Corporations can be their own worst enemies. They are often slow to move and have a maze of structures to get through before launching a project. These structures are designed with the best intentions but unfortunately, they create large obstacles for execution. If you are an online marketer with any experience at all in a large corporation then you are probably extremely familiar with the frustrations that come with trying to get Search Engine Optimization (SEO) projects off the ground.
You’re not alone. My first in house online marketing gig was for a company that had over 200 employees, hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue, and a company culture that made cross-team cooperation extremely difficult. But even in the midst of all the corporate roadblocks that came with that job, I was still able to help them more than double their website traffic and triple the revenue they generated from their website.
On top of that, when it was all said and done, I look back at that time and realize that these were some of the best years of my career because I not only made a difference in the company but the company made a big difference in me.
Here are some of the lessons that I learned that might help you in your quest to move SEO projects through the corporate maze.
How to Succeed with SEO in a Corporate Setting
Remember to Keep Your Mind Right. It is easy to sour your thoughts in the face of frustration about the lack of support for SEO initiatives but you must fight the urge to let company stakeholders see your frustrations. By visibly showing your frustration you will inadvertently position yourself to be the complainer or pessimist in the organization. Becoming the Debby Downer in the office will only cause you to lose influence and discourage coworkers from wanting to help move your SEO plans forward. No one likes feeling defeated and frustrated but I believe that people inherently want to help people out who they like, so keeping a positive frame of mind is key to success.
Keep an Eye On The Big Picture. Whenever you’re tempted to let that frustration come out, take stock of how the company is doing in general. At my in-house job, I believed in the overall direction of the company, and the company was extremely successful, even though my SEO project wasn’t moving as fast as I wanted. The company was extremely happy with my performance and with the direction, I was taking our SEO efforts. Often times when I thought about this I would realize that the stress and frustration I felt was self-imposed. Taking stock of the big picture stopped me from allowing frustration to spill over to my coworkers and poison the well of opportunity I knew SEO provided the company.
Next week I’ll share more ways to successfully navigate the corporate structure and see success with SEO. In the meantime, if you’d like to see how your SEO efforts stack up against the competition, contact us for a complimentary competitor review.
