On paper, SEOs and programmers should be the best of buddies. They are supposed to care about the success of the same product.

And mostly gone are the times when SEO would burden the development team with a bunch of silly and counterintuitive recommendations. From a programmer’s perspective, search engine crawlers are just another group of users to apply, with some special needs, but also with a huge potential impact on the overall success of a website.

However, if you were to poll both SEOs and programmers about how things are going between them, many would express frustration.

SEOs have been known to only implement a fraction of their recommendations, and even that takes longer than it should. They feel ignored and misunderstood.

On the other hand, programmers often say that SEO tasks are poorly justified, poorly explained, and therefore difficult to prioritize. SEO is seen as an annoying and unnecessary addition to the ever-growing pile of tasks in the backlog.

This article explains Why a healthy relationship between SEO and programmers is so important And the How you can achieve this as an SEO.

Why is the SEO-programmer relationship important?

The success of any SEO project depends on SEO and programmers working together.

And with the current state of the web, SEO and developers need to work closer than ever before.

What I’d like to see a bit more SEO do is work with more programmers. In particular, for modern JavaScript-based websites, it will be a topic that will continue to grow. […]. So It’s really important that you go out and talk to these programmers As a search engine optimizer […]You explain things to them, and you find ways to explain them in a way that makes sense . if you go and you talk to them and you can explain what’s going on and why you want them to do something, It makes it possible for them to say, “Well, hypothetically, we’ll just take this route because it makes sense” and that makes your life easier, too. Source

Two important consequences can occur if the collaboration between SEOs and programmers is ineffective. first of all, A website can lose traffic and money.

The fruits of your labor depend on your ability to communicate and coordinate.

Your Career Can Suffer No matter how good your suggestions for a website are, you’ll never be a great SEO if you can’t implement them promptly and accurately.

How to find common ground with programmers

Each relationship is unique and highly dependent on the specific context and type of collaboration. For example, an internal SEO specialist faces different challenges and possibilities than an external SEO consultant. However, you can still find common ground. To you

Five general tips to help you bridge the gap between SEO and programmers.

Improve communication

Communication plays a vital role in any relationship. Poor communication can put your entire project at risk. It may delay implementation and cause frustration among the parties involved.

• When it comes to communication in the SEO-programmer relationship, the main pain points include: No direct contact.
• SEOs usually communicate with programmers through project managers or marketing representatives. If you’ve played Chinese Whispers before, you know that the original message can look very different from the last one. One-way communication.
• Sometimes SEO investigates status, prepares tasks and recommendations, and disappears into the unknown. They rarely ask questions and discuss possible concerns and opinions the other party might have. As a result, programmers are left on their own to figure it all out. Use of SEO terms.

Programmers don’t always have SEO knowledge. So if you use terms that are only used in the SEO industry without further explanation, the connection will not work.

The rules and methods of communication defined by the company you work with may prevent you from resolving the first pain point on your part.

But you can still work on the other two. The most important thing you should do to improve communication is

To make sure programmers understand you.

• Here are three tips to keep in mind when communicating with programmers: Provide programmers with all the information needed to complete a task.
• Includes an explanation of terms found only in the SEO industry. Proactively avoid confusion caused by your recommendations.
• Even if you talk about aspects that you think are obvious to developers, sometimes the way you say it can be ambiguous to them. So, for example, instead of using “301” as a verb, you could say that you want to implement a permanent 301 HTTP redirect to remove any confusion.

Use programmers’ vocabulary.

For example, a “category page,” “product listings,” or “collection page” might describe the same type of page on the site you’re working on. However, if you use one of these mappings and programmers are used to another mapping, it can lead to confusion and make communication difficult. So be flexible and adapt to the company you work with.

Understand how programmers work

Different teams often focus only on their part of the project. It’s easy to embrace tunnel vision and ignore what other teams are working on.

However, understanding how programmers work allows you to set realistic expectations and speed up implementation.

One aspect that can help you understand the daily lives of developers is getting to know Scrum. Scrum Divides the work to be done into polished tasks and plans to carry them out within

sprints. Sprint lengths vary by company, but they usually last from a week to several weeks. The scrum team is given tasks that they must be able to finish while sprinting. You can find more information about how Scum works and the theory behind it at

Scrum Guide. It is important to note that tasks are organized according to their priority.

Developers can’t just do a random task and ignore the higher priority items. I will explain the importance of prioritizing later in the article. Another element that can help you better understand the work of programmers is learning to use Project management software

Like Jira, Trello, or Asana. These tools allow the team to organize and manage tasks. They differ in the functionality available, but all enable you to describe tasks, set priorities, set owners, and add observers or followers (people who get notified when a task’s status changes).

Understanding these tools can help you describe and manage tasks the way programmers are used to. Always try to adapt to programmers tools. It’s easier for a couple of SEOs to learn a new tool than for a whole team of programmers to adapt your process.

Create high quality assignments Difficult to maintain Balance a broad description of the topic to make it understandable to all, And make it likable enough

To be incorporated into sprints easily. However, a well-described task can be a game-changer in the relationship between SEOs and programmers.

• Here are some tips that can help you create a quality assignment: do not leave Doubt about what to hand over In the end. Make sure programmers don’t need to spend time thinking about what you mean and what exactly they should do. if it was possible,Include a goal
• . For example, “The largest content graphic must be less than 2.5 seconds long.” Use of visual aids.
• For example, you can include a screenshot of the problem, which can help eliminate misunderstandings. Explain why it is important to the site and the business.
• For example, let the programmers know if the affected page is responsible for 50% of the traffic. This step can help better prioritize the task.

Help programmers find a solution to the problem.

Include a link to the Google documentation, a link to a similar case, or anything that can make the programmer’s search easier.

Set ownership

SEO works with many stakeholders, project managers and programmers from different teams. With so many people involved, it may not always be clear who is responsible for carrying out a particular task.

Without relinquishing ownership, you may find yourself waiting for someone on the team to act while they are all waiting for the others to act. Thus, nothing gets done. for this reason

Each task must have its owner.

Ownership helps you make sure that the person in charge understands what needs to be done, cares about the outcome, and takes responsibility for the end result.

Voice SEO Priorities

SEOs rarely get enough time and resources to tackle every problem they find. That’s why it’s so important to prioritize the things that need to be done first.

Programmers don’t work exclusively with SEO – there are usually many other teams that need their help on a daily basis. So you can’t be surprised when they don’t always have time to put your interests first. However, in many cases, programmers may be deferring Access to seo tasks because they They simply do not understand its importance. out of your job Make sure they know

Why should it have a higher priority.

• Here are some tips on how to show priority:Back up your recommendations with data
• . Numbers are your friends when it comes to persuading programmers. For example, if you say, “Google says you should keep the first entry delay under 100ms, and the current one is 500ms,” that leaves no room for argument. Show case studies to support your point.
• Real-world examples from trusted sources may convince programmers who do not understand the importance of SEO.

Test solutions

If it works on a small scale, it will likely work on a large scale. Seeing the effects of your recommendations can help programmers realize that SEO is worth their effort.

Workflow checklist

• It is hard to pinpoint one superior workflow that can work perfectly in every SEO-programmer relationship. However, there are five questions that need to be answered at the beginning of each collaboration to reduce the risk of misunderstanding:
• How will you communicate?
• appropriate for what?
• What is the priority of tasks?
• What are the range and time forecasts?

What will the follow-up process look like? The beginning of every collaboration usually begins with a kick-off meeting. This is when you should Determine communication channels.

It can include emails, calls, project management software, communication platforms like Slack, and so on. Determine which channels to use in which situations. For example, if it is a complex issue, a meeting may be the best option. If it’s urgent but simple, maybe you can exchange information on Slack. After establishing the communication channels, it’s time To discuss ownership and responsibilities.

Everyone should know who can ask for help and who is the author of certain tasks. Most of the time, the opening meeting allows you to assign responsibilities. It’s worth asking questions like how many programmers will be involved or if you should add any observers in the project management software. It is an integral part of the workflow define the priorities.

Be clear about the most important issues but be open to hearing what the other party has to say. Explain why you think programmers should do specific tasks as quickly as possible, but remember that part of teamwork is the ability to compromise. The next step is Determine the range and expected time.

• Explain to the developers what they can expect from you and what you expect from them. During this conversation, you should discuss:
• What are you going to do first. This way, programmers know what to expect at the outset.
• How often will you add tasks to their project management software. It allows them to better manage the rest of their responsibilities.

notes you want from them. Make sure the programmers understand that you want them to tell you if there are any problems. The final part isFollow-up . Ask questions and make sure everything is going according to plan. Find out the reason for any possible delays. Were there any problems with implementation? Maybe there is something you can do to help? in addition to, Follow-ups show you’re interested.

And if programmers see that you’re interested, they tend to be more interested in themselves.

Conclusion

The relationship between SEOs and programmers can be tricky. However, it is important to remember that we are working towards the same goal and that the success of the project depends on both teams working together.

• To sum up the article, here are five things to keep in mind when working with programmers: Remember that you are on the same team.
• You are in the same boat and have the same goal. Respect each other’s time and work.
• Express yourself clearly and listen to what the other person has to say.You both accept each other’s limitations
• . Be willing to compromise and find common ground. Learn the basics of their field.
• Work to better understand your common challenges and communicate better. Agree on ownership of tasks