Wish you were getting better results with your in-house SEO? There comes a time in every SEO program where you feel like you’ve plateaued. But you can push past it. I’ll share four things you can do to take your SEO results to the next level:

1. Get the Right Kind of Buy-In

This one seems like a no-brainer. If you’re already doing SEO, then that probably means you’ve had some buy-in. But the type I’m talking about is company-wide.

What does that mean, exactly? It means that every team knows that SEO is a strategic business initiative. There is a big difference between lip service buy-in for SEO and every team knowing that SEO is imperative.

Because different teams make updates to the website and because all teams make business decisions, everyone needs to be thinking about SEO – how will this website change impact SEO? How can this business goal be achieved by SEO?

One of our clients saw tremendous results when everyone was on board, and you can read more about that here.

For more on how to get company buy-in, see:

2. Hire the Best People

Hire an expert SEO and you have the ability to change your business trajectory online; hire a mediocre one and you will get average results.

The good news is that search engine optimization jobs are in-demand. Remote jobs especially are desirable right now and one of the reasons behind The Great Resignation. SEO is the perfect type of job to offer remotely.

With the right offer, you can attract the best talent. And remember that experience can trump college degrees in this field. However, in my opinion, too many companies are looking for SEO generalists.

In fact, according to research by Backlinko, only about 23% of SEO jobs required technical SEO skills. That is a mistake. You want strategists but you also need technical analysts to be able to take your SEO to the next level.

Once you have your candidates, make sure you are asking the right questions. You want to get a feel for their technical abilities as well as what sort of soft skills are required for a job like SEO.

These articles will help you in your search to find the right people:

3. Get SEO Training

One of the ways you can get your many team members on the same page about SEO quickly is to offer SEO training.

This is especially important when you want to recalibrate how you should be doing SEO, to get C-Suite up to speed on it or when you are starting a company-wide SEO journey (this really comes in handy when you are asking IT to make technical changes to the website).

And even experienced SEO professionals need continuing education. Here at our company, for example, our SEO analysts spend countless hours staying up to **** on the latest SEO news and strategies.

So SEO training can be a great refresher for many, depending on the curriculum and resources offered by the training company.

For more, see:

4. Get Outside Expertise

When you’ve been knee-deep in your SEO program for a number of years, it can be challenging to think of new ideas. Also: There could be something going on with your website that is hindering your search engine rankings without even knowing it.

These types of scenarios are when outside expertise can really come in handy. I’m talking about hiring an outside SEO consultant or agency to take your in-house program to the next level.

There are different ways you can work with an SEO vendor:

• You can get an in-depth SEO audit to uncover any issues your site may be having and how to fix them.
• You can invest in expert consulting services that are tailored based upon your needs.
• You can buy a block of hours for special projects that need an expert team (for example, you want to get your website in good shape for Google’s page experience update).

These are just some ideas and, of course, every consultant or agency offers something unique. We have honed our process over years of difficult projects – perhaps a free short call to discuss your issue is reasonable?

It is quite common for in-house SEO teams to use outside SEO experts to give them a competitive advantage when the time is right. Just be sure to do your diligence when hiring to make sure you will get the best guidance and the best service fit.

Read more on getting outside expertise:

If your results aren’t where they need to be, follow these tips to get your SEO program moving forward and set your business up for next-level success.

Posted by Bruce Clay on November 30th, 2022 at 9:52 am