Top Tips for Efficient Communication with Your SEO Team

• Updated on: 2021-04-07
• Read original article here

In today’s online landscape, having an SEO strategy and a dedicated SEO team is paramount to success and growth. Your goal should be to take up as much real estate in the search results as possible, of course on the first page of Google preferably. To do this, you need to invest heavily in a digital marketing strategy that emphasizes various SEO tactics. But having an SEO strategy or a set of SEO goals is not enough, you also need a professional team to effectuate the strategy, monitor progress, and ensure continuous success.

That’s where your SEO team comes in, and typically you will outsource this part of digital marketing to an agency. You can also have an internal team, of course, but outsourcing is more affordable, which will allow you to invest more in improving sales and growing your business.

The problem that comes to light here is that business leaders can have a difficult time communicating with their SEO teams. This leads to subpar results, confusion and disorganization, and ultimately frustration. Let’s tackle this problem head on with the best tips on how to communicate with your SEO team.

Firstly, every successful collaboration starts with clear goals and expectations. You need to work closely with your SEO team to define the best goals for your current and long-term needs. Typically, the SEO team will propose that you set SMART goals, which is a simple yet detailed way to put all goals into perspective. SMART goals are goals that are:

The best SEO teams will have no problem creating SEO goals to fit in these parameters to maximize your investment. On the other hand, you also have to set clear and detailed expectations.

This has more to do with your contract and scope of work, and what you’re paying for. Keep in mind that you cannot simply expect your SEO team to do something if you haven’t agreed on it beforehand, so be sure to put all expectations for your collaboration and all SEO work in writing.

Having a dedicated SEO team means that you can outsource the whole SEO process and turn your attention to other mission-critical tasks. But that doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t invest time and effort into learning some SEO yourself. Why? Because having a knowledge base, however small it may be, on a particular subject will allow you to communicate more efficiently and towards a common goal with your team.

If, on the other hand, you know absolutely nothing about SEO, then you will never be able to see the bigger picture and make strategic decisions. Plus, you’ll have a difficult time understanding what your SEO team is doing.

So, make an effort to learn the basic SEO terms, so that you can perhaps gain a better understanding of SEO plugins for your site, the important KPIs and what they mean, and which tactics to employ.

Some of the essential terms include:

Most importantly, you have to set a clear and efficient communication routine when working with remote SEO teams. Now that you’re able to work with SEO experts from around the world, it’s important to be mindful of the time difference and adjust your routine so that you can collaborate seamlessly.

For example, a company stationed in the US working with a popular digital marketing agency from Sydney needs to account for the 10+ hour difference and adjust accordingly. In this scenario, it’s important to schedule meetings and deliverables in the times that work for both parties, and avoid ad hoc meet-ups so as not to disrupt the efficiency of your communication.

Work out the times that work for you and your remote SEO team, and stick to a communication routine that works for everyone.

Of course, if you want to make this routine work for both sides, then it’s equally important to figure out which communication methods are efficient, and which can set you back. Sometimes, email works best, and other times you will need to jump on a regular Zoom call to talk strategy, review progress, and make better decisions.

It will come down to your preferences and availability, but typically asynchronous communication works best most of the time. This means avoiding real-time conversations and instead staying in touch via messages and chat, email, voice messages, and within your project management system. After all, you can adjust your content marketing strategy via email or chat, you don’t always need to schedule a call.

Lastly, always remember that your SEO team will not be able to do their job without access to the right data and tools. The more information you provide, the better the SEO strategy will become, simply because your SEO experts will be able to fine-tune their approach to fit your exact needs.

Don’t hold anything back, rather, make the SEO team sign an NDA, and then give them all the confidential information they ask for. This will not only help deliver better results, but will help them create more detailed reports that will allow you to make better decisions overall.

SEO is the foundation of a thriving digital presence, which is why you need a dedicated SEO team at your side. Use these tips to elevate your communication with your SEO team, stay on the same page at all times, and work together to take your business forward.

The original version of this article was first published on V3Broadsuite.