The Technology/Developer Group: This is a good option, a lot of the onsite site SEO happens behind the curtain of the webpage and they occasionally dabble in coding.
The Copy Writers/Designers Group: Ooh this is another good option. SEOs help to inform the content creation and can head off designs that are not the most search engine friendly.
The Web Analyst Group: Hmm, another interesting choice. Most Search Engine Optimizers can filter through the raw data and provide perspective on what is going on and help put it into actionable context (the good ones can at least).
The Marketing/Strategy Development Group: Dang, another possible selection. SEOs are an excellent resource to bring in on the beginning strategy phase. They can inform best practices, perform competitive analysis, and many other exploratory and strategic offerings.
The Business Development Group: OK, Search Engine Optimizers are not going to be the closer but they definitely have the ability to add to the sales pitch; what is going wrong with the current site, value add for current clients, and other ways to ensure the client will found or will maintain ranking during a website refresh.
All these options seem to be a good fit; how do I choose? Oh, wait maybe that is the point I am trying to make! SEOs play a roll in many areas of the agency environment. No matter where they sit their perspectives and targeted insights in the whole digital marketing process can help aid the success of a client’s web presence. The SEO specialist adds to each of the groups and only when they are fully integrated into the process and a feedback loop is in place, do the best results rear their beautiful head. If your SEO strategy is developed in a vacuum then the results will truly suck. The communication needs to be a two-way street, but be sure to use your turn signal.
Have another group that is a good fit or you think doesn't fit, let me know!
