If you are like most SEO’s I meet, you are probably not doing the majority of the programming and development work for your clients or company. Those of us from the marketing side of the business frequently rely on professionals to do the heavy lifting during the implementation stages of an SEO campaign. I’ve had the privilege of working with very smart and talented web developers in my experience as an in-house SEO at a Fortune 500 retailer and as an independent consultant. Every situation is different, but one common thread is that strong relationships lead to good teamwork and good teamwork leads to excellent results. The following tips will help any SEO get along with their developers and programmers a little better. It might be just what you need to take your SEO campaign to the next level.
Education Goes Both Ways
SEO is a never-ending learning process for both of you. Your programmer can teach you a lot about your site’s infrastructure, programming language, server configurations, and back-end performance. If you don’t know how something works or why the site does what it does, just ask. Most people love to show off their work; just give them a chance to impress you. Or study on your own time and impress them with your newfound knowledge and willingness to learn.
Your job as an SEO is to educate your developers about SEO best practices and the “big picture” IT/developer role in the SEO program’s success. Your site-specific recommendations will carry a lot more weight if you’ve already spent the time building a working knowledge among your team members. Plus, your team members will be better equipped to make the right decisions when faced with “the easy way” or “the SEO-friendly way” dilemma.
Share Information
As the SEO, you have information at your fingertips that could make a programmer’s job easier or more rewarding. Some of the Google Webmaster Tools produce data points that aren’t readily apparent unless you are willing to wade through volumes of server logs and error reports. Regularly share this data with your developers and help them understand the implications on the SEO program.
Many developers aren’t kept in the loop on site analytics and metrics in large organizations. Who doesn’t like to share in the success of a joint project that benefits rankings, site traffic, or conversions? Take the time to close the loop and present the results of their hard work back to them.
Speak Their Language
Don’t pretend to know all the answers or assume that everything you read in an SEO blog or forum will automatically work on your site. Be straightforward with your developers about what you want and ask for their input on the project’s feasibility, scope, rationale, and expected outcomes. Your project should already have clearly stated objectives, milestones, and success metrics, but take a few minutes to make sure it all makes sense to somebody that isn’t used to conversing in corporate mumbo-jumbo.
Allow plenty of time for implementation and don’t expect things yesterday. In most cases, SEO is not a top priority for many IT departments or programming teams. You should prioritize your recommendations based on your objectives, anticipated results, and the estimated level of effort. Make yourself available to answer questions as they arise. This information will help keep the project pipeline flowing smoothly and ensure things are built right the first time, ideally with reusable code or templates.
(Most Importantly) Reward Good Work
Sure, everybody loves a halfhearted (but well-intentioned) round of applause at the next team recognition meeting 😉 But reality soon sets in when the meeting ends and everybody has to get back to work. As the SEO who assigned that tedious task, go out of your way to give credit where credit is due. Talk up the hard work that your developers put in on your projects and the results they generated. Cite specifics such as innovative solutions to a problem, extra hours put in, or other meritorious services performed.
Last, but not least, show your appreciation with simple, yet effective, rewards. Take your programmers to lunch or out for a beer after work. A little gastronomical bribery goes a long way! Send unsolicited feedback to their managers. Anything else that might personally motivate them is a good thing.
How well do you get along with your developers? What are you doing to build that relationship into a mutually beneficial partnership?
