
SEO is who does so the quickest.
The typical way that SEO is treated, isolated to firefight, is not the ideal way the channel should be treated.
It isn’t until SEOl is incorporated with other channels, departments, teams that the channel really starts to perform.
Why is this incorporation essential?
Because, as I like to say, it takes more than SEOs to make SEO a success.
It takes involvement of non-SEOs on an operational level, it takes involvement on a board level.
Operationally, everyone involved in shaping your website needs an awareness of SEO, if not a collaboration with it – where appropriate.
On a board level, SEO requires support that goes beyond simply agreeing to invest in the channel.
Investment in SEO is essential. This is a must, right?
What’s also required is the support of the management of SEO.
This is where I’ve seen businesses struggle with their SEO because it’s the unseen.
Rankings of keywords is visible. However, the treatment of SEO prior to the visibility of keywords in the SERPs, is not.
Consider SEO in the management of it prior to the visible performance reports.
Consider the management of SEO alongside other channels, departments, teams, individuals.
Consider the fact that SEO requires the corporation of non-SEOs in order to have changes implemented.
Now consider the dynamic that SEO typically finds itself in within a business.
Typically, this is a channel that is viewed as a dark art.
A channel that no one knows about.
A channel that is seen as odd and too complicated to be given the time or attention.
SEO is a channel that requires the collaboration of non-SEOs but yet is seen as odd and too complicated to be given one’s time and attention.
This regard of SEO within your business is influenced by the authority of the board.
The influence of the board carries weight.
The way the board treats and regards SEO comes with a command of the way non-SEOs should treat and regard SEO.
If you’re not supporting the management of SEO, why would anyone else support SEO, operationally?
Why would an individual, a team, a department cooperate with SEO?
Why would they care to succeed with the channel?
When the board of your closest competitor supports the management of their SEO, and you do not, it is only a matter of time before they outperform you in the SERPs.
SEO is a lot more than the optimisation of one’s website.
In some ways, in many ways, it’s departments, teams, individuals collaborating with SEO as influenced by the support of the channel from the board.
SEO is who does this the best.
