2 Comments

What Really Drags Down SEO

Jan 31, 2006
by

You might want to check out “The Real Cost of SEO: It’s not Budget, It’s Believers!”. The Search Engine Guide article by Gord Hotchkiss, president and CEO of Enquiro, gets to the heart of what often impedes SEO projects. It’s usually a lack of consensus.

Companies want the payoff, but they aren’t always willing to make the required content and site architecture changes to rush past the competition on the major search engines. C-level executives, marketing directors, IT leaders and others all weigh in with different perspectives and agendas.

He argues that it’s not the budget as much as it is the time and patience needed to ensure buy in. Otherwise, the results aren’t so good. “Our marketing champion, who got the whole ball rolling, is on everybody’s most wanted list, and not in a good way,” he writes.

How much responsibility should SEO firms bear for bringing everyone together as well as defining an effective SEO strategy?

I believe SEO consultants owe it more to themselves than the client to bridge great divides. We can’t force the hands of each player, not when the roots of internal politics run deep within an organization. But we should still work to bring understanding – if not unity. That way, we can begin to do our jobs and gain more insights that can benefit other clients. After all, they pay consultants for the perspective they’ve gained over time.

Whether it’s a senior executive, the IT department manager or marketing director, you need to get an in with someone who will believe in what you’re doing. So far, I’ve seen great results with the marketing folks who help us make headway.

Filed under: Search Engine Marketing
  • http://www.peronii.co.za Dirk

    It's important to note that if you're an SEO, but not the webmaster, you will probably be running into some difficulties. It's always a good idea to include maintenance agreements within your SEO contracts as this would give you free reign. Just show them how well their competitors are doing and they will quickly change their minds. :-)

  • http://www.schaafco.com Brook Schaaf

    This is an interesting post – politics facing down SEM efforts. I have seen this happen to the bewilderment of the internal SEO agent. Typically, the company liaison is a lower-level employee who finds himself encroaching on the turf of many a higher-level employee – the believers. Of course, the SEO agent can't ameliorate the situation with guarantees, because there are no guarantees. Not a fun position to be in.