The modern SEO is like "An Army of One", always taking on new roles and responsibilities. But there are many problems and limitations with this model for SEO in large organizations.
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The modern SEO is like "An Army of One", always taking on new roles and responsibilities. But there are many problems and limitations with this model for SEO in large organizations.
We must do better to achieve greater results -- enter Agile development methodology!
In this presentation for the ad:Tech 2012 Marketing Masters panel chaired by Rhonda Hanson from Getty Images, I show how REI used Agile development practices to complete numerous SEO efforts that results in greatly increased organic visibility and traffic.
If you like SEO, the stormtroopers from Star Wars, and shipping iteration after iteration of valuable experiences to your customers, then this is the presentation for you!
seoetcWell, you are definitely in very GOOD company ;-) I follow the blog. I won't even try to compare myself but his view point for technology is something I try to advocate every minute of the day. My inspiration (not mentor) on this, has been Michael Dertouzos (god bless his soul) who's book What Will Be is like the Old Testament! (dod i get very religious in this comment? LOL) Anyway, good example is the AR glasses from google is something Dertouzos has written about back in 1997. No, he wasn't a futurologist. He was the president of MIT Lab for 25 years. Most things we see today were on 'alpha version' back then. it like on of those PARC moments...1 year ago
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Jonathon Colman @jcolman, Principal Experience Architect at REI @seoetc I learned from the best: check out the links on the next to last slide to see the pioneers in this field. Scott Brinker (@chiefmartec), in particular, has done a lot of silo-busting to bring marketing and IT closer together. See his Slideshare page at http://www.slideshare.net/sjbrinker for even more great stuff.1 year ago
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seoetcI couldn't agree more. Despite the huge amount of sources and voices around SEO, it is still considered as one of the least documented profession (art/science).
You described it in a very delicate way too, 'theory of excellence in execution'. Far beyond 'best practice', it encapsulates the scope and layout most SEO professionals should be focusing.
Thanks Jonathon, really well put!1 year ago
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Jonathon Colman @jcolman, Principal Experience Architect at REI @seoetc Ha, no need for secrecy! :) I think if our industry works together to build a theory of excellence in execution, we can shed some of the negativity that's been dogging SEO for the past 10+ years while better serving our customers, constituents, and clients.1 year ago
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seoetcGreat piece of work Jonathon. I have to admit that I've been 'secretly' following some of your work at REI, in relation to Micordata implementation. I only wish my clients had the same view point in agile development, it would have been a wonderful world ;-) Thanks for sharing!1 year ago
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Jonathon Colman @jcolman, Principal Experience Architect at REIMany thanks, folks! Glad you find this entertaining and useful. Marketing teams that are quick, nimble, and that maintain a bias toward action will always beat those doing traditional waterfall development.1 year ago
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WiTH Collective at WiTH CollectiveWe all think that agile works for project management, so why don't we think about it for internal projects. Good approach for SEO and managing that.1 year ago
Assemble cross-functional teams • Build teams around customer UX. Include designers, IAs, front & back-end devs, SEO • Teams are self- managed, commit to highest priority work, iterate over releases, hold themselves accountable • Your new job? Removing all impediments.Source: flickr.com/photos/jdhancock/3578775702/
Maximize work – not “work”Source: flickr.com/photos/kalexanderson/5334825075/
Maximize work – not “work” • Only three meetings are allowed: planning, the daily stand-up, and retrospective • Team co-located together with an emphasis on face-to- face interactions • Progress measured in experiences launched • SEO consults, does analysis & reporting, creates work items for backlogSource: flickr.com/photos/kalexanderson/5334825075/
Maintain a bias toward actionSource: flickr.com/photos/st3f4n/4467912952/
Maintain a bias toward action • Progress does not stop for politics, disagreements, pet projects, turf wars, special events, or other impediments • Team does not produce extensive documentation or other peripheral artifacts • Always be shipping.Source: flickr.com/photos/st3f4n/4467912952/
“Don’t hate, iterate!” • The goal of each sprint is not to deliver perfection, but instead to deliver iterative value to customers • Get something wrong? Get negative customer feedback? Iterate. • Large or complex projects may last several sprints; projects like site performance are always in playSource: flickr.com/photos/st3f4n/4193370268/
THE RESULTS: AGILE SEOIMPACTS AT
Organic productivity increase 45 Peak number of organic search technical infrastructure iterations that REI shipped via Agile in a single year
Page load time improvement -1.5 s Page load time that REI saved our customers in 2011 through iterative Agile performance optimizations
Aggregate web performance boost 22 Total number of years that REI saved our customers in 2011
Duplicate content reduction -98 %Overall decrease in duplicate contentdue to Agile iterations on pagination and canonicalization of site content
Non-branded organic traffic growth +50 % REI’s single-year growth rate in non- branded organic search traffic as we iteratively released optimizations
Aggregate organic traffic growth +96 % Overall growth rate of organic search traffic during the two-year switch from waterfall development to Agile
NEXT STEPS:BUILD KNOWLEDGE,LEAD THE WAY
10 resources to get started in Agile1. Principles behind the Agile Manifesto2. Agile software development – Wikipedia3. Agile Marketing For Conversion Optimization4. Sex and the Agile Marketer5. Agile Marketing FWIW, this is one of the best articles I’ve6. Marketing Experts on Agile Marketing ever read on Search7. Agile Marketing, the New Black Engine Land.8. What the F**k is Agile Marketing?9. Agile for Marketing10. Rise of the Marketing Technologist
Many thanks! Jonathon Colman In-House SEO for REI Home: about.me/jcolman Twitter: @jcolman E-mail: jcolman@rei.com
BONUS! STORMTROOPERBLOOPER REEL
Source: flickr.com/photos/st3f4n/4286044406/
Source: flickr.com/photos/st3f4n/4056636578/
Source: flickr.com/photos/st3f4n/3884924584/
Source: flickr.com/photos/jojoneil/6359536591/
Source: flickr.com/photos/jdhancock/3777558632/
Source: flickr.com/photos/jdhancock/3587597615/
Source: flickr.com/photos/st3f4n/4429614489/
Source: flickr.com/photos/st3f4n/4370816189/
Source: flickr.com/photos/st3f4n/4322352483/
Source: flickr.com/photos/st3f4n/3951143570/
Many thanks (again!) Jonathon Colman SEO Stormtrooper for REI Home: about.me/jcolman Twitter: @jcolman E-mail: jcolman@rei.comSource: flickr.com/photos/benleto/2212853097/
Paul Booth
You described it in a very delicate way too, 'theory of excellence in execution'. Far beyond 'best practice', it encapsulates the scope and layout most SEO professionals should be focusing.
Thanks Jonathon, really well put! 1 year ago