When it comes to executing SEO on behalf of a business website, a company essentially has two options. The SEO work can be done in house or outsourced to an SEO firm. No matter who is doing the SEO work, one important thing to keep in mind is that it can’t operate in a silo. Input is needed from everyone within the organization in order to ensure that the SEO campaign addresses every aspect of the business. While small businesses typically do this well, it’s the large organizations that sometimes struggle and find that SEO work is getting lost somewhere in the shuffle.
Once it’s decided that an SEO campaign will be in the works, it’s important to let members of each department of the organization know what’s going on. They should understand the basics of SEO and what the goals of the campaign are. A well-rounded SEO campaign incorporates information from every component of the business, meaning that members of each department will probably be pulled into the process at some point for ideas and feedback. It’s especially important that members of top management be on board with the SEO campaign. They should understand the SEO process and how it fits into the overall marketing plans for the business.
One drawback to doing SEO for a large corporation is that there can be lots of red tape. However, a successful SEO campaign integrates all components of a business. If there is a separate department for each marketing activity, such as a social media department, content department, web development department, PR department, etc. they will all need to be involved in SEO, because each plays a large role in SEO success.
Another issue that can hold up an SEO campaign within a large organization is the slow turnaround time on approvals. If management is on board with an SEO campaign from the start and there is a process set into place to ensure that the process moves along, the SEO campaign will be much better off. It takes time to achieve search engine trust and see an improvement in ranking. SEO is already a slow process as it is, you don’t want to make it any slower by letting SEO items sit in “pending approval” mode for weeks or even months.
Communication between departments is essential throughout an SEO strategy. When working with an outsourced SEO provider it’s highly recommended to have only one point person within the company that serves as the company representative. If there are many contacts, it can result in confusion and lost productivity. The SEO provider shouldn’t be shuffled around from the Communications Department to the Web Content Team, to the Social Media Department to the Webmaster or IT Director. When this happens, it is difficult to get much accomplished because nobody is on the same page. It’s important to develop a chain of command so that the process is streamlined and approvals go through quickly. Without this kind of organization, an SEO campaign will suffer.
