How to Build an SEO Team: Structure and Roles Every Director Should Know

Building a team that delivers consistent SEO results and is aligned with your marketing vision is hard.

Constant AI updates, search result layouts changing daily, and industry headlines can make it feel like the sky is falling. It’s a lot to keep up with when overseeing all of marketing.

These are all common feelings, especially when uncertain about your SEO.

My goal is to provide you with a clear structure for an SEO team that delivers successful SEO results. I’ll outline the key responsibilities and roles you need to achieve long-term growth.

What It Takes to Achieve Highly Successful SEO

To build a successful and growth-oriented SEO team, you only need to hire a full-time SEO, right?

In most cases, no.

There’s more to achieving long-term SEO results.

SEO isn’t just about search engines; it’s about people, too. It’s about figuring out what people are looking for online, their questions, the keywords they use, and the type of content they like. At the same time, it’s also about showing search engines you are the best answer to these questions. The reality is that to do this well requires ongoing effort.

Before you look at the roles, the responsibilities required for great SEO are most important to understand.

Keyword Research and Strategy Development:

What: Finding the best and most relevant keywords to target.
Why: Search engines reward content that matches what people are searching for. Good keyword research makes sure your content meets user needs and ranks higher.

On-Page Optimization:

What: Improving web page content, meta tags, headers, and images to match target keywords.
Why: Search engines look for well-structured, relevant, and keyword-rich content. Proper on-page optimization helps search engines understand your pages, making them more visible and higher ranked.

Content Creation and Optimization:

What: Creating high-quality, engaging, and SEO-friendly content. Regularly updating and improving existing content.
Why: Content is key in SEO. Search engines prefer websites with valuable, fresh, and relevant content. Regularly updating content keeps traffic steady and engages users.

Technical SEO:

What: Ensure the website is technically sound, including fast loading speed, mobile-friendliness, ease of crawling, and security.
Why: Search engines favor websites that offer a smooth user experience. Technical SEO fixes improve site performance, making it easier for search engines to crawl and index your site, leading to better rankings.

Link Building and Off-Page SEO:

What: Getting high-quality backlinks from trusted sources and building industry relationships.
Why: Backlinks are a major ranking factor for search engines. They show the authority and trustworthiness of your site. Good link-building strategies boost your site’s credibility and ranking.

Performance Tracking and Reporting:

What: Monitoring key SEO metrics, analyzing data, and creating reports.
Why: Regular performance tracking helps you see what’s working and what’s not. Data-driven insights allow continuous improvement of SEO strategies, ensuring steady growth and success.

UX/UI Design:

What: Creating a user-friendly, visually appealing, and conversion-focused website.
Why: User experience is crucial in SEO. Search engines reward sites that are easy to navigate and provide a positive experience, leading to higher engagement and better rankings.

Continuous Learning and Adaptation:

What: Keeping up with the latest SEO trends, algorithm changes, and best practices.
Why: SEO is always changing. Continuous learning and adaptation are essential to stay ahead of the competition and maintain strong search engine performance.

Key SEO Roles and Alternative Options

Achieving great SEO results requires a well-rounded team with specific roles and responsibilities. However, you might not be able to hire for each specialized role. It’s rare for marketing teams to have fully SEO-dedicated roles assigned to each. My goal is to show you what it could look like if you had the privilege to hire specialists for each function.

Knowing this, I’ve included alternative roles that can fulfill some of these responsibilities with proper training and buy-in. Additionally, I’ve provided a general guideline for a separate hire, indicating how much expertise and effort is required to perform these roles effectively. Keep in mind that this is a framework and ultimately depends on your team’s strengths and weaknesses.

SEO Manager

How: Oversees overall SEO strategy.
What: Coordinates with other marketing teams and analyzes performance metrics.
Where: Across all SEO initiatives.
Likelihood of Separate Hire: High. This role often requires dedicated expertise and focus.
Alternative Role: Marketing Manager
- With proper SEO training, a Marketing Manager can oversee the SEO strategy and coordinate with various teams to ensure performance metrics are met.

SEO Specialist

How: Conducts keyword research and optimizes website content.
What: Monitors and analyzes performance.
Where: On-page and off-page.
Likelihood of Separate Hire: Essential. This core SEO role typically cannot be combined with other roles.
Alternative Role: Content Marketing Specialist
- If trained properly, a content marketing specialist can handle keyword research, optimize content, and monitor performance.

Content Strategist/Content Writer

How: Creates high-quality, SEO-friendly content.
What: Develops content calendars and aligns content with SEO strategy.
Where: Across all content platforms.
Likelihood of Separate Hire: Moderate to High
Alternative Role: Copywriter
- With SEO training, a Copywriter can create SEO-friendly content and develop content calendars aligned with the SEO strategy.

Technical SEO Specialist

How: Ensures website is technically sound.
What: Conducts site audits and optimizes site speed and mobile performance.
Where: Website infrastructure.
Likelihood of Separate Hire: High.
Alternative Role: Web Developer
- With additional SEO training, a Web Developer can ensure the website is technically sound, perform site audits, and optimize site speed and mobile performance.

Link Building Specialist

How: Develops and executes link-building strategies.
What: Builds relationships and analyzes backlink profiles.
Where: Off-page SEO.
Likelihood of Separate Hire: Moderate.
Alternative Role: Public Relations (PR) Specialist
- With SEO training, a PR Specialist can develop and execute link-building strategies by leveraging their relationship-building skills.

Data Analyst

How: Analyzes SEO data and provides insights.
What: Develop reports to track SEO progress and ROI.
Where: Across all SEO data points.
Likelihood of Separate Hire: Moderate to High.
Alternative Role: Business Analyst
- A Business Analyst trained in SEO data analysis can track SEO progress, analyze data, and provide actionable insights.

UX/UI Designer

How: Ensures user-friendly and SEO-friendly website design.
What: Implements design changes based on SEO recommendations.
Where: Website interface.
Likelihood of Separate Hire: Moderate.
Alternative Role: Graphic Designer
- With proper SEO training, a Graphic Designer can focus on creating user-friendly and SEO-friendly designs and implement necessary changes.

Social Media Manager

How: Manages social media channels to support SEO efforts.
What: Creates and shares content that drives traffic and engagement.
Where: Across all social media platforms.
Likelihood of Separate Hire: Moderate.
Alternative Role: Community Manager
- A Community Manager can effectively manage social media channels to support SEO efforts by creating engaging content if trained in SEO principles.

Graphic Designer

How: Creates visually appealing and SEO-friendly graphics.
What: Designs images, infographics, and other visual content that support SEO strategies.
Where: Across all visual content platforms.
Likelihood of Separate Hire: Moderate.
Alternative Role: UX/UI Designer
- With SEO training, a Multimedia Specialist can create visually appealing content that supports SEO strategies and engages users.

Benefits of SEO and Beyond

People-Focused:

Your team creates content that meets your marketing needs by understanding what your target audience is searching for, their questions, and the keywords they use. This makes your website more useful and relevant to visitors.

Proving Value to Search Engines:

When your team covers all major SEO responsibilities, you show search engines that your website best answers users’ questions. This helps improve your site’s ranking and visibility.

Enhanced Overall Marketing:

The skills and insights gained from covering all major SEO roles will also benefit other areas of marketing. Improved content creation, better data analysis, and a deeper understanding of your audience will enhance your overall marketing efforts.

As a result, your SEO performance will be better managed, leading to more effective strategies and overall better results. A well-rounded team ensures continuous optimization that aligns closer and closer to search engines and users, resulting in higher rankings. Good SEO strategies and high-quality content will drive more traffic to your website, with specialized roles working together to attract and retain visitors.

Next Steps

Review your current team over the next 30 days and see where you might need more training or new hires to fill these important roles. This means checking the skills your teams already have. Find out where you need more training or new hires. Then, training programs can be set up, or new people can be hired to fill the key SEO roles.

Remember, SEO isn’t just about search engines; it’s about understanding and serving people in order to drive real company growth. Plus, the benefits will extend to other areas of your marketing, making your entire strategy stronger and more effective.

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Shinhee Son

Partner at Augurian

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How to Build an SEO Team: Structure and Roles Every Director Should Know

What It Takes to Achieve Highly Successful SEO