SEO Tips for Product Managers

We’ve worked in the SEO industry for over a decade. This means we’ve seen the good, the bad and the ugly when it comes to SEO. Here are our top tips for effective SEO product management.

5 Tips for SEO Product Management

There are so many moving parts to SEO it can seem overwhelming if you don’t know where to look. Fortunately, you don’t need agency experience to manage a successful SEO strategy. A combination of knowing where to look and delegating to specialists can go a long way. These are the five areas that we’d recommend SEO product managers to understand. 

1. Understand the SEO Fundamentals

Understanding SEO fundamentals is important for any product manager looking to improve their team’s search engine optimisation performance. A solid grasp of both on-page and off-page optimisation is necessary.

As a product manager, you should know the terms so you can speak the same language as your team. This also means that you understand the functions of the fundamentals. With this knowledge, you’ll be able to see what the business and your team need as it happens. 

Begin by learning about keyword research and content optimisation as they improve your products visibility and relevance. Technical SEO for elements such as website architecture, mobile friendliness, and loading speed are important to keep a website running smoothly. 

It’s also important to learn about effective link building strategies and local SEO practices. Staying updated with the latest algorithm changes, user experience trends, and SEO best practices is needed for leading your team effectively in an ever-changing industry. 

2. SEO Strategy for Product Launches

If you’re launching a new product or service then there should be an SEO strategy to go with it. This needs to be agreed upon long before the product comes to market. There’s a lot that needs to be done and you’ve only got one chance to get it right. 

To optimise your product launch, start with comprehensive keyword research to align your content with your target audience’s search behaviours. Ensure every product page is fully optimised with on-page SEO strategies, including well-crafted meta tags, clear headings, and optimised images, to improve search visibility.

Develop a strategic backlink plan to strengthen your product’s online authority. Utilise social media platforms effectively to promote your product and attract organic traffic.

Regularly track and evaluate key performance indicators such as organic traffic, keyword rankings, and conversion rates to continuously improve your SEO approach and ensure its effectiveness.

3. Optimise for User Engagement

A lot of people make the mistake of thinking SEO is all about attracting new traffic. While this is one side of it, the other is making your website better for those who have found it already. This is where user engagement comes in and is tied to conversion rate optimisation. From our experience, companies can be doing a lot more with the traffic they already have. 

To improve your products SEO rankings, view key user engagement metrics such as bounce rate, time on page, and click-through rate. These factors affect your website’s performance in search results. They also tell you a lot about the user experience of your website. If the user experience is bad then people will bounce without purchasing. 

To help with this, produce content that’s both of exceptional quality and highly pertinent to your audience’s interests, aligning closely with their search intents. This strategic relevance increases the duration of visits and prompts further exploration of your site.

Optimising your website’s loading speed and ensuring its mobile compatibility is crucial for improving user experience. 

4. Work in SEO Sprints

Adopting SEO sprints within your product management workflow allows for the segmentation of complex SEO tasks into smaller, manageable pieces. This can boost the focus and operational efficiency of your SEO team.

Consider implementing two-week sprints and assigning a difficulty to each task. This gives your SEO teams an expectation of the time needed to complete tasks. A difficult task might take a whole two-week sprint to complete while others a day. This also helps with assigning tasks to team members to ensure things are fair and working as efficiently as possible. 

This methodology supports effective prioritisation and precise progress tracking. You can swiftly adapt to changes in search engine algorithms or evolving product demands.

Implementing SEO sprints for effective product management increases productivity. This makes your SEO product management adaptable and proactive. Using product management tools such as Jira can help to keep things organised.

5. Measure What Matters

Accurately measuring relevant metrics is essential for assessing the effectiveness of SEO strategies and guiding informed decision-making. Essential tools such as Google Analytics, Google Search Console, and SEMrush provide comprehensive insights into your SEO efforts.

It’s important to focus on key performance indicators including growth in organic traffic, visibility of keywords, and how it’s affecting revenue. These core metrics tell you if your SEO product are successful.

The Role of SEO in Product Management

Think of SEO as a tool that helps product managers ensure their digital content is seen by as many people as possible. Building strategies is necessary when managing a product like creating a new website or launching an SEO campaign. By understanding what words people are searching for and how search engines work, managers can guide their teams to create content that aligns with these insights.

For example, if a team is working on a website for a new product, knowing the right keywords can create web pages that more people will find. This can mean more visitors and more sales. SEO helps product managers meet their project’s goals by increasing visibility and reach.

SEO demands constant updates because the way people search and the algorithms search engines use are always changing. This means SEO product managers need to keep their teams agile, and ready to tweak content and strategies to keep up with new trends. This continuous improvement process not only keeps the project relevant but also sharpens the team’s skills in adapting to changing environments.

Frequently Asked Questions

How to Project Manage SEO?

To manage SEO projects you can prioritise structured campaigns, maintain clear tasks, and work in SEO sprints. Focus on continuous communication and regular data analysis to optimise your team’s performance.

What Are the 4 Important Stages in SEO?

The four important stages in SEO are keyword research, on-page optimisation, off-page optimisation, and performance tracking, each necessary your website’s visibility and ranking in search engine results.

What Is an SEO Product Manager?

An SEO product manager is tasked with overseeing search engine optimisation product. You set goals, coordinate tasks, and make sure your team meets deadlines while optimising strategies for the best possible search engine optimization results.

How Do You Stay Organised When Working on an SEO Project?

To stay organised on a project, you’ll use tools like Trello or Asana, maintain a detailed document of project specifics, and set regular check-ins to make sure everyone’s aligned and on track.