SEO Project Management: Determine Growth and Manage SEO Projects
Posted: Sat Dec 28, 2024 6:42 am
Jenn Mathews , SEO specialist for over 20 years, currently Groupon's Senior Manager , reveals the four pillars that an SEO must have to be successful within a company.
Table of Contents
What are the four pillars of SEO within a business organization?
SEO Mitigation: Error Handling and Technical SEO
SEO Analysis/Reporting: Calculating Hypotheses and Reporting Successes
SEO Project Management: Determine Growth and Manage SEO Projects
Relationship Building: Supporting the SEO team in their work and in their work with other teams
The roles that an SEO specialist can play in a company
The first thing that immediately catches the eye from the very interesting article published on Searchenginejournal.com is that Jenn Mathews has noticed how there has been a clear shift in the requirements for SEO job positions in recent years, especially in large companies.
Companies are realizing that being successful in SEO isn’t just about being competitive on the technical side or identifying growth opportunities.
In 2019, companies realized they needed enterprise SEOs who could communicate effectively with executives and a diverse team (technical, creative, some who know SEO and some who have no idea) all sitting together around a table in the same room.
While all this may seem normal, in truth large international companies (and Italy unfortunately still has a lot to learn in this respect) have been looking for SEO specialists with deeper analytical and technical skills for a few years now, technicians who dedicate themselves to indexing and visibility and who have, for example, skills in SQL , who can analyze large data flows and who are able to independently resolve problems that arise from dynamic sites such as:
Find and fix duplicate content .
Knowing how to manage thin content .
Identify on your own which products or content work or don't sell.
When she worked as an SEO manager at Nordstrom , Jenn Mathews planned this business model by restructuring her team to fit these requirements.
What are the four pillars of SEO within a business organization?
SEO Mitigation: Error Handling and Technical SEO
Mathews uses the word “mitigation” deliberately because he has found that a good percentage of an SEO’s time in large companies is spent identifying problems after a project has been launched.
For example, having to go back to the engineering team and request that bugs be filed so they can make the necessary fixes.
If only the problems had been identified before launch, the company could have saved time, effort and money.
The SEO responsible for mitigation works with engineering teams and project or product owners early in the project and remains involved after final implementation.
The importance of this modus operandi is well understood because all those who in various capacities are involved in the project understand the nuances of SEO and how and what an SEO must do, such as raising doubts or proposing ideas before making final decisions, saving the company time and optimizing efforts in the long term.
SEO Analysis/Reporting: Calculating Hypotheses and Reporting Successes
Every company needs to understand how much SEO plays a key role in bringing traffic to a web project and how much the company monetizes from this revenue.
When it comes to reporting, there are complexities in SEO that other channels don’t have. If only because Google doesn’t provide a site’s referring keywords from organic search like it does with paid search.
Understanding that Google organic traffic is X percent of all search traffic and that it translates into X dollars in revenue, through accurate analysis of search traffic for each individual keyword will allow companies to have a better understanding of how to operate from the beginning.
This is why a company should always know in real time:
How and what is the single SEO strategy producing.
Which strategies are working best and which are working worst.
Where there might be opportunities for improvement.
A good SEO who can do these calculations and create detailed reports to provide to the entire team is an important part of the great corporate marketing strategy that passes through the SEO strategy .
While it is important to make corrections and report on the data produced by SEO strategies, equally important is business growth.
Identifying the hottest topics in searches and the gaps that need to be filled that have come to light from current and/or past strategies is imperative to the success of a good corporate SEO team.
A project manager is responsible for identifying all australia emai list large-scale activities that impact most websites.
Among the many SEO project management activities, the most important are:
Review of the design and content of the entire online project.
Connecting together the many internal activities that concern different aspects of the website.
The SEO project manager must focus all his time and energy on ensuring that the teams are committed to meeting the delivery dates and maintaining proper communication with each other.
Relationship Building: Supporting the SEO team in their work and in their work with other teams
The final piece of the business puzzle when it comes to SEO is the ability to build and engage in effective collaboration between various departments within the company.
Jenn Mathews always advises the SEO team to start working by following the order of the first three points highlighted above, and only then move on to the last step of the 4 pillars which is to relate directly with the team leader who is in charge of the realization of the entire project.
Throughout the planning process, it is always a good idea to encourage the SEO team manager or director to build relationships with other teams and instill in each member of the group the overall vision of the project.
Build active relationships between engineering, legal and public relations and the base from which to start.
The SEO specialist touches every aspect of the organization and, at some point, will need to ask for support from one or more of these teams.
Having a good, solid relationship with members of each team will allow you to get buy-in for SEO initiatives faster and more efficiently, leading to overall growth of your SEO strategy and more importantly, your entire company.
The roles that an SEO specialist can play in a company
The interesting part, as Jenn Mathews points out, about the roles that an SEO specialist can play within a company is that they can be heterogeneous and comparable to those of a program manager.
Clearly the roles are defined by the mission and objectives of each individual company but more generally we can say that a corporate SEO could cover, for example, some of these tasks:
Communicate effectively across internal channels and teams.
Evangelizing SEO through education and documentation.
Work with teams to prioritize SEO strategies.
Report SEO activity to key stakeholders and identify growth opportunities.
Vendor management (tools, agencies, consultants, etc.).
Stay up to date with the latest SEO trends.
In a way, these roles cover the four pillars of becoming a successful corporate SEO in one SEO consultant role.
As the person in the role becomes more successful, the teams will inevitably become more cohesive to support their business. Eventually, this will develop into one strong team and the corporate SEO will become a key presence within the company that will actively contribute to the success of the entire business.
That’s why Jenn Mathews decided to take on the challenge at Groupon. The company has a strong SEO management team, covering every aspect in different roles that have been widely defined over the years. This is what works for Groupon and allows the team to develop key roles around the four pillars.
Some companies even have SEO roles and teams that are moving away from marketing and instead toward SME roles, or diversified IC roles across engineering, content/creative, reporting, and marketing, then meeting from time to time to review the situation.
Table of Contents
What are the four pillars of SEO within a business organization?
SEO Mitigation: Error Handling and Technical SEO
SEO Analysis/Reporting: Calculating Hypotheses and Reporting Successes
SEO Project Management: Determine Growth and Manage SEO Projects
Relationship Building: Supporting the SEO team in their work and in their work with other teams
The roles that an SEO specialist can play in a company
The first thing that immediately catches the eye from the very interesting article published on Searchenginejournal.com is that Jenn Mathews has noticed how there has been a clear shift in the requirements for SEO job positions in recent years, especially in large companies.
Companies are realizing that being successful in SEO isn’t just about being competitive on the technical side or identifying growth opportunities.
In 2019, companies realized they needed enterprise SEOs who could communicate effectively with executives and a diverse team (technical, creative, some who know SEO and some who have no idea) all sitting together around a table in the same room.
While all this may seem normal, in truth large international companies (and Italy unfortunately still has a lot to learn in this respect) have been looking for SEO specialists with deeper analytical and technical skills for a few years now, technicians who dedicate themselves to indexing and visibility and who have, for example, skills in SQL , who can analyze large data flows and who are able to independently resolve problems that arise from dynamic sites such as:
Find and fix duplicate content .
Knowing how to manage thin content .
Identify on your own which products or content work or don't sell.
When she worked as an SEO manager at Nordstrom , Jenn Mathews planned this business model by restructuring her team to fit these requirements.
What are the four pillars of SEO within a business organization?
SEO Mitigation: Error Handling and Technical SEO
Mathews uses the word “mitigation” deliberately because he has found that a good percentage of an SEO’s time in large companies is spent identifying problems after a project has been launched.
For example, having to go back to the engineering team and request that bugs be filed so they can make the necessary fixes.
If only the problems had been identified before launch, the company could have saved time, effort and money.
The SEO responsible for mitigation works with engineering teams and project or product owners early in the project and remains involved after final implementation.
The importance of this modus operandi is well understood because all those who in various capacities are involved in the project understand the nuances of SEO and how and what an SEO must do, such as raising doubts or proposing ideas before making final decisions, saving the company time and optimizing efforts in the long term.
SEO Analysis/Reporting: Calculating Hypotheses and Reporting Successes
Every company needs to understand how much SEO plays a key role in bringing traffic to a web project and how much the company monetizes from this revenue.
When it comes to reporting, there are complexities in SEO that other channels don’t have. If only because Google doesn’t provide a site’s referring keywords from organic search like it does with paid search.
Understanding that Google organic traffic is X percent of all search traffic and that it translates into X dollars in revenue, through accurate analysis of search traffic for each individual keyword will allow companies to have a better understanding of how to operate from the beginning.
This is why a company should always know in real time:
How and what is the single SEO strategy producing.
Which strategies are working best and which are working worst.
Where there might be opportunities for improvement.
A good SEO who can do these calculations and create detailed reports to provide to the entire team is an important part of the great corporate marketing strategy that passes through the SEO strategy .
While it is important to make corrections and report on the data produced by SEO strategies, equally important is business growth.
Identifying the hottest topics in searches and the gaps that need to be filled that have come to light from current and/or past strategies is imperative to the success of a good corporate SEO team.
A project manager is responsible for identifying all australia emai list large-scale activities that impact most websites.
Among the many SEO project management activities, the most important are:
Review of the design and content of the entire online project.
Connecting together the many internal activities that concern different aspects of the website.
The SEO project manager must focus all his time and energy on ensuring that the teams are committed to meeting the delivery dates and maintaining proper communication with each other.
Relationship Building: Supporting the SEO team in their work and in their work with other teams
The final piece of the business puzzle when it comes to SEO is the ability to build and engage in effective collaboration between various departments within the company.
Jenn Mathews always advises the SEO team to start working by following the order of the first three points highlighted above, and only then move on to the last step of the 4 pillars which is to relate directly with the team leader who is in charge of the realization of the entire project.
Throughout the planning process, it is always a good idea to encourage the SEO team manager or director to build relationships with other teams and instill in each member of the group the overall vision of the project.
Build active relationships between engineering, legal and public relations and the base from which to start.
The SEO specialist touches every aspect of the organization and, at some point, will need to ask for support from one or more of these teams.
Having a good, solid relationship with members of each team will allow you to get buy-in for SEO initiatives faster and more efficiently, leading to overall growth of your SEO strategy and more importantly, your entire company.
The roles that an SEO specialist can play in a company
The interesting part, as Jenn Mathews points out, about the roles that an SEO specialist can play within a company is that they can be heterogeneous and comparable to those of a program manager.
Clearly the roles are defined by the mission and objectives of each individual company but more generally we can say that a corporate SEO could cover, for example, some of these tasks:
Communicate effectively across internal channels and teams.
Evangelizing SEO through education and documentation.
Work with teams to prioritize SEO strategies.
Report SEO activity to key stakeholders and identify growth opportunities.
Vendor management (tools, agencies, consultants, etc.).
Stay up to date with the latest SEO trends.
In a way, these roles cover the four pillars of becoming a successful corporate SEO in one SEO consultant role.
As the person in the role becomes more successful, the teams will inevitably become more cohesive to support their business. Eventually, this will develop into one strong team and the corporate SEO will become a key presence within the company that will actively contribute to the success of the entire business.
That’s why Jenn Mathews decided to take on the challenge at Groupon. The company has a strong SEO management team, covering every aspect in different roles that have been widely defined over the years. This is what works for Groupon and allows the team to develop key roles around the four pillars.
Some companies even have SEO roles and teams that are moving away from marketing and instead toward SME roles, or diversified IC roles across engineering, content/creative, reporting, and marketing, then meeting from time to time to review the situation.