Facilitating SEO without dedicated product team

Ben O'Grady, SEO Media Manager at Disney Streaming, delves into SEO at Disney. In contrast to organizations with dedicated SEO product teams, many others lack this specialization. In these cases, product teams oversee the entire website or specific sections, creating ambiguity and complexity for SEO. Today, Ben discusses facilitating SEO without a dedicated product team.
About the speaker

Ben O'Grady

Disney Streaming

 is a little camera shy

Ben is SEO Media Manager at Disney Streaming

Show Notes

  • 01:50
    Managing SEO without dedicated product teams
    In organizations lacking dedicated SEO product teams, collaboration and relationship-building with existing product managers are crucial. Attend their meetings regularly and learn product management skills and how to use their tools to effectively drive SEO.
  • 04:56
    SEO and product teams at Disney
    At Disney, SEO has historically been in its digital marketing organization rather than the product or tech organization. Recognizing the evolving landscape, there is a shift towards embracing dedicated product SEO roles and teams.
  • 07:08
    Building trust and relationships with stakeholders
    Before meetings with stakeholders, initiating one-on-one sessions through Zoom is a common and effective practice at Disney. These sessions allow for relationship-building and an understanding of each other's roles, creating a foundation for seamless collaboration.
  • 08:27
    Effectively presenting SEO proposals at product meetings
    To make an impact in product meetings, create a concise and compelling deck showcasing data that demonstrates the importance of organic search. Secure a brief presentation slot to effectively communicate your ideas and the value of integrating SEO into product roadmaps.
  • 10:34
    Progressing from ideas to action in SEO
    Junior SEOs need advocates higher up in the organization to push ideas onto roadmaps and secure wins so they can build a portfolio of successful contributions. This portfolio, along with continuously providing SEO education to leadership, is crucial for buy-in.
  • 12:59
    Managing unexpected setbacks in enterprise SEO projects
    In enterprise SEO, setbacks often result from bugs or mistakes in production, which can be corrected relatively quickly. It's crucial to evaluate processes, learn from mistakes, and share learnings across the organization to prevent similar issues in the future.
  • 14:57
    Leveraging A B testing in SEO strategy
    Setting up an A/B testing program can help you assess the impact of SEO ideas and content launches in different markets. While knowing that not all experiments will yield positive results, this approach allows you to test small SEO changes when you have limited resources.

Quotes

  • "If you don't have an SEO product team, befriend an experienced product manager and learn how to write things like PRDs, proof of concepts, roadmap documents, and use their tools." - Ben O'Grady

  • "You're always going to be educating people in the company about what SEO is, why its important, how much traffic youre getting, and the revenue youre driving. Youll always be bubbling up that information to leadership." - Ben O'Grady

  • "Junior SEOs, find an advocate higher up in the org that will push your ideas and help you get wins to build a portfolio. This portfolio of things you've done for the company make it easier to get in the door with leadership." - Ben O'Grady

  • "You're never going to be 100% in the digital marketing world. But, always note your learnings from mistakes and disperse them across the organization." - Ben O'Grady

About the speaker

Ben O'Grady

Disney Streaming

 is a little camera shy

Ben is SEO Media Manager at Disney Streaming

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