A few years ago it seemed breaking down silos between sales and marketing was the hot topic in PR. In a way reducing silos also can be used to build an SEO team.
That’s the thrust of a presentation by Randy Hui, director, digital strategy, Pancreatic Cancer Action Network.
“Ultimately for SEO you need strategy, education, training, somebody to be an executive-level champion and then you get to the content level,” Hui says. “We’ve spread all those components” between four departments. As you can see on the top slide, the digital strategy team is responsible for education, training, leadership and, of course, strategy. Digital strategy also handles technical implementation, such as running the web site and updates.
Marketing oversees the site’s evergreen content and communications is responsible for news and stories. The program team reviews content to make sure it aligns with the organization’s programs.
Besides dividing the workload, having SEO duties split between departments “makes [SEO] a bigger priority in the organization.” When you have several groups working on SEO, it raises the profile [of SEO] and the accountability...so SEO isn’t the responsibility of one or two people in the organization,” Hui says.
While Hui didn’t encounter pushback when he proposed the inter-departmental SEO org chart, he concedes it can occur. The remedy, he says, is education, which, Hui admits, “won’t be finished overnight.” This is why education is second on his to-do list. “All of this will fall on deaf ears” unless colleagues understand SEO and the part it plays in marketing and communications strategy. SEO, he says, “is not a be-all, end-all. It works with social media. It works with online and offline advertising and content amplification. It works with sales.”
Plan SEO education carefully. SEO “is complex...and can be daunting,” he says. Use understandable language and avoid “overcomplicating” the lessons.
After you’ve educated colleagues “make the case” for using SEO and data and analytics. Be sure to “translate [data concepts] into a story executives and leadership can understand and buy into,” he advises.
The most important point, though, is to make sure data and anlaytics are tied to organizational goals. For example, if sales or other conversions are your brand’s goals for communications and marketing, you need to focus your case on how you can drive sales.
Turning to the to-do list, Hui estimates under the best conditions brands and organizations will take about 3 months to complete activities one through four. Usually it’s 6 months, with conservative brands taking as long as 12 months.
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