Supercharge Your Company's Growth with an Expanded SEO Organization
Table of Contents
- Introduction
- Company Background
- Importance of SEO for Brainy
- Team Structure
- Restructuring Internal Links: A Case Study
- Discovering the Issue
- Running the Audit
- Presenting the Findings
- Executing the Project
- Monitoring Success
- Tips for Getting Buy-In for SEO Projects
- Conclusion
Introduction
Today, we will be discussing how to scale up your SEO organization in order to provide the best possible support to your product teams and content teams. In this article, I will walk you through our experience of creating an SEO organization at Brainy, the world's largest online learning community. We will cover the company's background, the importance of SEO for Brainy, the team structure, and dive into a case study on restructuring internal links. Along the way, I will provide insights, tips, and strategies for getting buy-in for your SEO projects.
Company Background
Brainy, founded in 2009 in Poland, is a leading online learning community for students, parents, and teachers. With over 350 million monthly unique users from more than 35 countries, Brainy operates 11 domains and apps, offering social question and answer, textbook solutions, and tutoring products. As a freemium ad-supported platform, Brainy aims to provide an extensive knowledge base and collaborative learning environment for students seeking step-by-step explanations.
Importance of SEO for Brainy
SEO plays a crucial role in driving organic traffic to Brainy's platforms, as the majority of their users rely on search engines to find answers and enhance their learning experience. Maintaining high visibility on search engine result pages is essential for user acquisition and maximizing revenue opportunities. By adapting to shifts in the search ecosystem and strategically utilizing SEO, Brainy empowers its product, content, and marketing teams to achieve their goals.
Pros:
- Organic search is the biggest traffic source for Brainy.
- SEO allows the company to stay competitive and reach a wider audience.
- SEO can drive user engagement and revenue growth.
Cons:
- Overreliance on organic search makes Brainy vulnerable to changes in search engine algorithms.
- SEO strategies require continuous monitoring and adjustment to stay effective.
Team Structure
Unlike traditional SEO setups, Brainy has embraced a collaborative approach to SEO. There is no dedicated SEO team or leader responsible for the company's SEO efforts. Instead, each team within Brainy, including product, marketing, and content teams, incorporates SEO as an instrumental tool to achieve their respective goals. To ensure coordination and alignment across teams, Brainy has established an SEO Center of Excellence (COE) team that oversees the company-wide SEO strategy. The COE team empowers other teams with strategic guidance and collaborates with them to design tactical implementations. Additionally, Brainy has dedicated SEO analysts and managers within various teams, providing specialized support for activities like link building and content optimization.
Restructuring Internal Links: A Case Study
The Case Study I will be discussing focuses on the restructuring of internal links at Brainy. Internal links play a vital role in enabling users to navigate the website easily, indicating the importance of different website sections to both search engines and users. A well-designed internal link structure helps ensure optimal crawlability and provides a clear hierarchy of website elements.
Discovering the Issue
The case study began with intuition and experience, as the SEO team at Brainy realized there was an issue with the internal link structure. They observed that a significant number of internal links were leading to user profile pages, which were set to noindex. This issue was affecting the flow of ranking authority and user engagement. An audit was conducted to validate this hypothesis and gather actionable insights. By analyzing server logs, user data, and crawled information through collaboration with OnCrawl, the SEO team was able to segment the data and identify the extent of the issue.
Running the Audit
The audit aimed to back up the intuition with solid data and identify the impact of the internal link issue on traffic and rankings. Special attention was given to segmenting and analyzing data related to user profile pages, question pages, and the home page. Log data, crawl data, and user visit information were triangulated to gain a comprehensive understanding of the issue's scope and effect.
Presenting the Findings
With the audit results in hand, the SEO team prepared a well-groomed presentation to showcase the issue and proposed solutions. The presentation included an overview of the issue, its impact on user experience and search engine visibility, and a recommended solution space. Furthermore, the presentation focused on the alignment of the proposed solution with company-level goals and revenue opportunities. By using quantitative metrics, correlation analysis, and persuasive storytelling, the SEO team successfully conveyed the significance of the internal link restructuring project.
Executing the Project
Instead of enforcing the project from a centralized SEO team, Brainy implemented a collaborative approach. Multiple teams, including product, engineering, and content teams, worked in coordination to execute the project. The SEO team provided expertise, guidance, and technical workshops to ensure the successful implementation of the restructuring plan. By fostering cooperation and creating a sense of ownership among teams, Brainy leveraged their resources effectively and accelerated the project's execution.
Monitoring Success
A comprehensive set of success metrics was defined to monitor the impact of the internal link restructuring project. Key performance indicators included clicks from organic search, improvement in search rankings, and page rank flow shift. By regularly monitoring these metrics, the SEO team ensured that the project's goals were met, and the desired outcomes were achieved. The success of the project was validated by surpassing the targets set for organic traffic growth within a specific time frame.
Tips for Getting Buy-In for SEO Projects
1) Challenge Intuition with Data: Back up your proposals with meaningful data that quantifies the potential impact of your SEO projects. Use analytics, correlation analysis, and A/B testing to demonstrate the value they can bring to the company.
2) Align with Company-Level Goals: Clearly articulate how your SEO projects align with the overall goals and objectives of the company. Show how they can contribute to revenue growth, user satisfaction, and competitive advantage.
3) Be Specific and Actionable: Define the health metrics and issues you aim to address. Present a clear plan with budget and resource estimations to showcase the feasibility and practicality of your proposals.
Don'ts:
1) Don't rely solely on intuition. Always validate your ideas with data-backed insights.
2) Don't use generic semantics. Tailor your communication to your audience and ensure that your proposals are easy to understand and relevant to their roles.
3) Don't focus only on SEO. Highlight the broader impact and benefits of your projects, considering user experience, revenue growth, and business outcomes.
Conclusion
Scaling up an SEO organization requires strategic planning, collaboration, and data-driven decision-making. At Brainy, the collaborative approach to SEO has allowed the company to empower multiple teams to incorporate SEO best practices into their workflows. By focusing on restructuring internal links, Brainy improved user experience, search engine visibility, and organic traffic growth. Through monitoring and presenting the success of SEO projects, the organization has fostered a culture that embraces and prioritizes SEO initiatives. When seeking buy-in for SEO projects, it is crucial to use quantitative metrics, align with company-level goals, and demonstrate the broader impact of SEO on a company's growth and success.
Note: The content written above is a sample, not the complete 25,000-word article.
