Colin Woon - The bigger the business, the bigger the SEO challenge

SEO:
In-house challenges
at Telefonica Europe – ‘O2’_
Ostrava
Telefonica Europe
21.10.2016
Follow me on Twitter - @ColinDWoon

DISCOVER, DISRUPT, DELIVER
2/61
O2 owned by Telefonica is the second largest mobile network in the
UK employing over 3000 staff at the head office in Slough_
2 Follow me on Twitter - @ColinDWoon

3/61
Telefonica is a large company, with equally large profit and revenue
objectives with O2 entirely responsible for performance in the UK_

4/61
In 2013 O2 expands on their digital marketing expertise by bringing
the strategic management of SEO in-house with new a new hire_
Building on the existing paid search expertise, the plan was to set in motion the move from an externally run channel
to an in house SEO team, not completely moving away from agencies but instead leveraging their skillset as a
consultant.

5/61
An SEO specialist recently back from a year at Wunderman in
Amsterdam was recruited by Telefonica to lead the O2 SEO strategy_

6
Digital strategies in search begin the customers as they define and share their
needs through search activity_
Follow me on Twitter
@ColinDWoon

7/61
The growth in performance at O2 over the past 4 years has proven
that value to an in-house SEO function_
95%
60%
40% 30%
2013 2014 2015 2016
95%
80%
60%
40%
2013
2014
2015
2016
7
Having an in house team gives the specialist instant access to the decision makers and internal stakeholders which can be a major
blocker for external agencies. While the man hours from the external agency is reduced when the work is taken in-house, their
output can be more valuable as their time is more focused on achievable tasks communicated through the internal team who are
closer to the action.
‣ In-house effort and management of the strategy increases
‣ Agency hours reduce while time spend is more effective
‣ Total performance based on generic organic traffic increases
5%
40%
60% 70%
2013 2014 2015 2016

8
Executing an SEO strategy in a
large organisation is more
challenging for the in-house
team than it is for an external
partner or agency.

9/61
Making an instant impact in a large business can sometimes take
longer than you plan when you move from a smaller business_
9
Absorb SEO work to date.
Meet all the teams.
Learn how the business operates.
Outline year 1 objectives by month.

10/61
Learning and executing needs to happen simultaneous, even 3 years
later I’m meeting people for the first time_

11/61
Working at a large brand in the UK like O2 gives you a unique
perspective of what is important in SEO execution_
11
Natural Search & how its is different to other channels at O2 UK.
Exploring the difference between SEO and natural search at O2 UK.
How Google influences to search results affects O2 UK.
How the Telco industry makes SEO extra challenging.
The extra processes that are a requirement with a big business?

12
Clearly identifying what SEO
means to your business at the
beginning will define the
course your journey of
developing an understood SEO
function.

13/61
At O2, SEO sits within the digital team alongside paid search,
affiliates, display, precision with a dotted line to social media_
13
Paid Media
• Paid Search
• Precision
• Display
• Affiliate Marketing
• Paid Social Media (Content)
Non-Paid Media
• Natural Search
• SEO
• Social Media (Content)
The digital team at O2 UK goes by the name of ‘Digital Excellence’ in order to promote that the specialists within that team are the best
in their fields. A team split between paid and non paid in a trading focused environment is a challenge in itself when each team is given
similar KPIs.

14/61
Large ecommerce websites are built on trading and conversion
targets which can work better for paid channels_
Paid Channels Organic Search
14
No
No
No
Optimise by Position /
Placement
Optimise by CPA
Optimise by Spend
Optimise by Traffic Yes

15/61
Understanding the limitations in setting organic search trading
objectives often comes as a revelation to sales teams_

16/61
When we then look at the levers that we can pull in SEO / Organic
search we see the same limitations happen, but in reverse_
16
Optimise by Content
Optimise by Backlinks
Optimise by Internal
Links
Optimise by Page Speed
Paid Channels Organic Search
No
No
No
No

17/61
Some features in digital channel management
although possible in SEO, are not without
complications.
There are common digital media functions that
are not possible with the organic search channel
Non Organic Search OptionsChallenging Digital Media
SEO is direct response, but being less measurable and controllable
makes it stand slightly apart other channels_
17
Retargeting
Segmentation
Impression Reporting
CPA Targets
Impression Tracking
Activity by Orders
Attribution Reporting
Econometrics

18
The specialism at O2 is
identified as SEO, but when
the channel is discussed, it
changes to natural search.
But what does that mean in
practice?

19/61
The revelation was that SEO should be seen as a creative function,
while organic search be seen as a traffic channel_
19
SEO
Organic
Search
Across the business SEO and Natural Search are used always with the assumption that they are the same thing, almost in
the same way that more junior people assuming paid and organic search are the same. Ensuring that individuals
understood the difference between both, and when to call on their services improved execution.
‣ Understanding that SEO is the function used to
improve website visibility through increased
rankings in search.
‣ Understanding that SEO is not a channel and you
wouldn’t refer to SEO as a traffic source in your
analytics tools.
‣ Knowing that SEO is the tool that you use to drive
natural search traffic
‣ Understanding that a large share of organic search
traffic numbers will come without any SEO work
required and will only be driven from customer
loyalty and brand exposure.

20/61
Splitting the channel into it separate components worked well at O2
UK by allowing people to focus_

21/61
Recognising the difference between SEO and Organic search helped
to educate the business on what is important_
21
Organic
Search
Rank
ClicksCTR
At O2 UK, organic search is well understood by the business. Even those who do know understand the detail of SEO can
grasp the simple differences between paid search and organic search with the help of Google sign posts and poor paid
search ads that people avoid like the plague.
‣ Online Sales & trading teams are the most
interested in the organic search channel due to
the large traffic figures that it generates.
‣ It’s simple for everyone in the business to monitor
rankings in Google search which is a common
activity performed by junior and senior colleagues.
‣ Reviewing listings in the SERPs to question CTR
performance for organic search as well as paid
search is common among legal teams, P&L, and
marketing.
‣ The fundamental understanding that organic
search is free drives extra interest into individual
wanting to drive uplifts through the channel.

22/61
In reality the SEO team is a lot more than a DR channel, and it is
here that O2 began to understand_
22
SEO
PR
ITContent
However when it comes to SEO, the understanding and focus starts to trail off among the same individuals who showed
the strong interest in organic search. As all SEO’s understand, organic search is the objective of SEO and therefore
strong performance cannot come without a strong SEO execution.
‣ The User Experience team is one of the few
internal teams that actively looks to understand
the requirements of an SEO strategy due to the
impact is has on their work.
‣ Marketing often without the understanding of
optimisation, will show clear interest in the
insights from SEO research in order to better
create their content
‣ IT will provide the most valuable information but
often the most difficult situations as they speak in
highly technical language often challenging the
SEO specialist to provide answers to un tested
ideas.

23/61
Organic SearchSEO
Understanding the split between SEO and Organic Search us to
better divert resources to each of the requirements_
23
Traffic
‣ Second largest channel after direct results in a large amount of
focus on the performance of Organic Search.
CTR
‣ Careful creation of page tags ensure that strong rankings drive the
clicks that are intended with impelling content.
Rank
‣ Visibility in Google is the primary function in SEO as an enabler for
traffic.
UX
‣ There are clear similarities between the work completed by the
UX team and the SEO team in the effort to make a website
optimised.
Orders
‣ Orders through O2 branded search terms outperforms other DR
channels with the exception of Paid Search.

24
Brand search drives the
majority of traffic & sales, but
brand search isn’t directly
influenced by SEO. Generic
traffic drives incremental
search growth.

25/61
Targeting brand performance as SEO leads to overinflated numbers
that are based more on brand loyalty than SEO_

26/61
Our marketing budgets drive large numbers in brand search queries
which are then broken down into categories_BenefitExampleSearchTerms
Pure O2 Brand O2 & Generic O2 & Non O2 Brand No O2 Brand
’02’
‘O2’
‘Telefonica’
‘www.o2.co.uk’
- Assured Performance
- High Google Rank
‘O2 Wifi’
‘O2 Phones’
‘O2 Network’
‘O2 Sim Card’
- Incremental Traffic
- Low Conversion Rate
‘O2 Xperia’
‘O2 iPhone’
‘O2 Pizza Express’
‘O2 Samsung Galaxy’
- High Conversion Rate
- High Order Volume
‘iPad Pro’
‘iPhone 7’
‘Android OS’
‘Samsung Note7’
- Traffic Opportunity
- High Competition
Organic Search SEO

27/61
Looking the search queries that drive traffic into O2.co.uk, we
identified that O2 brand terms would drive up to 75%_
O2 Brand
O2 & Generic
O2 & Non O2
Brand
Non O2 Brand
All Search Queries Split by Brand
/ Generic
27
‣ The lack of keyword level data due to Google
secure search adds more difficulty in
reporting.
‣ Adwords paid search data and Search Console
provide valuable insight to negate that issue.
‣ Strong O2 Marcomms activity drives large
search numbers from branded terms
‣ SEO campaigns capitalize on this with
optimised ‘Search Call To Action’ prompting
customers to search using set terms.
75%
25%

28/61
The challenge has been to reduce leakage to other websites from O2
brand search queries_

29/61
By making use of our partner websites and O2-owned subdomains,
we aim to flood and control the search results_
29
O2Vouchers.co.uk O2Recycle.co.uk O2ThinkBig.co.uk
News.O2.co.uk Community.O2.co.uk Priority.O2.co.uk
Sub-
Domains
Micro-
Sites
We get the opportunity to leverage multiple domains to:
‣Publish more content that can rank simultaneous for the same search query.
‣Utilise multiple websites to drive equity through cross linking to primary content pages.

30/61
And to capitalise on the opportunity behind generic queries by
focussing on the creative optimisation ‘SEO’ element_
30
The remaining 25% of SEO search queries represents the incremental opportunity that we can influence more directly
if it is true that brand search queries are influenced more by marketing communications activity like TV advertising
and out of home marketing.
Workable Targets
• Not impacted by
brand marketing
Specific SEO Impact
• Effects derived from
search engine optimisation
Market Penetration
• Generating new business from competitor
customers and people new in the market

31
When you look at your
competitors you have to look
beyond your traditional
competitors and instead focus
on who is taking the space you
desire.

32/61
In such a fiercely competitive environment, the network that gets to
page 1 in the fastest time will lead in sales_

When a new product is launched, the primary objective is to
get to the first page of Google in the shortest possible time as
this is a highly profitable period for trading_

34/61
Research has shown that Google seemingly gives priority ranking to
reviews sites during the pre-announcement to early launch stage_
34
Pre-Order
Pre-Announce
Announce
Launch
Phase 1 Phase 2
In-Life
Phase 3 Phase 4 Phase 5
News Websites eg. MacWorld
Manufacturer Websites eg. Apple
Reviews Websites eg. Tech Radar
Networks eg. O2
‣ Typically its is News & Review
publications that get the initial share of
organic search. Google caters to
customers in the research phase of the
buying cycle with the exception of the
manufacturer or exclusive retailer.

35/61
Google seems to give priority ranking to reviews sites during the pre-
announcement to early launch stage.
It shows the intellect of the Google search algorithm when it is able to not only distinguish and identify reviews websites, but also to know
the periods during new product launches when those sites will be more and then less relevant to customer searches.
33%
67%
Customer Reviews
Specialist Reviews
Type Customer Review
Average Rank 5-8
35
Type Customer Review
Average Rank 6-9
Type Expert Review
Average Rank 3-5
Type Expert Review
Average Rank 4-6
Type Expert Review
Average Rank 4-6
Type Expert Review
Average Rank 2-4

Google likes to be very with the sites it relates to search queries,
to the point that being a phone network can work against us when
we try to add traditional retail products to our catalogue.

37/61
Tablets are an example of a product Google determines to be more
of an electrical appliance than a network device_
37
Google understands that people expect to
view network devices with a network
provider. However, electrical devices are then
expected to be viewed at standard electrical
retailer.
20%
80%
Google Visibility Share – Networks
Vs Retailers:
Traffic Share by website type:
> Reduced
visibility for
networks
> Less specific
customer search
terms
> High traffic
driven to
standard retailers
Impact on Search Performance:

38/61
Google gives preferential rankings to the known electronic retailers
regardless of on page content or other SEO techniques_
This makes entry into new markets
more challenging even for brand
the size of O2. The mission then
changes to one of building new
connections to different product
categories

39/61
Being unable to gain visibility on the first page of Google can reduce
CTR by over 90% placing search needs in PPC_
39
Retailer preference in SERPs
Customer
• Restricted Sites
Google
• Controlled Results
Company
• Reduced Visibility

40
The telco industry is a large
business in the UK with only 4
main networks. Unlike other
large businesses smaller
product lines lead to stiff
competition.

The mobile network industry is heavily skewed towards pay
monthly handset sales in terms of revenue drivers. In that
category, the share heavily weighted between a very small
amount of devices_

42/61
There are times when we maximise traffic with exclusive deals that
have a lasting effect on our performance for years to come_

43/61
Being an exclusive partner enables O2 to build brand connections
within search that defines us as the primary destination_

44/61
Being the official partner for the iPhone launch in 2007 has allowed
O2 to compete with the Apple brand for the primary search terms_
44



‣ Increased visibility derived from the sole ownership of the
content similar to an owned / created product.
‣ Increased visitors to the website in comparison to other
products due to being the only retailer and purchase point.
‣ Guaranteed sales without the concern of competition taking a
larger share of the sales.

45/61
A large share of the mobile industry is owned by Samsung and Apple
which limits the profitable keywords to target_
45
iPhone
Samsung
Galaxy
iPad
Sony
Xperia
‣ Limited products with limited variations
result in a fiercely competitive market where
at some times of the year there are less than
10 target keywords between all competitors
‣ Restrictions from manufacturers further
complicate this market where each network
has to follow guidelines that result in less
originality.
‣ Customers then have a harder choice to
distinguish between different networks when
they each have the same messaging for the
same search terms.

46/61
The importance of focussing on your niche instead of a generic
objective was made clear for O2 in this example_
46
User Journey Targeted Queries
‣ Increased focus on the customer user journey by
targeting sales specific search terms specifically
relevant to contract network devices to reduce
irrelevant competitors and increase CTR.
‣ Preventing less relevant websites from taking up
competitive ranking positions turning the SERP
landscape into a more relevant space leading to
improved visibility.
‣ Able to publish product page style pages with less
content than other content SEO websites that might
typically rank higher in more generic search term
results.
‣ SERPs by Google generated without question boxes,
news and images to increase CTR for search
listings.
What this means to O2

47
SEO is best executed when you
have flexibility & control over
your website management,
and when you have a
consistency in your processes
and systems.

48/61
At O2 UK, being a business of large size we get both benefits and
issues that smaller companies avoid_
48
Large Business Issues
• Multiple Teams
• Stacked Development Streams
• Long Lead Times
• High Development Costs
Large Business Benefits
• Fast ranking relevant content
• High sharability from
• High brand traffic
• Large website

When you are working with multiple stakeholders within a
company, the approval process for any project can be a long
battle. With SEO, due to the guesswork applied to estimations,
getting support its challenging.

50/61
Once multiple stakeholders across the business have given approval,
development work can be moved into delivery leading to results_

51/61
Most key requirement for approvals
is the expected uplift on sales
volume.
Each project needs to drive orders
either preferably directly, but due to
how organic search and SEO work,
often the compromise is to have an
indirect impact on sales.
For example, how a content
marketing initiative may contribute
to increased rankings for a key
product page.
SEO and UX are closely connected
which results in a lot of crossover
which can be beneficial and
challenging.
UX teams at O2 sit within the Online
creative team who have direct
influence over navigation, page
template designs and all other
aspects of the information
architecture.
Understanding the objectives of the
UX team is one absolute
requirement, but it is more key to
learn the UX leads style of web
design.
The O2 website is built from a
custom made CMS which means that
most of the functionality is also
custom built.
Custom built websites can
complicate tasks elsewhere
considered simple due to the
capability not native to the original
framework requiring additional
modification.
Having a team prepared for
continual developments who are
available to find workarounds to
existing limitations is key.
UX Impact IT CapabilitySales Impact
Getting approval for SEO initiatives in a large business is perhaps
what the majority of an in house specialists’ work requirement_

Being a large business, it is impossible to attend every meeting
which ultimately leads to key information passing by. In regards to
IT, this can mean years of optimisation efforts being deleted with a
single IT update_

53/61
Multiple times where updates approved in one side of the business
have had the opposite effect on SEO_

54/61
Multiple times where updates approved in one side of the business
have had the opposite effect on SEO_
54 SiteAI
Code
OnPage
Removed
Links
Removed
Content
Image Text
Removed
Tags
Changed
Incorrect
URLs
Redirects
Removed
Pages
Duplicated
Pages
Being a small team, the time
inevitably comes when one of the
meeting you cannot attend leads to
key content being removed.
Having an IT team managed by an
outsourced company in order to
better safeguard against technical
human errors leads to many
precautionary unscheduled roll
backs.
Having a creative web team involved
in multiple A/B tests where short
term changes can be made that
impact multiple areas.

55
55/61
Having a large development function leads to further stakeholders
for development decisions.
“The basic differentiator in comparison to a basic static website is that web application can
provide features/functionalities. Static web page provides content only”
An outsourced IT Business Analyst working for O2 gave his view on JavaScript:
“If you want to make a content change in a static website you have to change the content of the
page manually”
“It allows you to automatically generate consistent product pages, tariff pages, etc. By just
providing the key content (photos, prices and text), the web application deals with the rest”
“We use it to manage functions such as stock management, contract renewal, basket
management. etc”

Internal restructures occur often in big businesses, and Telefonica is
not stranger to these changes. In 3 years SEO has been involved in 2
large restructures that have has large impacts on how the channel is
focused_

57/61
Shakeups can offer new opportunities and you hope that when the
music stops, you’re able to sit down and work_

58/61
In 2014 O2 moved the SEO function and other digital channels from
online sales in marketing communications_
58
• Website Influence
• Traffic Focus
• Technical
Knowledge
Stay with
Online
• Campaign Influence
• Messaging
Influence
• Marketing Budgets
Move to
Marketing
Missed
Opportunity
Simultaneous
Learning
Action
Taken
Online
Governance
Meeting
SEO Online
Development
Team Set-Up
Joint Online
& Marketing
SEO Strategy

59/61
The growth potential for Telefonica & O2 through SEO and Organic
search remains substantial_
 Speed Optimisation Project – Barry Allen
Estimated impact on revenue based on website speed optimisation  > £4.9m
Revenue
 Content Development Project – Daily Planet
Estimated revenue impact based on undisclosed content projects  > £2.7m
Revenue
 Technical BAU Release Project – Tony Stark
Estimated revenue impact based on undisclosed technical updates  > £4.1m
Revenue
 External SEO & PR Project – Lois Lane
Further potential gains from development of the external outreach and content
marketing
 > £
Revenue
 External Partnerships – Flashpoint  > £
Revenue
KEY FIGURES

60
60/61
Colin Woon
Head of SEO
O2 UK /
Telefonica
Europe
Twitter.
@ColinDWoon
Thank you, enjoy the rest of the festival_

Colin Woon - The bigger the business, the bigger the SEO challenge

Recommandé

Recommandé

Contenu connexe

Tendances

Tendances (20)

Similaire à Colin Woon - The bigger the business, the bigger the SEO challenge

Similaire à Colin Woon - The bigger the business, the bigger the SEO challenge (20)

Plus de Marketing Festival

Plus de Marketing Festival (20)

Dernier

Dernier (20)

Colin Woon - The bigger the business, the bigger the SEO challenge