What To Do When You Can't Do Anything - SEO Soft Skills - Clarity '14

SEO SOFT SKILLSWHAT TO DO WHEN YOU CAN’T DO ANYTHING

KEITH L. GOODEGLOBAL SEO TECHNOLOGY LEAD, DELL

@KEITHGOODE +KEITHGOODE WWW.LINKEDIN.COM/IN/KEITHLGOODE

YOUR PRESENTERKeith L. Goode• 17 years of Online Experience

• AMD

• HomeAway

• Builders Digital Experience

• SpareFoot

• Dell (3 years)• SEO Technology Lead, DCSG (formerly eDell)

• Technical SEO Instructor

• Presentations• Clarity ’13 (and ‘14)

• Pubcon Vegas

• Pubcon Austin

• Austin SEO

• Anime Otaku

Twitter: @keithgoodewww.slideshare.net/AustinOtaku


DISCLAIMER NOTICE

Protection: The ideas and statements in this presentation do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Dell Inc. but are based on my personal experience in the SEO Industry.

Tl;dr: Be kind, and remember that:

Keith

Is

Not

Dell

THE CHALLENGEBEYOND TECHNICAL, BEYOND CONTENT


EXTERNAL CHALLENGES

The Continual Evolution of SEO

• What was acceptable is now unacceptable

• Unnatural Link Building

• Keyword Stuffing

• Flat Content

• Inauthentic Social Participation

• The SEO’s list of effective activities are being eroded


REACTING TO THESE CHALLENGES

Choose Your Response Wisely

• You can cry about it

• You can spend hours, days, weeks, and months commiserating with your fellow cryba-, err, SEOs

• Or, you can accept that all roles evolve, and yours is no different


ALL ROLES EVOLVE

• In Ancient Rome, a trip to the barber was a daily habit, just as a trip to the public baths

• In the Middle Ages, a barber’s responsibilities included:

• Surgery

• Dentistry

• Leeching

• Bleeding

• Enemas O_o


A MODERN EXAMPLE OF AN EVOLVING ROLE

INTERNAL CHALLENGESTHE OTHER PART OF YOUR JOB DESCRIPTION


BUDGETS, RESOURCES AND PRIORITIES

• The larger the organization, the larger the pie, but …

• Competition for pieces of the pie increase

• You can’t always get what you want…

• It’s not personal

• It’s not malicious


REACTING TO THESE CHALLENGES

Choose Your Response Wisely

• You can cry about it

• You can spend hours, days, weeks, and months commiserating with your fellow cryba-, err, employees

• Or…

• You can look for opportunities outside of the standard approach


SEO JOB DESCRIPTION – IS SOMETHING MISSING?

I Hate to use the Phrase “Back in My Day…,” but…

• Back in my day…

• Soft skills were a must

• Ability to collaborate was seen as fundamental

THE SOLUTIONUSE THOSE SOFT SKILLS


DEMOCRATIZATION OF SEO

• SEO embedded into the fabric of your organization

• Brown Bag Lunches

• Training Programs

• Search Certification

• The people you train can advocate for you


BUILD ALLIANCES, GAIN ADVOCATES

• Continue to monitor your site’s performance

• Share your findings with

• Your Team

• Your Product Managers

• Decision-Makers

• Find out what’s important to them

• Can you find common ground?

• Can they help you with their influence?


FIND SYNERGIES

• Of the Projects that received funding

• Are there opportunities to add your requests?

• Are there ways the existing project can be enhanced in a way that helps SEO?

• Are there problems that engineers are facing that could be solved by you?

• How can you know if you never ask?


NONE OF US IS AS SMART AS ALL OF US

• You have expertise, but do you know everything?

• Understand the full picture by talking to:

• Engineers

• Developers

• Product Managers

• Other Department Heads


CHANGE YOUR PERSPECTIVE

THANK YOULET’S CONNECT

@KEITHGOODE

+KEITHGOODE

What To Do When You Can't Do Anything - SEO Soft Skills - Clarity '14

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Transcript of What To Do When You Can't Do Anything - SEO Soft Skills - Clarity '14