This document discusses how SEO is no longer just a technical function but requires a holistic approach involving content, technical skills, and authority building. It argues that for digital marketing to succeed, it requires buy-in from the CEO and a unified vision across departments to overcome organizational barriers. Key actions include reframing SEO as central to marketing, making the CEO responsible for digital vision, removing barriers between departments, prioritizing audiences, and embracing necessary change.

1. SEO IS THE
RESPONSIBILITY
OF THE CEO
This article is like no other that you
will find here at iStrategy.
This article isn’t here to tell you how great we are, brag
about our client list or show-off our various awards. Instead,
this article will tell you why you need to fundamentally
change your marketing approach – before it’s too late.

2. SEO USED TO BE
MUCH SIMPLER
SEO was something that you could happily leave to your IT
or e-commerce department and, with a few technical tweaks
and some strategically placed meta tags, you could find yourself
dining at Google’s top table.
But Google is changing – and you have to change with it.
Digital success now depends on three core
The fundamental principle of Google
pillars; technical, content and authority
is relevancy. It wants to deliver the most
enhancement. These three distinct
relevant results to its users; first time, every
elements each have their own individual
time. If you’re irrelevant, Google will give
skillsets and personalities. The challenge
you the ranking that you deserve. If you
for you is to get them working together
can make your brand the last word on your
in complete harmony.
chosen niche; the brand that people want
Why has Google done this?
It wants you to be like them.
to talk about, you’ll reap the rewards.
It’s easier said than done.

3. 3 core pillars
to digital success:
+ Technical
Ensuring that your site is firing on all
cylinders. No digital strategy can succeed
if it is being carried by something with
severe technical flaws.
+ Content
Content provides your customers with
a reason to visit, a reason to interact and
a reason to buy. Offer your customers
something unique, something relevant and
something valuable.
+ Authority Enhancement
The web is littered with companies
that are doing exactly what you
do. Establish yourself as the
last word in your sector and
become the first place that
your customers call.

4. BREAKING
DOWN BARRIERS
The social department may
have an amazing campaign
in the pipeline, but the PR
department is concerned
that the message “isn’t quite
on brand” and the IT team
is worried about the security
implications of adding social
media widgets to your
archaic CMS.
Then your SEO agency throws in its two
cents and the compliance department
raises more questions than answers. The
net result? Nothing gets done. Vested
interests get in the way and various
stakeholders spend valuable time
coming up with reasons why things
can’t happen, rather than finding
solutions for why they can.
Of course, it is right that the IT department
are concerned about site security and
you would expect the PR department to
be concerned about the integrity of the
brand, but these very expectations are
creating a wall of organisational barriers to
your businesses online success. As digital
continues to evolve, SEO will inevitably
touch upon more and more departments,
which all need to have a clear direction and
a consensus on what the business is trying
to achieve. That has to come from the top.

5. LET DIGITAL
CREATIVE THRIVE
Digital marketing works when
there is a clear vision and
ambition for the business.
Every single stakeholder,
including your agency, needs
to know exactly what “success”
looks like and be invested into
that vision. That direction can
only come from the CEO.
Digital marketing cannot continue to exist
in its own bubble or silo, separate from the
other functions of the business. If you’re
reading this as someone who doesn’t quite
“get” digital, you need to start getting
it – and quickly. The success of your online
operations demands unequivocal buy-in
in the boardroom.
When the board is invested in the success
of its digital marketing, the key
stakeholders have that vision. That vision
allows teams to break organisational
barriers, put aside their individual interests
and embrace change for the better.
Without it, Google will leave you behind.

6. OUR TOP FIVE
KEY ACTIONS
1. Stop calling it ‘SEO’
Stop calling it “SEO”. Stop calling it “digital marketing”. Start calling
it “marketing”. It might only sound like a semantic change, but this will
be a seismic shift in the culture and attitude towards your online activity.
Stop treating SEO as something that lives in a separate silo and instead,
make it a central component of your marketing.
2. Make it the CEO’s job
Success stems from the vision set from the very top. Ensuring that every
employee and stakeholder, from the boardroom to the shop floor,
is bought into the goals and ambitions of the business.
3. Remove the organisational barriers
Ensuring your individual departments are working to a common goal is vital.
Make it clear what “success” looks like and keep them on track. Turn your
departments from a team of ‘can’t dos’ into a team of ‘can dos’.
4. Put your audience first
If audiences are going to talk about you, you have to do something that
they care about. Know who your audience are, know what they like, and
give it to them. Whether they want to be entertained, informed, shocked
or amazed, create something that will get them talking, clicking sharing
and tweeting.
5. Eliminate the fear of change
Change is controversial. Trying to change how things are done is perhaps
the single biggest cause of friction within large organisations. However,
in an age where Google makes around 500 algorithm changes per year,
a fear of change can be crippling.

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WANT TO LEARN MORE?
Come and visit us at stand 17 and make sure that you catch Heather Healy’s
invaluable guide to social media crisis management between 12 – 12:40pm
on Monday 30 September 2013.