What To Do When You Can't Do Anything - SEO Soft Skills - Clarity '14

SEO SOFT SKILLS
WHAT TO DO WHEN YOU CAN’T DO ANYTHING
KEITH L. GOODE
GLOBAL SEO TECHNOLOGY LEAD, DELL

@KEITHGOODE +KEITHGOODE
WWW.LINKEDIN.COM/IN/KEITHLGOODE
YOUR PRESENTER
Keith L. Goode
• 17 years of Online Experience
• AMD
• HomeAway
• Builders Digital Experience
• SpareFoot
• Dell (3 years)
• SEO Technology Lead, DCSG (formerly eDell)
• Technical SEO Instructor
• Presentations
• Clarity ’13 (and ‘14)
• Pubcon Vegas
• Pubcon Austin
• Austin SEO
• Anime Otaku
Twitter: @keithgoode
www.slideshare.net/AustinOtaku

DISCLAIMER NOTICE
Protection: The ideas and statements in this presentation do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Dell Inc. but
are based on my personal experience in the SEO Industry.
Tl;dr: Be kind, and remember that:
Keith
Is
Not
Dell

THE CHALLENGE
BEYOND TECHNICAL, BEYOND CONTENT

EXTERNAL CHALLENGES
The Continual Evolution of SEO
• What was acceptable is now unacceptable
• Unnatural Link Building
• Keyword Stuffing
• Flat Content
• Inauthentic Social Participation
• The SEO’s list of effective activities are being
eroded

REACTING TO THESE CHALLENGES
Choose Your Response Wisely
• You can cry about it
• You can spend hours, days, weeks, and months
commiserating with your fellow cryba-, err, SEOs
• Or, you can accept that all roles evolve, and
yours is no different

ALL ROLES EVOLVE
• In Ancient Rome, a trip to the barber was a daily
habit, just as a trip to the public baths
• In the Middle Ages, a barber’s responsibilities
included:
• Surgery
• Dentistry
• Leeching
• Bleeding
• Enemas O_o

A MODERN EXAMPLE OF AN EVOLVING ROLE

INTERNAL CHALLENGES
THE OTHER PART OF YOUR JOB DESCRIPTION

BUDGETS, RESOURCES AND PRIORITIES
• The larger the organization, the larger the pie,
but …
• Competition for pieces of the pie increase
• You can’t always get what you want…
• It’s not personal
• It’s not malicious

REACTING TO THESE CHALLENGES
Choose Your Response Wisely
• You can cry about it
• You can spend hours, days, weeks, and months
commiserating with your fellow cryba-, err,
employees
• Or…
• You can look for opportunities outside of the
standard approach

SEO JOB DESCRIPTION – IS SOMETHING MISSING?
I Hate to use the Phrase “Back in My Day…,” but…
• Back in my day…
• Soft skills were a must
• Ability to collaborate was seen as fundamental

THE SOLUTION
USE THOSE SOFT SKILLS

DEMOCRATIZATION OF SEO
• SEO embedded into the fabric of your
organization
• Brown Bag Lunches
• Training Programs
• Search Certification
• The people you train can advocate for you

BUILD ALLIANCES, GAIN ADVOCATES
• Continue to monitor your site’s performance
• Share your findings with
• Your Team
• Your Product Managers
• Decision-Makers
• Find out what’s important to them
• Can you find common ground?
• Can they help you with their influence?

FIND SYNERGIES
• Of the Projects that received funding
• Are there opportunities to add your requests?
• Are there ways the existing project can be
enhanced in a way that helps SEO?
• Are there problems that engineers are facing
that could be solved by you?
• How can you know if you never ask?

NONE OF US IS AS SMART AS ALL OF US
• You have expertise, but do you know everything?
• Understand the full picture by talking to:
• Engineers
• Developers
• Product Managers
• Other Department Heads

CHANGE YOUR PERSPECTIVE

THANK YOU
LET’S CONNECT
@KEITHGOODE
+KEITHGOODE

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