Whether it's an agency or within a business, SEO teams are influenced by organizational structure.
But first and foremost: there is no one-size-fits-all answer to how a company or institution should do things right. That said, understanding the impact of some telemarketing list organizational layouts can help make more informed decisions when looking at SEO teams’ classifications.
So what options do targeting SEO teams have?
Separate SEO Department
We start with the obvious answer and make SEO a separate department. This applies to medium to large teams with their own leadership structure and growth opportunities.
One of the benefits of working independently of the team is that departments can be divided into functional organizations, such as technical SEO, content marketing, link building, etc.
Another benefit is that the SEO process is not skewed by the focus of another department. When the SEO department makes a recommendation, the purpose behind it is clear and specific.
Strategy Department
Strategy departments are responsible for driving customer personas and researching business insights while working at a company or institution, and then turning those data points into actionable actions that drive the business forward.
Promote a symbiotic relationship within the department's SEO team. Strategic departments tend to take the lead, so having SEO as part of the department ensures that SEO is valued from the start. Strategy departments also benefit from insights from organic search audits and competitive analysis.
The technology department/developer
team is responsible for setting up domain names, coding websites, maintaining web pages, etc.
As part of this department, the SEO team can optimize directly and gain a better understanding of website content before it is published. It also helps to make SEO part of the ongoing maintenance process.
The SEO team also has visibility into technical backlogs and a better understanding of when to implement testing and optimization.
Digital Marketing/Advertising
Digital media buying and marketing departments have direct counterparts to SEO, especially pay-per-click (PPC) or search engine marketing (SEM) campaigns.
Continuous coordination between PPC and SEO allows building SERP visibility and understanding where PPC and SEO should strengthen to maximize conversion opportunities. Ensuring placement on the top of the relevant terms and conditions can be achieved in the best possible way to increase revenue and reduce advertising costs.
Creative/Contributor
Google algorithms vary in ranking sites based on content, design factors increasing the need for collaboration in an organization's creative and SEO process.
The coordination between copywriting and SEO is well documented and required for optimal results. However, there are lesser-known opportunities in collaborations involving website design and SEO. The visual treatment of content is a key factor in Google's updated ranking algorithm.
With this new factor, SEOs within the creative department can seamlessly collaborate between SEO, copy and design, ultimately improving search engine rankings.
Analytics
holds the key to data warehouses that allow companies to understand how customers interact with websites when they arrive through organic search results.
Data points are the foundation of SEO. When analyzing data before and after the optimization process, SEO teams are entering murky uncharted waters. Even when launching a brand new website, the SEO team needs to work directly with the analytics department to ensure that the data they need is readily available once the website is launched.
Having this close, constantly interactive communication helps increase the chances of intelligent change that drives conversions.
Equip each key department with relevant experts
Given the special needs in SEO implementations described above, another option is to embed relevant SEO experts in each influential department.
SEO involves many disciplines, so distributing expertise across an organization can provide many advantages. Helping optimization specialists in the relevant coaching departments to increase smart implementation also fosters a culture of testing in each department as reflection and discussion take place while working together.
Other departments need the ear of the SEO team and vice versa
UX
The UX department (sometimes located in the creative or technical department) needs to work closely with SEO experts to develop how users interact with the website and develop the user experience, starting from the moment the visitor arrives at the search engine.
It is critical that social
SEO experts understand the conversations between their clients. What are customers saying, what are their needs and what are their problems? How can content be created to address these needs? How to communicate the solution to them?
A social strategist can help SEO teams understand conversations like this and connect content wi