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SEO is a competitive, rapidly evolving landscape. One of the best ways you can develop and keep a competitive edge is by creating a cross-functional team. Cross-functional teams are used in a wide array of business and project settings, but, as we will see, they have particular relevance in the SEO world.
Related: How to Assemble a Strong, Dynamic and Interdependent Team
What is a cross-functional team?
A cross-functional team is a team that combines people with different expertise. Cross-functional teams, which can be used for one project or as a permanent team structure, aim to avoid miscommunication and streamline workflow. They can involve people with different levels of seniority, different educational backgrounds and training and a variety of professional experiences.
Cross-functional teams are a popular alternative to a traditional silo approach. A silo approach, which involves a stricter hierarchical structure and keeps departments separate, can hinder collaboration and stifle creativity. It can slow down projects by creating knowledge gaps or even miscommunication. In an SEO context, a silo approach can exaggerate any misalignment or separate priorities that exist between departments, creating separation between the marketing and technical SEO team, for example.
An effective SEO campaign involves SEO strategy, content creation, technical optimization, SEO analysis and a thorough understanding of the brand, product or service being promoted. Rather than expecting every team member to understand all of these areas, it is more effective to draw on the varied training and experience your staff already have to assemble a cross-functional team.
Related: 7 Ways Collaboration Can Create a Successful Team
10 tips for a cross-functional SEO team
When they are well organized and well executed, cross-functional teams can improve communication and minimize project lead times. Combining employees with different training and ways of thinking can spark innovation and help a team find blind spots or knowledge gaps quicker than a silo structure. Here are a few key steps to help you create an effective cross-functional team:
- Choose a team structure carefully: The structure of your team should lend itself to clear task assignments and a simple workflow. If you choose to have a team lead, they should have a thorough understanding of each step of the SEO process.
- Establish workflow processes: Since SEO projects include collaboration between teams, it's important to establish a consistent workflow. This may involve templates for different tasks or automating task handover processes. A clear workflow will prevent tasks from being missed or falling behind.
- Schedule check-in meetings: Meetings should be regular enough to keep everyone on the team aligned and reduce dependencies. At Outpace, our SEO team has a daily meeting that includes several members of the customer success and content teams. This enables us to keep SEO campaigns cohesive and regularly align goals.
- Set up your workspace for success: This could include virtual platforms, such as your CMS, communication tools like Slack or Loom or a physical workspace.
- Align priorities: Some people think that SEO and content goals naturally conflict, but the reality is that they should align and enable each team to produce more effective SEO efforts. A cross-functional team enables the content team to have a thorough understanding of SEO focus and keyword priorities while providing SEO specialists with a better understanding of marketing and content guidelines. However, without clear goals, a cross-functional team will flounder. Establishing goals that include specifics, such as technical SEO tasks, content output targets and scope of work for each client, will help keep the team unified and on track.
- Promote a holistic understanding: To help your team speak the same language and participate in discussions equally, you may need to promote regular cross-training. Content specialists should understand SEO basics, specifically terminology, keyword research and KPIs, to participate in discussions and effectively develop optimized content. Your SEO specialists and marketing team may need to understand content processes, and both teams should be aware of brand guidelines and niche industry terminology.
- Leverage data from all teams: A cross-functional team should be doing less work, not more. What keywords can marketing and PR team members suggest for optimization? What content strategies can the SEO team recommend? Using each other's strengths and expertise is the best way for a cross-functional team to develop and maintain momentum.
- Assign clear tasks: To eliminate dependencies, a task should be assigned to one team member at a time and involve clear, actionable steps.
- Monitor progress: Establishing clear goals and monitoring success through shared metrics is the only way to determine whether or not your team is functioning as effectively as possible. This requires careful analysis of SEO success in a language your whole team can understand.
- Adapt: One of the main advantages of a cross-functional team is that it allows different departments to identify problems and craft responses together. The best teams are agile, able to problem solve cohesively and continuously improve their workflow.
Related: Follow These 13 Rules to Collaborate Effectively in Your Business
Investing in an efficient, well-organized cross-functional team can significantly improve your SEO efforts. While it may require reorganizing your workflow and cross-training staff members, ultimately it will make your SEO campaigns more cohesive and reduce project lead times.
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