14 replies to this topic

[alloemseo]

Ok, so I have to write a current and future seo strategies document for the company I work for that will probably be shown to management and investors. I know what I want to have in the doc, but I've never written a strategies document, so I don't know what they're actually supposed to look like.

Has anyone actually written any type of strategies document before? What kind of language should I be using? Since the intended readers are not really going to know anything about seo, I'm guessing I should stay away from acronyms and sector specific language?

Funny, I've been doing this for over four years now and no one in my company has really ever asked me about how seo works. Now that they're asking I have no clue how to present the data to them.

Any help or links to sample stragey papers (doesn't necessarily have to be seo strategy) would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
Bob

[surrealillusions]

maybe try writing one thinking your going to speak to some aliens visiting planet earth for the first time and the first thing they want to know (for some insane reason) is how to get a website to #1 on google.

Perhaps it might be easier. Think about how a certain tactic will bring money into the company, or give it a higher profile.

I haven't written one myself before, but those are the first things to come to mind on first seeing your post

[kulpreet_singh]

Hi Bob,

My 1.96364 US cents.

First I would figure out if it is a macro or micro strategy plan. Does it focus on your department, or on the whole company's general goals, or both?

Company's Goals
Does the company have quarterly and annual goals to meet? Are these goals available to you? If you honestly believe that SEO work can help to achieve those goals, explain how in plain English. Explain the relationship between the company's timeline of goal reaching, and the SEO timeline.

Departmental Goals
Does your department have goals? Do you need to explain those in this document? If so, do not be afraid to use some SEO language but provide a glossary in your report (without it seeming patronizing - fine balance). If your department has to reach a certain milestone by a certain time, which strategies would bring you closer to that milestone?

Other Departments' Goals
Are you expected to explain how your SEO work will help other departments in the company achieve their goals? Like Finance? or Customer Service? or Sales? If so, don't assume too much about the other departments if you don't know the field very well. It's better to make a truthful general statement rather than have a specific statement later discredited (study guide: any professional who works with likelihoods but no guarantees, e.g. politicians, surgeons, rescue operators).

Investors' Goals
The bottom line - profits, earnings, projections, potential. But do you know enough about that to be able to translate the benefit of SEO to higher conversions, higher sales, more profits, etc.? If you don't, maybe you can do some research about it.

Politics of Communication
In the above four areas, you'll have to use some SEO language, and some language specific to the context. As I wrote above, try not to assume to much to avoid being seen as either:
1) pretending to be knowledgeable (using other departments' language without knowing what it means)
2) stereotyping (making premature judgments about the knowledge level or the intentions of any given department).

I think it's always a good idea to interview people within the company who have knowledge and authority to tell you which goals are important and which goals might relate to your job.

Just one last thing - Some companies have an issue when the wrong person says the right thing. You might make a suggestion in the strategy document that somebody else "should have" said. This happens because of professional boundaries, but mostly because of personal insecurities and politics. So just something to watch for just in case.

Hope that was somewhat helpful.



-k.s.

Edited by kulpreet_singh, 26 March 2008 - 07:22 PM.

[Respree]

....probably be shown to management and investors.

I think before you start writing, you'll want to determine exactly who your audience will be. If the document is aimed toward investors, you'll not want to reveal too much of your strategy. Its as good as handing over your secrets to your competitors. If your audience is management (only), then, of course, you'll want to go into greater details.

In both cases, you've correctly deduced that you want to keep the level of discussion at a rudimentary level. Using using industry-specific technical jargon and a discussion at any level of detail will render your document useless. Keep it high level. Explain your strategy as if you were talking to sixth graders, in terms of the complexity.

In terms of writing style, I would suggest reading some 10-K's (which you can find many examples at the Securities and Commission website), specifically the Business Strategy sections (which is about the closest thing to your SEO Strategies paper). They're horribly boring (believe me, I used to write them), but it will give you a good flavor of the writing style used when talking to investors.

Good luck.

Edited by Respree, 26 March 2008 - 07:26 PM.

[alloemseo]

Thanks for all of your speedy replies.

kulpreet_singh,
Very good insight, was very helpful. I didn't really think about tying in other departmental goals into the document.

Respree,
Very good point. Its hard to get solid answers around here from anyone though as to who's going to read it. I wouldn't be putting anything in here that you couldn't look up on the internet. This is more of a high level strategy guide, I was more concerned about how to go about writing it then what's actually contained in it.

I took a look at some of our 10-k reports (duh, why didn't i think of this?) and got some insight. I found a template for an IT strategy plan online also that I think I'm going to use.

Thanks again for all of your help, you guys definatly pointed me in the right direction.

Bob

[EGOL]

I would begin by asking the questions....

1) will this be read?

2) will this be read by people who hold a big stake?

3) will this be read by people who can contribute content?

4) will this be read by people who control my resources.

Based upon that assessment I would allocate the time that I put into it. My #1 goal would be to acquire strong content contributors and improve my resource allocation.

[saschaeh]

I think if i was an investor id want to cut to this part:

Looking back and illustrating with number the net effect SEO has had on the company since you or SEO was started.

10 pm Visits 1 Jan

400 pm Visits 4 July - Ranking for following "4 words keyword string"

1000 pm Visits 1 November - ranking for 2 word high competitive keywords within industry.

Then, if possible, throw in some conversion stats:
"Stats i have collleceted blabla.... it shows that we are converting X amount of clients to sales. Developers and I have improved this over in the past 12 months to Y." Or simply;
" Convertion rates are 4% on the site. 4 people buying 2 items on average making us 1000 USD pm and 500 USd on our affiliate programs and advertising."

"Our visits have increase by this % over last 4 month due to SEO and i plan to grow that % at the same pace over the next 4 months which means we will be making 4000 USD pm directly from our SEO efforts and 2000 USD pm from affiliate and adverts. This is not taking into consideration that we are also focused on increasing conversions to 6% by doing the following tests with users and developing that with the dev team"

No Seo talk - numbers. What is this worth to them. How much money is it making them or can it make them.


Best of luck.

& Welcome to Cre8asite.

[A.N.Onym]

I don't think anyone really needs to know traffic or conversion rate numbers. The only data that any non-SEO needs to know is amount of stock sold and gross/net profit.

I'd also try to be easy on predicting awesome sales. It is better to underestimate and be a winner later, then overestimate now and be seen as underachiever. Even if in the latter variant, you've done exceptionally well.

Edited by A.N.Onym, 27 March 2008 - 12:51 AM.

[saschaeh]

I'd also try to be easy on predicting awesome sales. It is better to underestimate and be a winner later, then overestimate now and be seen as underachiever. Even if in the latter variant, you've done exceptionally well.

Excellent point. "Under Promise - Over Deliver"

[alloemseo]

If anyone is interested here's what I ended up going with for an outline. Hopefully if anyone else needs to ever create a similar document, they'll have a place to start now. Thanks to everyone who gave input.

Executive Summary
--High level organizational benefits
--Relationship to overall business strategy

Resource Summary
--SEO staff summary and roles
--Summary of key projects

Current Capabilities
--Current Strategies
----Keyword
----On-page/Content
----Link
----Social media
--Current SEO departmental strengths and weaknesses

External Factors
--Description of how Search Engine Algorithm changes can alter strategies

Future Opportunities
--Description of how new strategies increase opportunities
--Future strategies
----Keyword
----On-Page/Content
----Link
----Social media

Milestones
--List of monthly milestones to indicate if the strategy is on track
--List milestone name, deliverables and metrics

Edited by alloemseo, 27 March 2008 - 07:10 PM.

[Respree]

In terms of the big picture (Exec. Summary), I'd probably be inclined to include traffic statistics and conversion rates (year over year comparison, so investors/management can see if things are getting better or worse). I think it would also be a good idea to let your colleagues and boss (of course) read it before your release it, to get their comments and input. The 'extra pair of eyes' works wonders.

Edited by Respree, 27 March 2008 - 08:25 PM.

[marianne]

Weirdly enough, I just did one of these and bumped my knees on the cognitive furniture over what exactly it should be or contain. And, adding insult to injury, I found precious little on the Web about search strategies documents. In the end, this is what I ended up with

• Executive Summary:
• Redesign Search Strategy: Strategies to enhance Dynamic and Static relevance ranking, Hubs and Authorities, Resolving the Multiple Domain Issues, Social Computing opportunities
  [list]
• Redesign Search Requirements: Enhancing discoverability of existing content for search engines, ensure visible placement against key terms and phrases (link building), Relational Content Modeling, Improved Site Search (facets and filtering), Facilitate search iteration and system feedback (filtering)

Hope that this helps somewhat.

[crm911]

Each assignment is different, e.g. I have just written one for a billion $ company that has several websites, each with a different purpose. I am fixing specific historic issues that might not happen elsewhere. The one I am working on is not concerned with sales or conversions - but needs targeted traffic. Without giving away any secrets, I structured mine as follows:

Chapter 1
Intro
Current situation and prognosis if we do nothing
Basic SEO principles
High level vision
SEO isn't the only option

Chapter 2
Recommended corporate-wide approach
Architecture (specific to company)
Design principles (specific to company)

Chapter 3
Approach for <specific website>
On-page tactics
Off-page tactics
Staffing and outsourcing

Chapter 4
Quick wins (list)

Chapter 5
Medium-term wins (list)

Chapter 6
Long-term wins (list)

Chapter 7
Conclusion
Anticipated outcomes
Summary of outcomes
What next

[MetasynMan]

In my company, almost every "documentation" is done in PowerPoint. Make sure they're looking for an in-depth whitepaper-style document versus a high level overview of your strategies and plans. If I ever had to write an actual paper on SEO strategy, I can guarantee you nobody would take the time to read the whole thing.

[zero_digit]

well for me I've written on online, just simple and basic know how of being an seo and some list of popular link builds....