Delivered on February 21, 2018 at Pubcon Austin in Austin, TX by Keith Goode, this session focuses on how businesses can build their search framework and how to build the team to support that effort. Additionally, Keith Goode walks through the process of building strategies and implementing tactics to get to where you want to go.

1. In-House SEO:
Teams and
Strategies that
Work*
Keith L. Goode, IBM Security
@keithgoode

2. @keithgoode #Pubcon
Who Am I?
Name: Keith Goode
Position: SEO Manager, Security,
IBM
Experience:
• 10+ Years of Experience in In-
House SEO
• Previous Employers: AMD,
HomeAway, BDX, SpareFoot, Dell,
seoClarity
• Appearances: Pubcon, Clarity,
SFIMA, CrossForum, Search Talk
Live, SEJ ThinkTank
• Follow: @keithgoode

3. @keithgoode #Pubcon
Some Light Housekeeping
* Disclaimer: Opinions expressed herein are my own. No forward-looking statements regarding IBM
have been included. None of IBM’s secret sauce has been revealed. Statements made in this
presentation have not been tested by the FDA.

4. In-House SEO vs. Consulting
Using Venn Diagrams
SEO that SEO
Consultants Do
SEO that In-
House SEOs Do
*Note: For general reference. I recognize that circle sizes can vary based on globalization, site
size, number of CMSs, organization size, target audience, niche size, etc., etc..

5. Other Things the In-
House SEOs Have to
Do:
• Compliance
Training
• Security Training
• Sprint Planning
• Sprint
Retrospectives
• Daily Scrums
• Town Halls
• Organizational
Updates
• Drink the Kool-Aid
Sessions
• Did I mention
meetings,
meetings,
In-House SEO vs. Consulting
Using Venn Diagrams
SEO that In-
House SEOs Do

6. SEO Maturity Model
Where are you in your organizational
evolution?

7. @keithgoode #Pubcon
SEO Strategies vs. Ad-hoc SEO
• You either have a strategy or
you’re hoping for the best
• Ad-hoc Strategies tend to be
reactionary
• Effective tactics are the result
of an overall strategy
• A good strategy is built within
a logical framework

8. Enterprise SEO Maturity Model
RGoal: Be the starting point and end point for a user’s search and purchase cycle
Strategy: Build a search experience relevant to any device or location that serves the
user’s need. OR build a brand new way to search.
Google Replacement Strategy
IGoal: Increase Traffic and Revenue
Strategy: Expand Reach – Build better content, increase target keywords
Intermediate Strategy
MGoal: Increase New Client Acquisition
Strategy: Introduce Brand to new users earlier in the buying cycle
Mature Strategy
B
Goal: Improve Rankings for Core Keywords
Strategy: Fix tech issues, Optimize Content, Build Links
Basic Strategy

9. Search Experience Framework
Usability
Is your site fast, responsive,
engaging, shareable,
crawlable, and indexable?
U
Relevance
You establish relevance with
great content that inspires,
educates, informs, and
entertains.
R
Authority
Earned links, company online
reputation, article references,
citations, co-citations, etc.
A

10. @keithgoode #Pubcon
Also Known As
URA SEO
Usability
Relevance
Authority
Whatever works!
The Three C’s of SEO
Crawlability
Content
Credibility

11. Corporate Vision and Team-
building
From Buy-in to Investment

12. @keithgoode #Pubcon
Executive Buy-In and the Vision
“Where there is no
vision, the people
perish…”
Proverbs 29:18 (ellipses added)

13. @keithgoode #Pubcon
No Vision, No Buy-In, No Dice
Vision
Goals
Strategy
Tactics
Activities
Tips For Influencing Executives
• Executives Like Money
• Show them how much money
they’re losing or leaving on
the table
• Rinse and Repeat

14. @keithgoode #Pubcon
Types of In-House Teams

15. Democratized
SEO
SEO
Education is
a priority for
more than
just SEOs –
content
writers,
developers,
campaign
managers,
etc..
Certification
programs.
Corporate
Priority
Search
becomes an
organizationa
l priority.
Integration
with agile
teams,
standardizati
on of best
practices, etc.
Integrated
Teams
SEOs (and
other search
pros) are
embedded
with business
units and are
addressing
their specific
needs.
Delegated
Responsibility
Team
Separate
SEO, SEM,
Social
responsibilitie
s covering
entire site.
1-person Op
Responsible
for SEO, SEM,
and Social
Types of SEO Coverage

16. @keithgoode #Pubcon
How Will You Staff Your Organization?
Decisions. Decisions.
• FTE’s (In-House SEOs)
• Agency SEOs
• Contractors

17. Pros
Cons
FTE Pros
• Subject matter expertise
• A greater sense of team
• Additional time to do work doesn’t
cost more (if salaried)
• Personal investment in success and
brand
FTE Cons
• 30+% additional in benefits &
insurance (USA)
• Discipline and coaching efforts
• Career direction advisement
• PTO and Sick time

18. Pros
Cons
Agency
Pros• Established experience in SEO
• Generally have a well-tested
approach
• Diverse set of skills built in
Agency Cons
• Retainers can be expensive
• Locked in to contracts
• No subject matter expertise in your
company, products or services
• Time to work on project limited to
contract

19. Blended Approach to SEO
In-House Team
Specialists, BI, Manager,
Director
Take care of the day-to-
day analysis, stakeholder
meetings, on-going review,
training, reporting
Contractors
Temp-to-Hire, Short-Term Help
Short-term projects, grunt
work, way-station for
potential FTE.
Agency
Including Agencies and
Consultants
Long-term advisement,
strategy and planning,
quarter/annual site
reviews, competitive
analysis

20. Grunt work. Keyword vetting.
PLP assignments. Report
building. Social proof and
analysis.
Technical SEO, global
templates, best practices for
coding, establishes guidelines
for URLs, scripts, etc.
BU SEO Focal
Tactical execution. Can be BU
funded hire or HQ SEO or both.
Works directly with stakeholder.
Webmasters
Geo Focals
Localization and regionalization of
content. Regional reporting. Tactical
execution for new campaigns
SEM/Email/Social
Responsible for paid aspects of
search, email campaigns, social
campaigns. Should work with
SEO.
HQ Global SEOs
Global vision, education,
enablement, executive
reporting, and prioritization
Agencies

21. Strategies and Tactics
From Planning to Execution

22. @keithgoode #Pubcon
Don’t be Alice…
“Would you tell me, please, which way I ought
to go from here?”
“That depends a good deal on where you want
to get to,” said the Cat.
“I don’t much care where–” said Alice.
“Then it doesn’t matter which way you go,” said
the Cat.
“–so long as I get SOMEWHERE,” Alice added
as an explanation.
“Oh, you’re sure to do that,” said the Cat, “if you
only walk long enough.”

23. “If you don’t know where you are
going, any road will get you there.”
- Lewis Carroll

24. @keithgoode #Pubcon
Plan Your Work; Work Your Plan
Crawlability/Usability Content/Relevance Credibility/Authority
A Good Nav and IA K Optimized Titles & Desc. R Social Sharing Buttons
B Proper Robots.txt L Creating Engaging Content S Contextual Links on Site
C Proper Meta Robots M Video Content T Promote Content on Social
D Inclusive Sitemap N PDF Abstracts U Blogger Outreach/PR
E Canonicalization of URLs O Image Alt Text V Link from Homepage
F Canonical Tags P Video Transcripts W Link Reclamation
G Mobile Responsive Site Q Keyword/Buyer’s Journey
Alignment
H Schema Markup
I Optimized Page Load
J HREFLANG/Internation-
alization

25. @keithgoode #Pubcon
Cost-to-Impact Prioritization
• Workshop your list with
your developers and
content writers/strategists
• Make an honest assessment
of costs*
• Estimate the impact to:
• Ranking*
• Traffic*
• Revenue*
• Clear out the Green Zone
first
*Fictional, but reasonable, estimates in
illustration

26. The End
Just kidding.

27. @keithgoode #Pubcon
Plug In To Your Organization’s Dev / Content Cycle

28. @keithgoode #Pubcon
Development Methologies
• Agile
• Waterfall
• Kanban
• Agile-ish
• Agile Waterfall

29. @keithgoode #Pubcon
Identify the Players and the Moves (Agile)
• Product Owner
• Scrum Master
• Sprint
• Minimally-Marketable Feature
• Iteration
• Retrospective

30. @keithgoode #Pubcon
Reporting on Your Success

31. Build For your Audience
Big Picture
• Revenue YoY
• Organic Share
• Competitive Landscape
• 2 to 3 Metrics Max
• Keyword = “Summary”
Results-Oriented
• Revenue QoQ/YoY
• Rank Area Graph
• Share of Voice
• Keyword = “Progress”
Task-Oriented
• Campaign-Specific
Ranking
• Tag Tree Reporting
• Actionable Insights
• Keyword = “Tactical”
Individual
Contributor
Executive
Stakeholder

32. Best Practices for Report Building
AIM for Reporting Excellence
With customized, simple, enlightening and
consistent reporting, you can draw
attention to what’s most important in your
search experience optimization efforts.
Customize your
reporting Dashboard
to the right audience.
Speak the language of
the person you’re
addressing.
Limit Your Dashboard to 2-
3 KPIs. You can use
multiple widgets per KPI,
but don’t overwhelm the
audience.
Annotate Your Graphs
with explanations of
Trends, Effects, Events,
Activities, etc.
Establish a
consistent
cadence for
delivery.

33. Education
Building for Long-term Organizational
Success

34. @keithgoode #Pubcon
Democratization and Education

35. Democratize SEO In Your Organization
• Social
• Promotion
• Industry Outreach
• Drives Corporate
Priorities
• Company Vision
• Voice of the
Company
• Proper Merchandising
• Content Best Practices
• Building Content for
the User
• Proper Coding
• Responsive Design
• Server Uptime and
Speed
• Adapting to Tech
Advancements
• Audits
• Analysis
• Education
• Staying up-to-date

36. @keithgoode #Pubcon
Educate about Success and the Barriers to
It

37. @keithgoode #Pubcon
Integrate with Other Teams
• Coordinate and
collaborate with:
• PPC
• Paid Social
• Social
• Display
• Review Punchlists
• What’s working? What’s
not working?

38. Appendix
Additional Resources

39. @keithgoode #Pubcon
Photo Credits
• Photographer: aotaro
• URL: https://flic.kr/p/zp4FW5
• Title: (HMM) Shogi, 将棋, or
Japanese chess
• Photographer: aotaro
• URL: https://flic.kr/p/zpdM8P
• Title: (HMM) Ote!, 王手!, or Check!
• Photographer: Adam Raoof
• URL: https://flic.kr/p/iQWN4
• Title: They get younger and
younger...
• Photographer: aotaro
• URL: https://flic.kr/p/yJN4iY
• Title: Face off
• Photographer: foooomio
• URL: https://flic.kr/p/Hr3XvZ
• Title: Red Army in Human Shogi
• Photographer: yoppy
• URL: https://flic.kr/p/4vAnZZ
• Title: R1067190
• Photographer: Gabriel Rodríguez
• URL: https://flic.kr/p/4JsLoZ
• Title: Shogi pieces
• Photographer: Adam Raoof
• URL: https://flic.kr/p/Af3hcY
• Title:
Hampstead_Chess+Shogi_2015_11-
11
• Photographer: geraldford
• URL: https://flic.kr/p/qYrHph
• Title: Shogi Castling: Anaguma
Gakoi, left 穴熊囲い
• Photographer: foooomio
• URL: https://flic.kr/p/HxcTfp
• Title: Blue Army in Human Shogi
• Photographer: Shinichi Sugiyama
• URL: https://flic.kr/p/6FPLGS
• Title: IMGP0086
• Photographer: foooomio
• URL: https://flic.kr/p/HxcTAp
• Title: Human Shogi at Mt. Maizuru
in Tendo, Yamagata
• Photographer: geraldford
• URL: https://flic.kr/p/r9vWBm
• Title: Shogi Castling: Mino Gakoi
美濃囲い