The Basics of Building An In-House SEO Organization

John Denny @johnhdenny

Who I am (and how I traveled down the path of creating an SEO Dept)

• 25 years in marketing, early career spent at NY ad agencies leading brands like Staples, Sony, Royal Caribbean cruise lines

• Spent tens and hundreds of millions for these brands on mass media– primarily broadcast TV

• First search experience: AltaVista in 1996

Who I am (and how I traveled down the path of creating an SEO Dept)

• Currently head up marketing for Advance Digital (division of Advance Publications, Inc)

• Wear 2 hats– As a Marketer (in

many cases spending $$ with media companies)

– As a Media Seller (helping to develop strategies to sell products & services to people like me)

• 10 years ago team used many media channels to promote– TV, Radio, Newspaper,

Online Display

Our Path To Creating An SEO Dept.

• Began experimenting with paid search• Learned key role search marketing plays as

part of overall marketing mix.• But…. Paid Search expenditures started rising

rapidly- started exploring SEO

• Renting a house (PPC) vs Owning a house (SEO)

Paid Search vs Organic Search

– Paid search is immediate, but once you stop paying, the results end. In contrast, SEO is an investment you own.

– Paid search = market pricing (your costs can go up at any time).

– 56% of Google Queries don’t show any paid ads at all (source: comScore).

– Organic listing on page 1 is between two and six times more visible than a paid listing (source: Enquiro).

– 77% of search users choose organic over paid listing when searching (source: Content Marketing Institute)

33% of the clicks go here

33% of the clicks go here

67% of the clicks go here

33% of the clicks go here

67% of the clicks go here

$19.1 Billion spent here

Search spend source: Forrester US Interactive Marketing Forecast, Sept ‘11

33% of the clicks go here

67% of the clicks go here

$19.1 Billion spent here

$2.2 Billion Spent Here

Search spend source: Forrester US Interactive Marketing Forecast, Sept ‘11

Organic Search is Still Undiscovered Country

Building an SEO team: Finding Talent

• Finding the right SEO talent is both the critical factor in driving results, and incredibly difficult

• Recommend you have partners in the recruitment space to help you.

• The way you work with them dictates what you get out of the relationship.

Building an SEO Team: Finding The Right Talent

• Challenges to hiring the right team members:– There are so many aspects to SEO

(content, link-building, site architecture) a candidate might know one, and think he knows all he needs to know about SEO

– Typically only 10% of candidates are fully qualified (no matter how many buzzwords they use).

Building an SEO Team: Finding The Right Talent

• You have to find people who have a passion for the craft

Building an SEO Team: Budgeting• Very useful: Salary Guide by Onward Search

– http://www.onwardsearch.com/SEO-Salary/

Building an SEO Team: Structuring The Department

• Two broad ways to approach the dept.– Hire people capable of doing the majority of

work in-house– Bring in experienced “Quarterbacks” to identify

and manage vendors.

Local Media: Thoughts on Shifts in Spending in local Markets

Thank you!

Follow me on Twitter: @johnhdenny

Blog: JohnHDenny.com