universo-virtual.com

buytrendz.net

thisforall.net

benchpressgains.com

qthzb.com

mindhunter9.com

dwjqp1.com

secure-signup.net

ahaayy.com

soxtry.com

tressesindia.com

puresybian.com

krpano-chs.com

cre8workshop.com

hdkino.org

peixun021.com

qz786.com

utahperformingartscenter.org

maw-pr.com

zaaksen.com

ypxsptbfd7.com

worldqrmconference.com

shangyuwh.com

eejssdfsdfdfjsd.com

playminecraftfreeonline.com

trekvietnamtour.com

your-business-articles.com

essaywritingservice10.com

hindusamaaj.com

joggingvideo.com

wandercoups.com

onlinenewsofindia.com

worldgraphic-team.com

bnsrz.com

wormblaster.net

tongchengchuyange0004.com

internetknowing.com

breachurch.com

peachesnginburlesque.com

dataarchitectoo.com

clientfunnelformula.com

30pps.com

cherylroll.com

ks2252.com

webmanicura.com

osostore.com

softsmob.com

sofietsshotel.com

facetorch.com

nylawyerreview.com

apapromotions.com

shareparelli.com

goeaglepointe.com

thegreenmanpubphuket.com

karotorossian.com

publicsensor.com

taiwandefence.com

epcsur.com

odskc.com

inzziln.info

leaiiln.info

cq-oa.com

dqtianshun.com

southstills.com

tvtv98.com

thewellington-hotel.com

bccaipiao.com

colectoresindustrialesgs.com

shenanddcg.com

capriartfilmfestival.com

replicabreitlingsale.com

thaiamarinnewtoncorner.com

gkmcww.com

mbnkbj.com

andrewbrennandesign.com

cod54.com

luobinzhang.com

bartoysdirect.com

taquerialoscompadresdc.com

aaoodln.info

amcckln.info

drvrnln.info

dwabmln.info

fcsjoln.info

hlonxln.info

kcmeiln.info

kplrrln.info

fatcatoons.com

91guoys.com

signupforfreehosting.com

faithfirst.net

zjyc28.com

tongchengjinyeyouyue0004.com

nhuan6.com

oldgardensflowers.com

lightupthefloor.com

bahamamamas-stjohns.com

ly2818.com

905onthebay.com

fonemenu.com

notanothermovie.com

ukrainehighclassescort.com

meincmagazine.com

av-5858.com

yallerdawg.com

donkeythemovie.com

corporatehospitalitygroup.com

boboyy88.com

miteinander-lernen.com

dannayconsulting.com

officialtomsshoesoutletstore.com

forsale-amoxil-amoxicillin.net

generictadalafil-canada.net

guitarlessonseastlondon.com

lesliesrestaurants.com

mattyno9.com

nri-homeloans.com

rtgvisas-qatar.com

salbutamolventolinonline.net

sportsinjuries.info

topsedu.xyz

xmxm7.com

x332.xyz

sportstrainingblog.com

autopartspares.com

readguy.net

soniasegreto.com

bobbygdavis.com

wedsna.com

rgkntk.com

bkkmarketplace.com

zxqcwx.com

breakupprogram.com

boxcardc.com

unblockyoutubeindonesia.com

fabulousbookmark.com

beat-the.com

guatemala-sailfishing-vacations-charters.com

magie-marketing.com

kingstonliteracy.com

guitaraffinity.com

eurelookinggoodapparel.com

howtolosecheekfat.net

marioncma.org

oliviadavismusic.com

shantelcampbellrealestate.com

shopleborn13.com

topindiafree.com

v-visitors.net

qazwsxedcokmijn.com

parabis.net

terriesandelin.com

luxuryhomme.com

studyexpanse.com

ronoom.com

djjky.com

053hh.com

originbluei.com

baucishotel.com

33kkn.com

intrinsiqresearch.com

mariaescort-kiev.com

mymaguk.com

sponsored4u.com

crimsonclass.com

bataillenavale.com

searchtile.com

ze-stribrnych-struh.com

zenithalhype.com

modalpkv.com

bouisset-lafforgue.com

useupload.com

37r.net

autoankauf-muenster.com

bantinbongda.net

bilgius.com

brabustermagazine.com

indigrow.org

miicrosofts.net

mysmiletravel.com

selinasims.com

spellcubesapp.com

usa-faction.com

snn01.com

hope-kelley.com

bancodeprofissionais.com

zjccp99.com

liturgycreator.com

weedsmj.com

majorelenco.com

colcollect.com

androidnews-jp.com

hypoallergenicdogsnames.com

dailyupdatez.com

foodphotographyreviews.com

cricutcom-setup.com

chprowebdesign.com

katyrealty-kanepa.com

tasramar.com

bilgipinari.org

four-am.com

indiarepublicday.com

inquick-enbooks.com

iracmpi.com

kakaschoenen.com

lsm99flash.com

nana1255.com

ngen-niagara.com

technwzs.com

virtualonlinecasino1345.com

wallpapertop.net

nova-click.com

abeautifulcrazylife.com

diggmobile.com

denochemexicana.com

eventhalfkg.com

medcon-taiwan.com

life-himawari.com

myriamshomes.com

nightmarevue.com

allstarsru.com

bestofthebuckeyestate.com

bestofthefirststate.com

bestwireless7.com

declarationintermittent.com

findhereall.com

jingyou888.com

lsm99deal.com

lsm99galaxy.com

moozatech.com

nuagh.com

patliyo.com

philomenamagikz.net

rckouba.net

saturnunipessoallda.com

tallahasseefrolics.com

thematurehardcore.net

totalenvironment-inthatquietearth.com

velislavakaymakanova.com

vermontenergetic.com

sizam-design.com

kakakpintar.com

begorgeouslady.com

1800birks4u.com

2wheelstogo.com

6strip4you.com

bigdata-world.net

emailandco.net

gacapal.com

jharpost.com

krishnaastro.com

lsm99credit.com

mascalzonicampani.com

sitemapxml.org

thecityslums.net

topagh.com

flairnetwebdesign.com

bangkaeair.com

beneventocoupon.com

noternet.org

oqtive.com

smilebrightrx.com

decollage-etiquette.com

1millionbestdownloads.com

7658.info

bidbass.com

devlopworldtech.com

digitalmarketingrajkot.com

fluginfo.net

naqlafshk.com

passion-decouverte.com

playsirius.com

spacceleratorintl.com

stikyballs.com

top10way.com

yokidsyogurt.com

zszyhl.com

16firthcrescent.com

abogadolaboralistamd.com

apk2wap.com

aromacremeria.com

banparacard.com

bosmanraws.com

businessproviderblog.com

caltonosa.com

calvaryrevivalchurch.org

chastenedsoulwithabrokenheart.com

cheminotsgardcevennes.com

cooksspot.com

cqxzpt.com

deesywig.com

deltacartoonmaps.com

despixelsetdeshommes.com

duocoracaobrasileiro.com

fareshopbd.com

goodpainspills.com

kobisitecdn.com

makaigoods.com

mgs1454.com

piccadillyresidences.com

radiolaondafresca.com

rubendorf.com

searchengineimprov.com

sellmyhrvahome.com

shugahouseessentials.com

sonihullquad.com

subtractkilos.com

valeriekelmansky.com

vipasdigitalmarketing.com

voolivrerj.com

zeelonggroup.com

1015southrockhill.com

10x10b.com

111-online-casinos.com

191cb.com

3665arpentunitd.com

aitesonics.com

bag-shokunin.com

brightotech.com

communication-digitale-services.com

covoakland.org

dariaprimapack.com

freefortniteaccountss.com

gatebizglobal.com

global1entertainmentnews.com

greatytene.com

hiroshiwakita.com

iktodaypk.com

jahatsakong.com

meadowbrookgolfgroup.com

newsbharati.net

platinumstudiosdesign.com

slotxogamesplay.com

strikestaruk.com

trucosdefortnite.com

ufabetrune.com

weddedtowhitmore.com

12940brycecanyonunitb.com

1311dietrichoaks.com

2monarchtraceunit303.com

601legendhill.com

850elaine.com

adieusolasomade.com

andora-ke.com

bestslotxogames.com

cannagomcallen.com

endlesslyhot.com

iestpjva.com

ouqprint.com

pwmaplefest.com

qtylmr.com

rb88betting.com

buscadogues.com

1007macfm.com

born-wild.com

growthinvests.com

promocode-casino.com

proyectogalgoargentina.com

wbthompson-art.com

whitemountainwheels.com

7thavehvl.com

developmethis.com

funkydogbowties.com

travelodgegrandjunction.com

gao-town.com

globalmarketsuite.com

blogshippo.com

hdbka.com

proboards67.com

outletonline-michaelkors.com

kalkis-research.com

thuthuatit.net

buckcash.com

hollistercanada.com

docterror.com

asadart.com

vmayke.org

erwincomputers.com

dirimart.org

okkii.com

loteriasdecehegin.com

mountanalog.com

healingtaobritain.com

ttxmonitor.com

bamthemes.com

nwordpress.com

11bolabonanza.com

avgo.top

Where is SEO in the business hierarchy? - SEO
Friday, July 11, 2025
spot_img

Top 5 This Week

Related Posts

Where is SEO in the business hierarchy?

In 2004, SEO as a discipline was perceived as some kind of dark art performed behind the scenes. This “SEO voodoo” had minimal effect on a website and nothing to do with the actual business. Some people bought some links on more or less shady corners of the web and miraculously the Google rankings shot up.

Fast forward to 2023, we still don’t have proper jetpacks, flying cars or hoverboards, but modern SEO is a far cry from 20 years ago. Today, SEO is about:

  • Content
  • UX
  • Trust 
  • And other “new” elements.

Yet we’re not yet fully there. We haven’t yet arrived at a place where SEO clearly informs every part of the business like: 

  • PR.
  • Marketing 
  • Sales.

If you’re lucky, you have an SEO team within your company. This already puts you ahead of the competition in many cases. 

Most organizations have marketing and sales teams – even small businesses with limited resources, but SEO is not as mainstream. 

So where do we place SEO responsibilities within an organization to ensure the best results?

Why do businesses still struggle to add SEO to their hierarchy?

Some startups and local businesses may even need external input when it comes to organic search opportunities. But oftentimes, the marketing, tech or PR team (or person) has to implement the SEO advice.

Other departments often encroach on or thwart SEO efforts – at times by accident or, in some cases, due to assumed superiority.

So where do we insert SEO expertise to achieve the best results?

You need to establish a holistic and multidisciplinary approach to SEO that does not treat the still relatively new discipline as separate and place it at the far end of business concerns.

The earlier you take SEO into account the better for the whole business. 

Just don’t overdo it. Don’t make your business a “one-trick pony” dependent on often volatile Google traffic.

Given the current realities, companies often “forget” SEO until it’s too late.

Having an external SEO consultant, agency or some foster child type of in-house SEO who can’t introduce sweeping changes across a larger organization is futile. 

We may end up with an outcast type of situation where SEO is a mere afterthought that often forces the SEO expert to bend the rules to get any results.

When to start SEO? At the start!

Over the years I have seen many futile attempts to sprinkle a little SEO after everything else was done. Plenty of #SEOhorrorstories, such as: 

  • A relaunch of the website that completely ignores SEO? Still happens.
  • “Forgetting” to add redirects to new URLs while the old ones just result in 404 errors? Check!
  • Shiny website designs that made designers happy but did not even have enough space for content, let alone content optimization? Been there.

I’ve seen these and more follies – you name it! Unfortunately, some organizations fail to realize that you can’t wait until everything else is done and perform SEO like some cosmetic surgery.

The earlier you add SEO considerations to business planning the better:

  • What is your product, and how do you name it? 
  • Is there an actual market for it? 
  • Do “people also ask” for it on Google already? 
  • Is there a lot of competition for that type of offer in your area? 
  • Is it better to create a new name you can then promote to generate demand?
  • Do you have educational content about your industry?

Get the daily newsletter search marketers rely on.


See terms.


Is SEO at the lowest level of the hierarchy?

SEO often gets treated as being at the lowest level of the business hierarchy. It happens especially with an independent consultant or freelance SEO. 

The SEO may be perceived as a stranger trying to meddle with senior team members who have spent years climbing the career ladders within a company.

In the worst case, SEO is on the bottom rung. 

Of course, a structure like this is doomed to fail. The business eventually suffers.

Without organic traffic, a growing dependence on paid search efforts will significantly impact marketing budgets. (And don’t get me started on click fraud!)

Putting SEO ‘everywhere’

Modern SEO is a multidisciplinary approach that requires input throughout the whole business structure.

We can’t just put SEO on the outskirts of a project or inside a silo to limit its scope. Ideally, SEO insights should inform most other teams. Data from other business areas could improve your SEO approach.

This type of multidisciplinary SEO approach has been highlighted by seasoned SEO agency founder Olaf Kopp who published a straightforward albeit intriguing view of the SEO impact on other teams.

He inspired me to write this article by what he said in a LinkedIn post:

He added a well-structured visualization of how SEO can relate to other teams. Let’s look at it before we dive into each team’s responsibilities:

SEO Within OrganizationsSEO Within Organizations

Market research is at the start and also a wonderful example. Ideally, you perform surveys, ask people about their needs and go out in the wild to find out what’s happening.

How do people use your product? If you don’t have one yet, what pain points do they have with existing ones? 

These insights are invaluable also for SEO. They can get translated into keywords or the questions can be used directly for content by providing answers.

Likewise, keyword research performed by SEO experts can inform and inspire market research as a whole. 

As an SEO, I typically offer both market and keyword research, but I am aware that my skills and capabilities are fairly limited. 

I can’t go out and meet potential customers to see how they use a vacuum cleaner. I only look at searches people perform, existing websites, and products already on the market.

Thus, personally, I’d add an arrow showing in both directions here.

Marketing in general is a huge discipline by itself. Depending on the company and its size it may be a plethora of things, including: 

  • Trade fairs.
  • CRM.
  • Email newsletters.
  • Social media ads.
  • Customer (service) feedback.

Many companies are tempted to add SEO as just another part of the marketing mix, which reinforces the silo approach I mentioned earlier and leads to missed opportunities. 

I often encounter this issue when working with large companies. 

First, seemingly everybody could interfere with my work while my feedback remain unheard. I might never get any feedback unless it was a negative one indicating “we can’t do that.”

I once asked the newsletter team to add links to content I created only to hear them say, “No, we have enough links already. You have to ask for them several weeks in advance.” When I did ask months in advance, I still did not get the links.

I could add more examples, but you get the point. Being the SEO outsider wasn’t a position that allowed me to align the SEO efforts with larger business objectives.

Again, the SEO person shouldn’t be the only one to inform and inspire the whole marketing team, it’s also vice versa.

The “real” marketers can help make SEO succeed when they don’t perceive it as a nuisance, threat or afterthought. Again, I’d rather add an arrow showing in both directions.

Sales should be obvious. How is it connected to SEO? Ideally, a key performance indicator of SEO success is sales or at least conversion metrics

The customer journey is too long and complicated? You don’t want to rely on last-click attribution? You haven’t figured out more accurate metrics?

Then, at least give the SEO access to the raw data. They may be able to find some correlations:

  • Did sales drop when traffic tanked? 
  • Did sales increase when the SEO campaign was launched? 
  • What drives sales outside of SEO?

Anything can be useful as feedback to the SEO specialist trying to go blindly in the right direction.

Also, listen to the SEO who will tell you that branded traffic may not increase sales or that very broad general audience keywords have merely informational intent and thus do not lead to sales either.

So again here we have an arrow pointing both ways.

The other teams are more self-explanatory so I will keep it short.

Content creation requires SEO input at least. 

  • What topics to cover?
  • Which keywords to use in the headline or title? 
  • Which question “people also ask” to answer?

The content team – be it writers, photographers or illustrators – should speak with the SEO about what they are doing.

Newsletter covering a specific product? Please add these keywords and links!

Photos from the trade fair? Excellent! Please take photos of some influencers we can mention!

Using graphic novel-inspired artwork? Wonderful! Let us reach out to the geeks!

Guess which way the arrow points then!

I’m not sure what Kopp means by editorial so I’d rather refer to it as publishing. There is a lot of content published on a website that is often considered not to be SEO-relevant. It’s not just the privacy policy.

All kinds of announcements, campaigns, press releases and videos could benefit from SEO insights. SEO is not just about “SEO content” or simply text. Even the privacy policy or the guest blogging guidelines can be optimized.

Likewise, editors or publishers may be surprised at the input they get from SEO experts. They may find out that they are writing content for the wrong audience or just ignoring some parts of the sales funnel completely. 

Usually, we tend to publish top-of-the-funnel content unless we take a closer look at content strategy.

PR is such a treasure trove to SEO practitioners. Often, we see PR and SEO teams working side by side with no significant cooperation between them. But there is a way to combine both efforts.

Search (and social media) ads can provide a wealth of information on demand, keywords and trends. Please share them with the SEO. 

The SEO person can also give you many ideas on what to advertise based on organic demand.

UX has indeed been part of SEO for many years. It goes so far that some SEOs call themselves search experience optimizers. 

Make sure that the SEO and UX people work closely together or end up with conflicting priorities and penalties at worst. 

A redesign solely based on UX considerations may destroy your Google rankings. The information flow has to go both ways.

IT/dev teams have the highest risk of destroying years of SEO work. Ask an SEO before major changes to any “running system” you have established. 

Also, be willing to improve existing systems based on SEO feedback. Pay attention to server speed, URL structure and third-party code libraries which can cause issues.

SEO isn’t limited to communications-related tasks

Kopp stresses the communications teams as the most relevant for SEO.

But the SEO expert should be able to consult throughout the whole business process but stay outside the rigid hierarchy.

This enables other teams and experts to have as much positive impact on organic reach as possible.

Do you play chess? The SEO person is ideally the knight. Jumping in from outside in to help when needed and to receive feedback on where to go next.

Ideally, SEO starts at the product level. Product names are already keywords.

Marketing and sales are directly dependent on organic search traffic so neither department should ignore or overrule SEO decisions without taking the SEO expert’s advice into account.

SEO also affects content publishing and PR efforts in manifold ways. The technology behind the website is clearly subject to “technical SEO” considerations.

On the other hand design (hence UX) and technology teams also benefit from SEO input voiced as early as possible (before a redesign or technical changes).

How to integrate SEO throughout the business process without losing sight of the bigger picture

Make the SEO specialist or content marketer (whatever you prefer the person to be called) as independent as needed. The person or team should be able to inform and consult the other teams throughout the company – not just the marketing department. 

Don’t limit access to decision-making processes by establishing rigid hierarchies that depend on personal relations or top-down structures. 

The SEO should be ideally able to report to the CEO or CTO directly not through a game of telephone or by talking to numerous superiors. 

For larger companies, a project manager should be able to help. That person needs the necessary clout inside the business to assign tasks and priorities. Ideally, the SEO specialist should not be responsible for project management. 

Believe it or not, the alternative is a potential deadlock. Once I had to ask permission from up to nine different “superiors” before being able to make a change or publish something within a larger international company. The actual work was done but different opinions and numerous change requests based on the perceived importance of each stakeholder in the hierarchy literally blocked progress.

So no, you can’t just push SEO into the geeky corner of technical changes. SEO has to inform the whole business process – the more input gets included the better the results. Kopp concludes:

“The former nerd child SEO, who conjures up rankings with some SEO magic, has to grow up and work as an internal consultant and salesperson.”

So it’s not just the business hierarchy that adapts and integrates the SEO practitioner. The SEO expert has to embrace all other teams and give up the limited technical perspective to succeed in the long run.


Contributing authors are invited to create content for Search Engine Land and are chosen for their expertise and contribution to the search community. Our contributors work under the oversight of the editorial staff and contributions are checked for quality and relevance to our readers. The opinions they express are their own.


Popular Articles