Jessica Bowman, founder of SEOinhouse.com, is a leader within the Search Engine Optimization (SEO) industry and a long-time advocate of in-house SEO. She is a well-known international speaker and moderator at SEO events that include: Search Engine Strategies, Search Marketing Expo and International Search Summit. She is also an industry columnist for publications such as Search Engine Watch and Search Engine Land. Audiences benefit from Jessicas knowledge of how to create a sustainable SEO strategy, how to take an SEO program to the next level and leverage existing company resources to produce the maximum return on SEO investment. For companies that are new to in-house SEO, Jessica and the team at SEOinhouse.com get SEO programs up and running quickly, systematically and profitably.
29. SEO Project Involvement Pyramid SEO involvement is intense at the beginning and declines as the project progresses.
30. How to Incorporate SEO into the Development Life Cycle Typical Development Life Cycle w/SEO Extremely Expensive Opportunity Costs & Rework Inexpensive SEO requirements met within scope & budget When SEO is 1 st brought into projects: or or Where SEO needs to be incorporated into the Development Life Cycle
35. Typical Development Life Cycle Contains: Phase Roles Involved Common Deliverables Inception (idea created) Upper Management Business Sponsor Scope Document Project Charter PRD (product release document) Requirements Gathering Business Sponsor Product Manager Project Manager User Experience Designers Sr. Programmers Requirements documents PRD (product release document) Wireframes may get started Design Business Sponsor (review/approve only) Product Manager User Experience Designers Project Managers Sr. Programmers Finalized Wireframes Finalized Visual Designs Page Specifications Finalized Use Cases Development Product Managers (minimal) Project managers All Programmers QA Test Scripts Logged Bugs/Defects Launch Development Team QA Team System Administrators Changes Live Thumbs up – Everything is Good Logged Bugs/Defects SEO SEO
36. Before a deliverable is accepted, verify it contains SEO requirements and SEO has seen it.
37. Everyone Needs to Make SEO a Success Role Responsibility Execs Ultimately responsible if projects have SEO Failures Hold people accountable for working with SEO properly Don’t approve things if SEO wasn’t involved (ask SEO to find out) Product Manager Involve SEO in prioritization decisions Involve SEO in SEO requirements for every change Ensure SEO is involved in all projects Ensure SEO requirements are in documentation Get SEO input BEFORE things go to the business Project Manager Get SEO input in the project plan tasks Involve SEO in the right places of the project Ensure SEO is involved in all projects Usability Create search engine friendly user experiences Create information architecture optimal for SEO Programmers Create search engine friendly technologies Speak up when it appears SEO hasn’t been involved QA Testers Test every release for SEO best practices Ensure SEO QAs each release
59. Get SEO requirements into Deliverables Do not put text in image Make h1 on homepage, no header tag on interior pages No header tag on homepage, h1 on interior ages H2 tag, include keywords always in this text No header tags No header tags For rotating banner text, use html text over the image and when user has CSS turned off, stack the images/text on top of eachother so that search engines can read it all Use <em> not CSS class name
61. You want Ambassadors to become proficient enough to do this for you… Long-Term Plan: SEO team merely reviews and provides oversight and input on the complex issues so that SEO can focus on the big picture and not the nitty-gritty details.
62. Everyone needs to hold Each Other Accountable Role Responsibility Execs Ultimately responsible if projects have SEO Failures Hold people accountable for working with SEO properly Don’t approve things if SEO wasn’t involved (ask SEO to find out) Product Manager Involve SEO in prioritization decisions Involve SEO in SEO requirements for every change Ensure SEO is involved in all projects Ensure SEO requirements are in documentation Get SEO input BEFORE things go to the business Project Manager Get SEO input in the project plan tasks Involve SEO in the right places of the project Ensure SEO is involved in all projects Usability Create search engine friendly user experiences Create information architecture optimal for SEO Programmers Create search engine friendly technologies Speak up when it appears SEO hasn’t been involved QA Testers Test every release for SEO best practices Ensure SEO QAs each release
63. Incorporate SEO in Deliverables Phase Roles Involved Common Deliverables Inception (idea created) Upper Management Business Sponsor Scope Document Project Charter PRD (product release document) Requirements Gathering Business Sponsor Product Manager Project Manager User Experience Designers Sr. Programmers Requirements documents PRD (product release document) Wireframes may get started Design Business Sponsor (review/approve only) Product Manager User Experience Designers Project Managers Sr. Programmers Wireframes Visual Designs Page Specifications Use Cases Development Product Managers (minimal) Project Managers All Programmers QA Test Scripts Logged Bugs/Defects Launch Development Team QA Team System Administrators Changes Live Thumbs up – Everything is Good Logged Bugs/Defects SEO SEO
Seo is not like any other discipline in the organization, it crosses over many disciplines
In-house seo requires the organization to be in sync, and paddle together as they execute a project --- and seo is part of every canoe team.
Create lines of defense, so seo is looked out for throughout the development life cycle.
Now that SEO is involved in th SDLC.. Now you need to get SEO really involved in the nitty gritty details.. The meetings, templates, documentation, etc.
SEO, Product Management, Project Management and Analysts need to be 3 peas in a bod.
All development projects abide by company standards and guidelines. Goal: Get SEO Best practices and standards included into these existing documents, not as a separate document that sits only in the SEO knowledge center.
Now that SEO is involved in th SDLC.. Now you need to get SEO really involved in the nitty gritty details.. The meetings, templates, documentation, etc.