8. @saksters
Initially assigned job
titles, not job roles
In organizations with a
surplus of stakeholders
this made our SEO
work ambiguous
A generic SEO team to do generic SEO
things
SEO Manager
SEO Specialist
Associate SEO
Specialist
SEO Specialist
9. @saksters
We introduce ourselves
as these roles to other
teams in the organization
Bonus: Can make hiring
easier too ;)
Assign meaningful roles to the SEO Team
SEO Project
Manager
Technical SEO
Specialist
Content SEO
Specialist
Data SEO
Specialist
10. @saksters
Clearer SEO subject matter experts
Technical SEO
Specialist
Data SEO
Specialist
Content SEO
Specialist
JS Frameworks
XML Sitemaps
Taxonomy
Redirects
Log Files
Reporting
Feeds
DataVisualization
Structured Data
Location Data
Keyword Research
Creative Assets
Copy
Internal Links in Copy
Semantic HTML
11. @saksters
• Reports SEO progress to
Executives
• Keeps projects in motion
and removes blockers
SEO Project Manager role
Executives
• Helps the team be
fast and focused
on their roles
12. @saksters
• Part of the SEO team
• Has intermediate to advanced level SEO knowledge
• Familiarity with Agile
• Coordinates project delivery sequence
SEO Project Manager
13. @saksters
• Budget management
• Shields from team mistakes / executive involvement
• Learning management – facilitates continuous improvement
for the team
• Agency management at a contract level and what the scope
should be
SEO Project Manager (cont’d)
14. @saksters
• Generic Roles
• Duplicate Experts (Too Many Cooks)
• Poor Relevancy to the Business
• Low Authority
Our SEO Team had some problems…
15. @saksters
Share these #SMXInsights on your social channels!
• Assign comprehensive roles to generic SEO titles
• Ex. SEO Specialist -> Technical SEO Specialist
• Consider an SEO project manager role to keep
your team fast and focused
19. @saksters
Dividing SEO SMEs will prevent “Too Many
Cooks”
Technical SEO
Specialist
Data SEO
Specialist
Content SEO
Specialist
JS Frameworks
XML Sitemaps
Taxonomy
Redirects
Log Files
Reporting
Feeds
DataVisualization
Structured Data
Location Data
Keyword Research
Creative Assets
Copy
Internal Links in Copy
Semantic HTML
20. @saksters
Dividing SEO SMEs will prevent “Too Many
Cooks”
Technical SEO
Specialist
Data SEO
Specialist
Content SEO
Specialist
JS Frameworks
XML Sitemaps
Taxonomy
Redirects
Log Files
Reporting
Feeds
DataVisualization
Structured Data
Location Data
Keyword Research
Creative Assets
Copy
Internal Links in Copy
Semantic HTML
It did.
21. @saksters
Dividing SEO SMEs will prevent “Too Many
Cooks”
Technical SEO
Specialist
Data SEO
Specialist
Content SEO
Specialist
JS Frameworks
XML Sitemaps
Taxonomy
Redirects
Log Files
Reporting
Feeds
DataVisualization
Structured Data
Location Data
Keyword Research
Creative Assets
Copy
Internal Links in Copy
Semantic HTML
A little too well…
22. @saksters
• As a technical SEO, I would like dynamic XML
sitemaps to submit new URLs to search engines
automatically
Our Process: Build user stories in our
respective SEO expertise
• As a data SEO, I would like review links in our database to
insert review links for each store
• As a content SEO, I would like semantic html for this block
to improve featured snippet potential
23. @saksters
We ended up burdening each other with easy SEO
tasks
Can you write a
new schema
ticket? You’re just
soooo good at
it…and the expert
;)
Uh sure, but you
know how to
write it…
30. @saksters
Team alignment to the Organization
(Example) SEO Project
Manager
Technical SEO
Specialist
Data SEO
Specialist
Content SEO
Specialist
Analytics
Merchandising
Developers
IT Marketing
Copywriters
Feeds
31. @saksters
Team alignment to the Site (Example)
Content SEO
Specialist
Technical SEO
Specialist
Data SEO
Specialist
SEO Project
Manager
Other
Promotions
Blog
Local Stores
eCommerce
Videos
*Scale drawn is still questionable
32. @saksters
• As a technical SEO, I would like X to do Y so that search
engine crawlers can…
• As a data SEO, I would like X to do Y so that a business
user can…
• As a content SEO, I would like X to do Y so that a consumer
can…
Writing user stories with the organization
33. @saksters
• Generic Roles
• Duplicate Experts (Too Many Cooks)
• Poor Relevancy to the Business
• Low Authority
Our SEO Team had some problems…
34. @saksters
Share these #SMXInsights on your social channels!
• Establish SMEs in your internal team
• Prevent “Too Many Cooks”
• Align SMEs to the organization
• Write user stories in line with other teams
• Closer product ownership to core skills
39. @saksters
• Templated deck (15 mins)
• What is SEO?
• Where the respective team affects SEO
• Relevant case study
• Open Discussion (45 mins)
• How can we work together to improve your program?
• What are your frustrations with the SEO team?
How we do it
42. @saksters
Key Takeaways:
• Front-end process is longer due to UI/UX team involvement
• We can pivot towards building internal tools and tasks around data
(ex. Autogenerating XML sitemaps, redirect tool, title tag logic etc.)
1. Back-end is implemented faster than front-end
43. @saksters
Key Takeaways:
• Prioritizing back-end resources towards relieving our co-
dependence leads to SEO stability
• In the interim, work with the team on aligning business goals
2. Feeds are inhibited by us because of
infrastructure
44. @saksters
Key Takeaways:
• Improve content briefs (title, description, headings, creative,
internal links etc.) to lighten workload given to copywriters
• Leverage data to templatize content gaps
• Consider hiring an agency for specific need
3. Internal copywriters are a shared resource
45. @saksters
Key Takeaways:
• Create dashboards that include SEO traffic to bridge revenue gaps
for a Category
• Opportunity to have other teams identify and monitor performance
for you
4. Poor SEO performance, pressures
Merchandising
46. @saksters
Share these #SMXInsights on your social channels!
• Make it a team goal to connect with other
organizational teams
• Listen for feedback and adapt your SEO needs to
what fits your organizational problems
