The Agile Manifesto applied to online marketing

The three primary realms which the SEOer can manipulate seem to be:

  • Social networks, on which the SEOer can promote the visibility of advertisements for and posts by the client's organization,
  • Website networks, in which the SEOer can promote links and references to the client's site (link-building), and
  • Optimization, through which the SEOer can improve the data contained on the client's site.

"Individuals and interactions over processes and tools"

SEO can be improved by automated methods that rely on best practices and web services. However, those processes and tools are available to anyone in the industry. Proprietary processes and tools take a long time to develop and the ever-changing SEO ecosystem will make all of them obsolete at some point. The only avenue for effective change is, in SEO as all areas, through talking with other interested human beings.

  • For social networks
    • Talk with clients' clients & find out what they are interested in
    • Post things based on interactions with people, and not solely by researching trends, which are abstract.
    • Try to keep from leaning on tools with flashy slogans and sites.
  • For website networks
    • Talk with other website owners in the industry, whether site admins or SEO managers.
    • How can you work together for your clients', and the internet's benefit?
    • Lead the way: voluntarily and liberally put links to other businesses & related services.
    • Avoid
      • Link farms
      • Useless directory sites
      • 'Guest' blogging on sites with no personal connection.
  • For optimization
    • Talk with people in the industry about what they are doing.
    • How can we support other projects through cross-promotion? (e.g. link to flaticon, use a new CMS and advertise it, use a new payment processor and advertise it).
    • Avoid blanket solutions.

"Working software over comprehensive documentation"

Prioritizing visible results over a thorough understanding of how the system works more rapidly provides the client with what they want. Because the ecosystem changes so rapidly, a lot of time is wasted trying to understand the specifics of a search engine instead of working towards the end goal.

  • For social networks: Produce many preliminary posts to find out what works, refine target as campaign goes on.
  • For website networks: Settle for a link-less mention, develop relationships to get links and eventually guest posts. Get out a lot of requests regardless of how likely it is to succeed (e.g. emailing a direct competitor with a proposal for a link)
  • For optimization: Build small websites first with full lower tiers of optimization before scaling. Opt to spend more time refining than scaling.

"Customer collaboration over contract negotiation"

The client of an SEO campaign often does not care about the specifics of a campaign, like which titles are being added where. What they want is a refinement of their image: the way they appear online, whether on website networks, social networks, or on their website. However, clients also want results or rather, money. It is therefore difficult to contract exactly what the SEO campaign should involve.

  • Involve client early and often to make sure their goals are being met

"Responding to change over following a plan"

Plans provide an outline from which to work. However, it is impossible to predict new players, algorithm updates, and social events which may dramatically reshape the outlook of a campaign. Working with as bare-bones a plan as possible provides a limber framework from which to develop.

  • Sprint, don't 'bog & slog' (dump a ton of work on the table and hope to finish before the next dump)

Principles

The manifesto is based on the following 12 principles, in which I have modified lightly to fit the SEO context.

  1. Our highest priority is to satisfy the customer through early and continuous delivery of result reports
  2. Welcome changing requirements, even late in development. Agile processes harness change for the customer's competitive advantage.
  3. Deliver reports and changes frequently, from a couple of weeks to a couple of months, with a preference to the shorter timescale.
  4. Businesspeople and developers must work together daily throughout the project.
  5. Build projects around motivated individuals. Give them the environment and support they need, and trust them to get the job done.
  6. The most efficient and effective method of conveying information to, from, and within a development team is face-to-face conversation.
  7. Business results are the primary measure of progress.
  8. Agile processes promote sustainable development. The sponsors, developers, and users should be able to maintain a constant pace indefinitely.
  9. Continuous attention to technical excellence and good design enhances agility.
  10. Simplicity - the art of maximizing the amount of work not done - is essential.
  11. The best architectures, requirements, and designs emerge from self-organizing teams (see #5).
  12. At regular intervals, the team reflects on how to become more effective, then tunes & adjusts its behavior accordingly.