Most people in the search engine optimization (SEO) world know that on-page SEO efforts are crucial to the visibility of their websites in the search engines. On-page tactics include keyword optimization in content and elements such as page title, navigation, headers, and inner linking, as well as creating a site architecture accessible to bots and users alike.
The area where the biggest changes in optimization tactics can be seen rests in a diverse web of coordinated strategies. This opens SEO’s circle of influence into a plethora of inbound marketing strategies that can include content marketing, social media marketing, and traditional public relations—tactics that are often referred to as off-page SEO. Some examples of how these marketing tactics could be utilized might be connecting with consumers through Facebook, Twitter and Google+, leveraging those social media sites to do community outreach and customer service, blog posting, guest posting, product reviews, and commenting on other’s posts—even e-mail marketing.
All of these tactics cover a huge range of skill sets and marketing areas, which makes it likely that an SEO in a given company—whether on staff, or an outsourced expert—would need to interact with a variety of departments, each of whom would need to incorporate SEO insights into every marketing component of their respective areas. In that sense, it takes a village to achieve successfully SEO. But it also requires a clear vision of a company’s organic needs.
An experienced SEO can look at a company’s marketingtactics from an organic search perspective to determine what is and isn’t working. This involves monitoring and analyzing the delicate interplay of keyword data, traffic, trends, and other market information—both among the greater Web audience, as well as among converting and non-converting customers.
With this information, the SEO can better inform the efforts of marketing teams. For example, by directing the copywriter to create link-worthy content on topics that have been deemed important, the SEO creates opportunities to draw interest not only for site visitors, but among the greater community and especially the social media influencers to help generate links and shares. That may accomplish the strategy to gain links to content, but may then engage the PR department or others responsible for a company’s social media presence and lead to even more marketing interaction beneficial to SEO.
So even if it takes a village to help create and implement all the elements of a company’s Web strategy, if the village doesn’t have any SEO knowledge, a positive search engine presence may not be achieved. Ideally, a company would have at least one acting SEO, or someone capable of overseeing an outsourced SEO to ensure that all the tactics move forward with a cohesive SEO implementation strategy in place that is well integrated with your existing marketing efforts. With the combination of a variety of inbound marketing activities lead by an experienced SEO, a company has the greatest chance of achieving SEO success.
