SEO is a Big Deal for Big Business

Last week, we focused on SEO (search engine optimization) for small businesses, so this week, we’ll take a look at the challenges of SEO for large corporations. The biggest challenge for big corporations is that they’re … well … big. Every keyword and Meta tag counts, no matter how many there are to map on a website. The best way to manage such volume is to think of it as a multitude of smaller projects.

Without a team of SEO experts to tackle every page and every product on your site, developing a basic plan is a great first step. Let’s look at the elements of your plan:

1. If you haven’t already, run some basic analytics on your site. This could include data from Google Analytics, BrightLocal, and/or SEMrush. You have a plethora of data at your fingertips if you have these tools in place. Reports from these sites can tell you what keywords are garnering the most attention so you can concentrate on cultivating those and eliminating keywords that are dead on the web.
2. Focus on local SEO efforts next. A common problem for many large businesses is that they lose (or never had to begin with) their connection with their local audience. With mobile devices accounting for 63 percent of searches last year, this connection is vital. Your newest customer is driving past your store right now. Don’t assume they will see you just because you have a national presence.
3. Accountability is key at this point. Another challenge for big businesses is bureaucracy. While there might be plenty of people working in one department, new projects such as SEO management, fail to get noticed. That’s because everyone is already too busy with status quo tasks. Even if you are the one lucky enough to land the responsibility of launching an SEO campaign, you are unlikely to get buy in from those who don’t feel it directly affects their livelihood.

Start with these three baby steps to build your SEO campaign. Use the tools you do have going for you with a large firm, such as money, resources, time, and scope. It’s important to pace the project so that it does not grow too big too fast, else it will quickly become unmanageable. Create small, achievable goals to tackle, such as building credibility through reviews and Q&A forums. Then take the reputation you have built, combine it with the data you’ve analyzed, and your SEO campaign is sure to be a success.