Thought I’d discuss a common topic, that being SEO. More so tackling SEO as a team rather than individual SEO factors – see the excellent MOZ for them.
As the person in charge of Google Analytics (prob Webmaster Tools too) you are a key player and fundamental for others involved.
Is SEO still relevant today?
Firstly let’s cover the topic SEO is dead. It’s not, it’s just that techniques and ranking factors have changed. Old techniques (that targeted search bots not the end user) such as keyword stuffing and link farms have gone. Most of the key ranking factors now relate to what the search bot wants but also the end user.
So putting it simply, write good content for the end user. Good content is then visited, commented on, shared, linked to all of which will make Google pleased and rank you highly.
Right with that statement in mind, let’s continue
Who is involved?
The diagram below covers the main SEO themes; keyword research, on page technical, on page content, off page and analysis. Of course remember SEO isn’t a one off task it’s part of continual improvement like most web tasks should be.
SEO responsibility – silo approach
Let’s map teams/ individuals to these themes. More often than not these operate in a silo mentality. Teams will create there own keywords and use them when the feel like, so technical elements will have one keyword, body content another, social teams will then use another leaving Google thinking WTF.
The ideal should be more like the below. Bringing individuals together to create mini processes that enable the sharing of keywords.
SEO responsibility – team approach
As you can see the web analyst plays an important role both at the start and the end of the cycle, which is why I write this post. Using Google Analytics, Webmaster Tools, feedback forms you can help all in the process by showing them what keywords people used rather than what you think are the keywords used. This will help with content, navigation, menus, IA, meta, you name it.
Below are some great links in regards to SEO if found over the years. Good luck and remember to share the keywords!
Web Analytics and Measurement 
[…] research is an essential process when developing or updating content. According to the latest research by Search Metrics, Content is ultimately the number one ranking […]