Organizations at War with Themselves Navigating Egos, Red Tape, and Conflicting Priorities

Introduction

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

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

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.

Magical Thinking in a Non- Magical World The Frustrations of an In-House SEO

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

Avoiding Waste Advice for Executive Leadership

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

Ask yourself: Are you willing to fund an in-house SEO team, or should you hire an agency instead?

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.

SEO is NOT Magic It needs the following to succeed: • Tools • Platforms • Development Budget • Executive Support and Priority • People

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

Are you willing to fund the projects aimed at fixing your technical foundations?

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

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.

Otherwise, Are You Ready to Forge Ahead?

Understanding the Executive Lens Advice for SEOs

How we communicate the needs of the site to leadership determines how well they are prioritized and funded.

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

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

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

Opportunities for Each Exist Throughout the Framework Protect Grow Drive Efficiencies

Measurement What is Your Starting Point?

Establish a Baseline For Where You Are Now

X: @keithgoode Mastodon: mastodon.social/@keithgoode Key Metrics to Know • Traffic (of course) • Ranking (of course) • Conversion Metrics • Revenue per Visit • Average Order Value • Conversion Rate by Channel • Share of Voice • Seasonality • Discovery/Crawl/Indexation

Estimating Value Charting Your Success

How do your activities lead to improving each metric?

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?

Selling Your Recommendations Breaking Down Your Work into Actionable and Meaningful Strategies

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

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

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.

This is the End How to Know When to Part Ways

Sometimes you reach a decision point: to stay with an organization that won’t fund you or move on to an organization that will.

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”

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.

Look Out for #1

Key Takeaways

• 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

Thank you! Keith Goode