9 TIPS ON MANAGING IN-HOUSE SEO WITH A TEAM OF ONE

THE ONE-MAN BANDTHE ONE-MAN BAND

ALLISON FABELLATwitter: @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

DO YOU EVER FEEL LIKE THIS GUY?DO YOU EVER FEEL LIKE THIS GUY?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uXMuWi0dUBc

FACT:

Over 40% of in-house SEO’s operate without a staff *

*SEMPO 2010 Salary Survey

QUICK SURVEY

9 TIPS1) Be the guru

2) Deputize your champions

3) Train, train, and train some more

4) Leverage tools

5) Buddy up with key players

6) Define SEO in the workflow

7) Provide checklists

8) Outsource

9) Set company goals

BE THE GURU

TIP #1 TIP #1

DEFINITION

Guru / gooroo/ (noun): A teacher; ˈ ͝ ͞intellectual guide

Regularly EMAIL SEO articles

EMAIL EXAMPLE

Contribute to company NEWSLETTER

NEWSLETTER EXAMPLE

HOLD SEO OFFICE HOURS

TOOT YOUR HORN...& YOUR COLLEAGUES’

DEPUTIZE CHAMPIONS

TIP #2TIP #2

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

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

EXAMPLE: HOOK YOUR CHAMP

1. IDENTIFY

3. REWARD2. DEPUTIZE

TRAIN, TRAIN, TRAIN(... and train some more)

TIP #3TIP #3

Must be MANDATORY NO BROWN BAGS!

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)

PEER TO PEER TRAINING

USE ENTERPRISE TOOLS

TIP #4TIP #4

ENTERPISE TOOLS

• Customizable

• Scalable

• Dashboards

• Should make your job easier – not harder

ENTERPRISE TOOL FEATURES

• Keyword research• Backlink analysis• Ranking data (universal search)• Workflow management• Analytics & Reporting• Competitive data• Social media integration

MAKE KEY PLAYERS YOUR BEST FRIENDS

TIP #5TIP #5

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

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

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

DEFINE SEO IN WORKFLOW

TIP #6TIP #6

SEO IN THE WORKFLOW

• Written documentation of SEO in lifecycle

• Saves time, frustration, money

• Work with project managers & developers• Training is key

CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIE SEO

(Courtesy of SEOMoz)

PROVIDE DETAILED CHECKLISTS

TIP #7TIP #7

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

OUTSOURCE

TIP #8TIP #8

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

SET COMPANY-WIDE SEO GOALS

TIP #9TIP #9

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

FINAL THOUGHTSFINAL THOUGHTS

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

THANK YOUTHANK YOU

ALLISON FABELLA

@alli12Digital Audience Development Manager

The Atlanta Journal-Constitutionafabella@ajc.com