echwa.com

We all waste a certain amount of time when it comes to any task that we perform. This time-slip that occurs is part and parcel with the learning process of human beings. We learn at a great pace and cannot always be expected to have a focus on what is really important, deviation to explore new tactics and excuse to expand certain tasks will always occur and are excusable.

However, Jill Whalen makes a valid point on over at Search Engine Land when she calls out some Search practitioners for busying themselves with tasks that are unlikely to have an impact on bringing valuable traffic to a website. Fixing keywords Meta data, submission to search engines and the like are the staple of many Search practitioners and may be in part a result of misinformed stakeholders and years of mis-information.

boondoggle: work of little or no value done merely to look busy.

I believe that the foundation to any successful campaign is bringing the key stakeholders along for the ride. They need to take an active interest in defining the SEO road map as the people responsible for driving the budget lines and determining the commercial milestones of any acquisition or even retention strategy.

Search practitioners alone do not always have a grasp of the business drivers and without buy in from those that hold the commercial interests will often find that they do indeed ‘boondoggle’.

It may also be a byproduct a wider failure to communicate, rather translate, new media practices into terms those traditional marketing managers and communications directors understand.

The task of translation which can involve simplification of the concepts involved in order to communicate the benefit more clearly is one that I believe all those that are involved in creating search marketing strategy should equip themselves with.

What are your thoughts and experience on this?