So, SEO takes a long time to work, right?
You know SEO is a long term investment that can yield unlimited returns the longer you have it running.
But, you know, there are some things you can do to help SEO, which in turn will help you achieve the results you want, and quite possibly, quicker than you may expect.
I want to offer you 3 things you can do to help SEO be a success to your business.
Firstly, for SEO to be a success, you’ve got to get HODs onboard with SEO.
The reality of organic search is that you need non-SEOs to be onboard with making the channel a success.
SEOs alone cannot make the channel grow.
It requires all channel – at least those that have a touchpoint with your website – to aid traffic growth.
And in fact, most of the time, getting all channels in-line with SEO helps prevent further issues from being caused, issues that will create icebergs for the channel.
By having Heads of Departments onboard with SEO, you set a precedence where you have an SEO-first business.
It’s hard to have SEO recommendations implemented when the head of a department doesn’t want their team working on SEO projects.
It’s hard to have SEO working closely with a department when the head of the department doesn’t care to see the channel succeed.
It’s hard to have SEO being proactive with a department when the head of the department does not believe that the success of the channel benefits their department.
Operationally, there is a lot of in-fighting, especially in the beginning, when SEO works with other department.
One of the ways to avoid this is to ensure this type of infighting does not happen on a higher level.
This way, you’ll always have cooler heads that can prevail, rather than heads that infuse the situation.
The second thing you can do to help SEO be a success is to ensure you have resources for SEO-led projects
You see, SEO is barely taken seriously as a marketing channel – in the beginning.
From a business POV, it’s often treated as a tick-box, as something to have when you have a website.
Because of this, SEO can be, and often is, prioritised the least when it comes to resources.
Let’s take the Dev department, as an example.
SEOs require Dev time to implement recs that will help SEO from a technical point of view.
It’s often the case that Dev time is not granted to SEO because their time is occupied with more ‘important’, business requirements.
Business requirements!
SEO requirements are still widely seen as separate to business requirements.
This isn’t good.
The link of how SEO activities impact the business is not always forefront.
It’s not direct.
PPC, for example, is direct. You pay, you play.
The same can be said for other channels – Display, Social, Affiliates – pretty much all other channels.
SEO is different.
SEO is more, you pay, and we’ll see!
The ‘we’ll see’ is dependent on you not having issues that’ll setback the channel.
You want to help out SEO? Ensure there is resource for the channel – especially, Dev resources.
It may be a case that you need two separate streams of resource – one for business functionality, the other for marketing requirements.
When you have one resource stream catering to both, business functionality will always trump marketing needs.
And in a situation like this, SEO will barely be considered.
You want to help SEO thrive, provide the resources they need to have SEO recs implemented.
The third thing you can do to help SEO be a success is to make SEO awareness an always-on agenda within your business.
SEO is an integral part of a website.
It’s so intertwined in a website, if you have a website, you need SEO.
The channel is so unique, it can be affected by any and everyone that has a touchpoint with your website.
Whilst SEOs aim to make improvements, this goal can be regressed.
Momentum can easily be stopped.
And, frankly, this regression is caused by non-SEOs – inadvertently.
A Content Editor deleting an SEO-campaign page, for example, can have such a high impact on organic search – it can cause a high value page from losing significant traffic.
Yes. Just from this one, seemingly innocent, act.
For this reason, you’ve got to ensure that all who have a touchpoint with your website are aware of how their department, their individual jobs, can impact the performance of SEO.
As I said, most SEO issues are caused by non-SEOs.
Having non-SEOs in a position where they limit, or even avoid, causing SEO issues will help the channel make improvements. Consistently.
When you’re able to achieve this, and your competitors are not, guess what happens to your search visibility…?
You see…?
SEO, to some extent, is about who is able to implement the best strategy, whilst limiting their risks.
The actions non-SEOs make can be a risk to your SEO.
By making them aware of this, you mitigate this risk.
Investing in SEO is great. It’s a commitment that’ll be fruitful in the years to come.
But bear this in mind –
It’ll take more than SEOs to make SEO a success.
You wanna help SEO get you results, quicker than you may expect? Facilitate SEO to operate in a streamlined process.
