TodaysArt 2005 - Nederlands Dans Theater - AloneIf you have worked in the search engine optimization space for a while, I’m sure you’ve seen your fair share of what works well – and, what doesn’t.

Clearly, you are the master. However, just like an artist, a performer, you need a team around you – on “all” sides.

You need the audience (the ones you communicate with, sell to) – and you need the owner of the theater (customer), the stage hands, producers and specialists and others as you need them. (haven’t ‘done’ theater in a while, can you tell?)

However, if it feels like you are standing up on that stage, lonely, a small applause … watch out!

You may have just been ‘penalized’ by the Highest Internal Paid Person in The Organization (HIPPO).

In this case, it may have been the owner who didn’t realize it himself – but you just got a ‘fail’ before even starting.

It’s true. He or she got you in on a gesture, a handshake, eventually an agreement. You were excited as they come. You were going to showcase your ‘best stuff’…

To succeed, you need strong collaboration on all fronts, or your SEO will not be very successful. Sure, you can drive traffic, you can build up rankings (if that’s a metric you are going for), but that’s where it stops.

In fact, if all the changes and/or recommendation you give (and they are important, good ones) take months to complete, or not done at all, you may eventually become the “fall guy”. This depends on a number of factors, but you cannot afford to be up-staged by the HIPPO.  (I’m not a lawyer, but a good agreement, with an exit strategy helps).

Think I’m kidding? See what they themselves indicate.

A recent B2B marketing study was done, and here are some examples of what they answered to this question:

“Describe the process your business uses to plan out your SEO strategy”?

Here are some of the answers:

If you want to read more of the study, get the “search marketing benchmark report“.

Simply stated, start with goals and objectives, and work this into a plan you can both live with.

What stories can you share of what worked, and what didn’t? What advice do you have?

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Entrepreneur Magazine says Jon Rognerud is one of the most sought-after Digital Marketing Experts. His clients extend from high-end brands and middle-tier businesses in both B2B and B2C. His SEO website optimization book, "The Ultimate Guide to Optimizing Your Website" from Entrepreneur Press is in bookstores now.