SEOStrategies
ResourceAlignment
A-Team
Keith L. Goode
BrettTabke
Back to In-House
EnterpriseStrategies
Enterprise SEO Strategies
Ad-hoc
Maturity Model
Beyond
What does an ad-hoc SEO Strategy look like?
Reactionary
Traffic Losses
Rank Changes
Lost Conversions
Penalties
Algorithm Changes
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SEO is likely …
Run in a silo
A post-event effort
Addresses problems after
they’ve happened
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Bad Approach
revenue
time
opportunity
frustration
Rate of Change
14
15
16
AI
George Harrison
“And if you don’t know where
you’re going,
any road will take you there”
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EnterpriseSEO
Enterprise SEO
02
Goal: Increase Traffic and Revenue
Strategy: Expand Reach – Build better content, increase target keywords
Intermediate Strategy
03Goal: Increase New Client Acquisition
Strategy: Introduce Brand to new users earlier in the buying cycle
Mature Strategy
01
Goal: Improve Rankings for Core Keywords
Strategy: Fix tech issues, Optimize Content, Build Links
Basic Strategy
 Usability
Is your site fast, responsive,
engaging, shareable,
crawlable, and indexable?
01
 Relevance
You establish relevance with
great content that inspires,
educates, informs, and
entertains.
02
 Authority
Earned links, company online
reputation, article references,
citations, co-citations, etc.
03
Search Experience
1. Architecture Issues
2. Indexing Issues
3. Audience and Market Size evaluation (Topic
development)
4. Audience segmentation (Topic management)
5. Content Mapping
6. Content Optimization
7. Links (External, Internal & Social)
Usability
Relevance
Authority
The Challenge
What’s Beyond?
• Users come to my site
first for what they
need
• Users stay on my site
• Users convert
Challenge: How do I
become a replacement
for Google?
4
Basic to Mature
• Users start at the
SERPs
• Users stay on my site
• Users convert
Challenge: Dependent
on external entities,
algorithms and
experiences
1-3
Enterprise SEO
04
03
02
01
Goal: 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
Goal: Increase Traffic and Revenue
Strategy: Expand Reach – Build better content, increase target keywords
Intermediate Strategy
Goal: Increase New Client Acquisition
Strategy: Introduce Brand to new users earlier in the buying cycle
Mature Strategy
Goal: Improve Rankings for Core Keywords
Strategy: Fix tech issues, Optimize Content, Build Links
Basic Strategy
Google Replacement
Examples:
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Google Replacement
Examples:
Photo credit: Me
Google Replacement
Example:
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Google Replacement
Vision Activities
Activities
Tactics
Strategy
Goals
Vision
SEOStrategy
Pros
Cons
01 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
02 FTE Cons
• 30+% additional in benefits & insurance
(USA)
• Discipline and coaching efforts
• Career direction advisement
• PTO and Sick time
Industry Survey
Mostly Individual Contributors or
SEO Managers
Industry Survey
Companies are hiring!!!
Salaries in SEO
SEO Specialist
Sr. SEO Specialist
*Based on US data from Indeed (http://www.indeed.com/salaries)
SEO Manager
Marketing Director
Now add 20% - 33% per employee for …
Health insurance contributions
Matching 401(k)
Bonuses
Equipment
Etc., etc., etc.
Industry Survey
#1 comment in Other was that
companies are paying for
continuing education and
allowing it to be OTJ.
What are some challenges to hiring in-
house team members?
Industry Survey
#1 and #2 issues have been
either a lack of SEO knowledge
or experience
What are the qualities that in-house
teams are looking for in candidates?
Industry Survey
1. Business intelligence /
analytics
2. Marketing copy / writing
3. Using industry point
solutions and/or platforms
4. Product or project
management
5. Coding
Industry Survey
1. Willingness to learn new
skills
2. Ability to learn new skills
3. Ability to be self-directed
and self-motivated
4. Effective interpersonal
skills
5. Effective writing skills
Supplementing in-house team members
with agencies, consultants and contractors
Pros
Cons
01 Agency Pros
• Established experience in SEO
• Generally have a well-tested approach
• Diverse set of skills built in
02 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
Monthly Retainer
Average US retainer is between $500 and $5000 USD per month
Source: Moz “SEO Pricing: 600+ Agencies Share Costs of Services & Pricing Models,” January 3rd, 2012
Per-Project Cost
Average US project-based contract is between $1001 and $7500 USD*
*Search EngineWatch says up to $30,000 USD here.
Source: Moz “SEO Pricing: 600+ Agencies Share Costs of Services & Pricing Models,” January 3rd, 2012
Hourly Rate
Average US hourly rate is between $76 and $200 USD per hour
Source: Moz “SEO Pricing: 600+ Agencies Share Costs of Services & Pricing Models,” January 3rd, 2012
Assumptions
Shared Workload
Short-Term Assignments
Migrations
Problem Mitigation
Grunt Work
Synergies
Long-Term On-Going Advisement
Aid in Planning and Strategy
Additional Perspectives
Social Proof
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Blended ApproachIn-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
Takeaways
won’t fix a lack of a strategy
“What is my vision?”
Search Experience Framework
costs and benefits
Enterprise SEO Strategies and the Art of Resource Alignment

Enterprise SEO Strategies and the Art of Resource Alignment