Best of Agile for SEO management

Best of Agile for SEO management The SEO industry is becoming tougher and more competitive than ever. To retain a competitive edge, SEO team can use Agile project management to streamline workflow and better navigate some of the everyday obstacles faced by SEO teams.

The big switch to agile management

Agile refers to a group of methodologies that propose alternatives to traditional styles of project management.

These approaches were originally created for use in the IT industry in response to poor implementation of IT project management methodology and delivery of sub-par products.

Agile was later adapted for use in other industries. Agile project management can be especially useful in environments that are competitive and unpredictable.

Agile teaches us that ignoring those things that aren’t vital to project development is totally fine. This is a serious change of perspective to traditional project management that tends to overwhelm with lots of documentation and formal review processes.

4 key agile concepts:    

Better cooperation between management and development teams within the company.

Streamlining modifications for shorter response times.

Frequent releases, continuous progress, and welcoming change as needed during the process.

Empowering employee decision-making.

How it works

Contrary to what some Agile training companies will tell you, you can pick and select which parts of Agile to use. Teams need to tailor Agile to their specific needs.

Here are a few examples of Agile methods you can adopt into your current project development framework. Simply pick what fits you best.

Work in progress (WIP) limit

The WIP is the list of jobs that are currently in development. They should be your primary focus.

The WIP limit is the reasonable limit of jobs you can deal with at any one time and still ensure constant, high-quality development.

WIP limit helps us set aside enough time for all task types (including the small and recurring tasks common to SEO) and helps teams focus on tasks that matter.

Team task board

There's nothing as reliable as having a real board in front of us to visualize the group's workflow. Here’s an example of how you can lay out your team's tasks to better manage workflow: 1. Backlog: Our next jobs.

2. In development: Current tasks.

3. Evaluation: Done and waiting for an internal review.

4. Done: Completed on our end.

5. Pipeline: Tasks still being developed to be added to the backlog To guarantee a smooth workflow, we need to make certain that the backlog is continuously updated with the next task.

The board lets teams see a visual representation of their work and know what needs to be done, what is being done and what will need to be done later. It also allows teams to swap priorities when required, in a matter of seconds.

Stand-up meetings

SEO teams can hold 10-15 minute stand-up meeting every morning. Besides talking about updates, each employee should answer the following three questions:   

What did you do yesterday?

What are you working on today?

Is there anything that might prevent you doing your job?

This meeting is also a great opportunity for knowledge-sharing in between group members.

Agile and SEO are about flexibility.

Being Agile, above all else, means having the ability to quickly adapt. Agile isn't just a technique; it's a way of thinking about and facilitating work.

Adopting agile can lead to marked improvements in the ways departments collaborate and the way people cooperate with each other within the SEO team. Agile teams respond faster and provide much better outcomes.

If you’d like to train your teams in the latest agile methods, make sure to visit us at Knowledge Train.