You know, something I see quite often with Business Directors is this expectation that SEO problems will be solved simply by hiring an SEO to solve those problems.
This is a massive false expectation that tends to lead to a lot of frustrations and in-fighting at businesses.
Let me say this to you –
Simply hiring an SEO doesn’t solve your SEO problems.
It merely begins the journey of having ownership of your SEO.
Let’s think about this…
What is the thinking when a Business Director comes to the conclusion that an SEO Specialist is needed…?
Oh, and by the way, in this case, I’m using Business Directors as a catch-all for all senior marketing folks that have hiring rights when it comes to SEO – whether they be part of the C-suite, board members, or heads of departments – whoever makes the decision to hire an SEO, regardless of the title, I’m referring to when I say ‘Business Directors’.
So, when an SEO is hired, there is this mentality that the problems of SEO is now resolved because there is now an SEO specialist who is accountable for the channel.
Thinking this way about SEO is the way an investor thinks about their investment – they invest, in whatever they invest in, and sit back to reap the rewards of their investment.
Thinking this way about SEO is a problem because SEO has to be worked.
Yes, SEO is an investment! Yes! Absolutely!
But, at the point of investing in the channel, the channel has to be driven to success, i.e. the channel has to be worked on, built up!
The approach of hiring an SEO and sitting back to reap the rewards of it is a crucial mistake businesses make.
It’s a mistake because the business then fails to steer SEO to success.
Now, I know what you’re thinking…
When I hire an SEO I expect the SEO to drive the channel to success.
Respectfully, this is a mistake!
It’s exactly the type of ‘hire and forget’ investor mentality I’m talking about.
The reality of hiring an SEO to solve your SEO problems is that it will lead to more SEO problems being uncovered. Much more.
You see, SEO can acquire you more traffic. It can. It absolutely can. It’s a traffic acquisition channel.
It’s also a channel that prevents you from losing traffic.
The reality of SEO is that a huge chunk of time, especially in the beginning, is spent preventing a site from regressing in its ability to attain traffic.
This is why SEO is such a unique channel.
It’s a marketing channel. However, prior to it being successful as a marketing channel, it first has to be used as a website development channel.
Before an SEO is onboarded into a business, this awareness of SEO is not present.
It’s only after an SEO is hired that the threats and risks of traffic loss is highlighted.
In order to avoid this reality SEO works in a preventative state.
And in this preventative state, the marketing goals one would use as identity of progress won’t be realised.
SEO will seem to be a channel that is not performing, not hitting KPIs, not being a worthwhile investment.
And then comes the frustration.
What if I told you the success of SEO is largely down to non-SEOs…?
This is another picture that shows the reality of SEO.
Before a site can be optimised, the web team, must be optimised.
By this, I mean the web team must have a basic understanding of SEO.
And by web team, I mean everyone who has a touch point with the website.
This is on an operational level.
On a business level, the more senior figures in a business that has a basic understanding of SEO, the better SEO can perform, commercially.
I mean this!
In this digital age, SEO really needs to be a talking point in board meetings.
SEO is this important.
If you have a website, and you rely on the website to generate revenue for your business, SEO must be given this spotlight.
It’s far more than keywords and rankings, and links.
And, as touched on earlier, it’s actually more than a marketing channel.
Hiring an SEO is simply the start of your SEO journey.
It’s a journey that comes with having a website.
You see why SEO is so important…?
It’s not like other marketing channels where you choose where to invest in – no, no!
SEO is a channel that you must invest in once you choose to have a website.
And once you invest in it, you’ve got to make it work.
You make it work by managing it to success.
A sure-fire way to get frustrated with SEO is to have an investor mindset when you invest in SEO, rather than a management mindset.
When you hire an SEO with a management mindset, you’re readied to remove the barriers you come across in your SEO journey.
One of the biggest barrier, and perhaps, THE biggest barrier, is that of non-SEOs being unaware of how their actions on a site, and for a site, impact the results SEO can attain.
