SEO Blog

Good SEOs need to be good webmasters. That doesn’t necessarily mean that SEOs think like webmasters. The goals of webmasters and SEOs are different as are their job requirements and responsibilities. While webmasters need to know everything about the technologies used on the websites they are responsible for, SEOs need to be conversant in virtually every form of web-document. Though all SEOs need to be good webmasters, relatively few actually consider themselves to be webmasters.

I had a sudden revelation that I have been acting as a webmaster more than an SEO recently. For the past two months, I’ve been responsible for preparing and publishing the daily edition of SiteProNews.com. My priorities have changed somewhat and I find myself looking at the industry from a different point of view than I did as a fulltime SEO. Having taken charge of a daily webmaster news site, I find myself in the role of primary webmaster for the first time in several years.

Much gets written about how webmasters need to understand and adjust to changes suggested or made in the process of website and document optimization.  Relatively little is written about how SEOs should work with webmasters.

A webmaster is someone who is technically in charge of a website. They are not necessarily the designer of the site (though designers use similar skills and tools) or the graphic artist who made the images used on the site. The webmaster is the person who implements changes made to the site, though depending on the size of their organization, they might not be the person in charge of making those decisions.

It is important to understand where the webmaster is coming from when working with out-sourcing clients. Often webmasters feels like they are in the middle of a muddled up situation with contradictory information being fed from two or three different sources. For some webmasters, the introduction of an outside team of search marketers is somewhat threatening.

Different webmasters in different situations will have differing needs. Some who work in corporate environments will have a long chain of command to answer to while others who work in smaller businesses are much closer to the sources of decision making. In most micro-businesses, the webmaster is the decision maker.

Not only do SEOs have to be good webmasters, the most successful SEOs are also good diplomats. It is important for SEOs to develop a strong relationship with the webmasters they work with. Getting a good sense of the webmaster and his or her team can be critical to getting recommendations and changes implemented on the site.

Here is an example from the “Don’t try this at home” file:
A corporate SEO of note once told me a story about an absurd boardroom meeting with the heads of teams responsible for the corporate client’s website. His recommendation about making a common-sense change to the title structure of the website caused a cascade of emails throughout the corporation putting the alteration high on the agenda of their weekly meeting.

Early on in the meeting the SEO got a sinking feeling that told him the issue was going to get grounded to death in discussion and study. Twenty minutes later he stood up and excused himself for a moment to take what would appear to others as a washroom break. He walked down a floor and across the building to the IT department where he leveraged a well-established relationship to get the title protocol implemented immediately. He then went back to the meeting. As he suspected the meeting broke up on the decision to study the issue for discussion at meet again the next week.

When the group next met, early discussion was about the rise in traffic seen on the site. When the SEO announced the increase in traffic came from the implementation of his title suggestion, there was a quiet pause around the table before the Chair wisely chose to move on to the next agenda item. Anyone other than this particular SEO might have been risking their contract pulling such a move but, as the common-sense recommendation worked wonders, the risk rendered a strong negotiating chip.

I had several similar experiences years ago working with webmasters from smaller businesses. Explaining recommendations to the site owners or marketing departments is often made easier when the webmaster and IT department already agrees with the recommendations. Getting them implemented is made easier when the webmaster and IT staff trust you.

Here are a few quick tips for SEOs on talking with webmasters.

Understand that the goals of the SEO and those of the webmaster are different. Where SEOs often look for expediency, webmasters look for efficiency.

Ask the webmaster for a scheduled tour of the website and server structure. While it might not be necessary for you to understand the site or server structure, the meeting goes miles towards helping the webmaster understand you.

Don’t just tell them what to do, show them how to do it. Make it easy for webmasters by preparing files for immediate implementation.

Remember that some webmasters will not fully understand the role of a search marketer. They might perceive their influence being supplanted by carpet-bagging consultants. It is important to assure the webmaster and IT staff early on that you are in no way interested in taking or threatening their jobs.

Keep in mind that the webmaster is likely going to deal with the site after you have moved on to other projects. Though you likely have a long-term contract with the webmaster’s firm, make sure you maintain the long-term relationship with the webmaster.

It’s also worth noting it is a small industry after-all. I’ve re-met webmasters I had worked with years previously at other companies. Keeping those contacts open is important to your own career growth.

SEOs and webmasters have similar languages and technical interests. Strong relationships between SEOs and webmasters makes work easier for both.