No one doubts that business leadership is difficult. With the shifting landscapes of national and regional economies, fluctuating interest rates and their effects on consumer spending, supply chain issues, etc. being able to make quick decisions and shift a business’ focus are vital skills nowadays.
But how do shifting priorities affect SEOs and their ability to address elements like:
- Addressing Technical Debt
- Project Prioritization with other teams
- SEO industry updates and changes in the SERPs
- Creatively and compellingly meeting the needs of the users
- Promoting content and gaining equity
One consistent issue that in-house SEOs face, regardless of organization, is gaining the funding and priority they need in order to do their best work. From tool costs to development resources, there's always a shortage. How can we overcome these challenges? How can we avoid them to begin with?
In this session at Pubcon Pro 2023 in Austin, Texas, on Thursday, September 21, Keith Goode first addresses executives and corporate decision-makers and then SEOs, who are on the front lines of their organizations.
3. X: @keithgoode Mastodon: mastodon.social/@keithgoode
Keith Goode
• SEO Product Director for Dealer.com, Cox
Automotive
• Over 15 years In-House SEO
• Vrbo
• Dell
• IBM
• Cox Automotive Group
• Various startups
• Conference speaker
• Podcast host/guest
• Austin Otaku
• Webcology
• Search Engine Journal
• … and many more
• Certified Scrum Master
• Featured in Majestic’s SEO for 2022
4. Dawn of the
Internet
Moved to ATL –
Internet Startup
Graduated
University
NewEra Co. Job
First Layoff
Second Layoff
Learned more
tech
Third Layoff
Holy crap! I
know SEO!
Moved to AUS
Fourth Layoff
HomeAway
BDX
SpareFoot
Dell
seoClarity
NewEra Co. Job,
Part 2
Started speaking
at conferences
Fifth Layoff
IBM
More
speaking
gigs
SEJ Master Class
My Journey in Search
AMD
CAPG
First Patent
Freelance
Copyediting and
Technical Writing
Computerjobs.com
5. Presentation Disclaimer
Opinions expressed herein are my own. No forward-
looking statements regarding Cox Automotive,
Dealer.com or any subsidiary of Cox Enterprises have
been included. None of Cox’s data, revenue, or secret
sauce have been revealed. Statements made in this
presentation have not been tested by the FDA. Use at
your own discretion.
7. The Dichotomy of
Intent and
Investment
• I’ll outline some of the areas in
which conflict arises
• If these resonate with you, I’m
not calling you out. Nearly
every enterprise I’ve worked at
has these conflicts
• Both of these angels have sat on
my shoulders
9. Every Organization Wants an SEO Team
However, many…
• don’t now how to
enable its success
• don’t understand
additional the costs
• don’t understand its
value
• set themselves up to fail
from the outset
10. Ask yourself: Are you willing to fund an in-house SEO team,
or should you hire an agency instead?
11. Your Team Will Add
to OPEX
• Average On-Boarding Cost Per
Employee: $6,000 to $20,000
• Add about 20% over salary costs
for benefits
• Factor in training costs for fresh
SEOs
• Recruitment costs to get high-level
SEOs (probably from stable jobs)
• Every OPEX cost is scrutinized for
hard financial times.
12. SEO is NOT Magic
It needs the
following to succeed:
• Tools
• Platforms
• Development
Budget
• Executive Support
and Priority
• People
13. Factor In Costs Beyond Pay (Tools)
Tool/Platform Cost
Ahrefs $100-$1000 per month
Majestic $50 - $100 per month
Semrush $150-$500 per month
Content King $40-$280 (Customer for Enterprise) per month
OnCrawl Packages vary
Lumar (formerly DeepCrawl) Packages vary
Screaming Frog Free to $250 annually
Platforms (Conductor, seoClarity, etc.) Expensive
InLinks Free to $2K
14. Are you willing to fund the projects aimed at
fixing your technical foundations?
15. Factor In Costs (Development)
Sprints Cost Money
• 5 - Developers
1 - Product Owner
1/2 - Scrum Master
1/2 - Quality Assurance
1 – Other (Analyst, SEO, etc.)
-----
8 Scrum team members
• 8 Team members
with an average salary $80K
-----
= Direct costs $640K
* Indirect costs 30%
-----
= Total costs $832K
/ 26 Sprints per year
-----
= Personnel costs per sprint
$32,000
• This is a VERY conservative
estimate
Source: The Product Coalition
16. If these considerations and costs seem too much
to commit to, hire an agency instead.*
*This message has not been paid for by any agency or consultancy.
19. How we communicate the needs of the site to leadership
determines how well they are prioritized and funded.
20. The Executive Lens for Gaining Priority
Protect
Grow
Drive
Efficiencies
• Know your funnel
• How does your
work tie back to
real-world value?
• Some metrics to
consider:
• Average order
value
• Value per visit
• Share of voice
• Hourly personnel
costs
21. What Is Important to Your Company?
• Your leadership
will generally tell
the company what
its priorities are for
the year
• How do your top
priorities align
with the greater
priorities?
• Reframe yours to
match theirs
22. Priority Depends on the Executive Lens
Company Type Lens Focus
Startups and New Ventures 100% Grow
Established Companies 50% Grow and 50% Protect
Enterprise Organizations 10% Grow, 40% Protect, 50% Drive
Efficiencies
28. How do your activities lead to improving each metric?
29. Establish Confidence in Your Impact
• Technical SEO
• Crawlability – How does crawl efficience
affect indexation and ranking?
• Indexability – How does widening your
site’s relevance with more content affect
conversion rate?
• Content
• How do your content efforts address user
intent and thereby revenue per visit?
• How can you use Generative AI to drive
efficiencies in the content creation process?
31. Plot Your Work into
the LOE/LOI Matrix
• No unprioritized and
unsized audits!
• Map your requests to the
appropriate quadrant to
understand how to
prioritize your work.
• NOTE: Defects don’t go on
this matrix. They’re
prioritized first.
Low Difficulty /
High Benefit
High Difficulty /
High Benefit
Low Difficulty /
Low Benefit
High Difficulty /
Low Benefit
32. Continually Refine and Update Your Roadmap
• Always have your
Top 3 initiatives
ready for intake at
any time:
• Technical SEO
• Content
• Promotion
• The goal is to be
able to take
advantage of any
window that opens
33. Show Off Your Successes When You Get Priority
Success leads to
more success. When
one of your projects
is funded or you’re
enabled to hire the
staff you need, share
related successes.
This keeps you on
their radar and
shows that investing
in you is wise.
35. Sometimes you reach a decision point: to stay with an
organization that won’t fund you or move on to an organization
that will.
36. Irreconcilable
Differences
• Know the value of your
skillset
• Know the value of your
time
• Weigh the impact of stress
vs. your peace of mind
• Recognizing when you’re
wearing “golden
shackles”
37. It is not your job to force
your leadership to make
the right choices
regarding the company’s
online successes. The best
you can do is offer them
well-reasoned and data-
driven recommendations.
40. • Executive Leadership – Invest wisely and understand all the costs
associated with having an SEO team
• SEOs – Filter your requirements and needs through the Executive
Lens
• Measure, Estimate, and Promote your work using language that
appeals to that Executive Lens
• Understand your value and know when to share your skills where
you can gain priority