Managing SEO across multiple brands is a complex but exciting challenge.
It’s not just improving rankings but also preserving SEO equity, aligning with brand goals, and creating a framework that scales.
In a recent pitch to a prospect, we’ll call them Global Trek, a conglomerate that sells after market auto parts, we explored how to develop a centralized SEO program that maintains individual brand identities while optimizing for long-term growth.
GT manages a growing portfolio of brands, most of which operate on different platforms like WordPress, Magento, and Shopify.
As they plan to acquire more brands, it’s essential to establish universal SEO standards that adapt to new acquisitions without losing traffic or authority.
Our goal is to build a framework that’s not just scalable but also flexible enough to respect the nuances of each brand while amplifying results across the entire portfolio.
Let’s dive into what I proposed for their brands.
The Challenge
Global Trek operates in a fragmented web ecosystem where there is:
- Varied SEO Maturity: Only one brand currently has a loosely structured SEO program, while the rest have little to no SEO investment.
- Diverse Technology Stack: Brands operate on different platforms, complicating the standardization of SEO.
- Limited Bandwidth: Internal teams are stretched thin, making it difficult to dedicate resources to SEO optimization and long-term strategy.
Organic search is more cost effective than other channels and a scattered approach to SEO increases opportunity cost across a portfolio.
Global Trek needs a holistic SEO strategy that aligns brand nuances with centralized objectives, ensuring a cohesive search presence across all brands.
The Opportunity
A unified portfolio of brands, optimized strategically for organic search, creates a compound effect where improved SEO performance enhances not just individual sites but the entire portfolio.
Some of the key opportunities we identified:
- Shared Processes & Learnings: Enabling access to a roadmap and framework helps teams better maneuver organic search optimizations.
- Leveraging Web Assets: Websites could encourage leads to convert on partner sites, increasing sales from different parts of the portfolio.
- Proactive Optimization: Rather than react to trends, brands could strengthen SEO weaknesses in accordance with user needs and market opportunities.
By identifying and implementing foundational SEO optimizations, we can create a framework that amplifies results over time with decreasing effort.
The Proposed Approach
To create a scalable SEO model, I’ve recommended starting with three brands that operate on modern, well-documented platforms.
These brands will serve as a pilot group, allowing us to refine and iterate on the SEO framework before expanding it to the larger portfolio.
Additionally, due to the number of brands a heavy investment will have to be approved from Global Trek’s board of directors. The pilot group will help build a business case for more investment in the future.
The approach includes:
- Stakeholder Interviews: This would allow us to identify team members and their dynamic across respective web teams.
- Understand the Market: Analyzing the organic state of each brand, including competitors and current level of optimizations.
- Establishing Governance: Creating a centralized governance model that ensures SEO standards are in place while empowering brand leaders to maintain autonomy.
Through this phased approach, we refine the SEO strategy and scale it effectively, ensuring that future acquisitions seamlessly integrate into the framework without compromising traffic or search equity.
Why This Matters
A well-structured SEO framework does more than improve search rankings. It:
- Drives Long-Term Growth: Consistent optimizations lead to cumulative improvements over time.
- Streamlines Future Acquisitions: New brands can be onboarded faster without losing organic search momentum.
- Empowers Brand Leaders: By providing a clear scaffolding for SEO best practices, brand leaders and inhouse experts can focus on their identity, including tone of voice and meeting user needs, while technical SEO is managed more centrally.
This strategy aligns with Global Trek’s long-term vision of creating a sustainable SEO ecosystem that maximizes visibility, traffic, and revenue across its entire portfolio.
Communication is at the root
If you’re managing a portfolio of related websites, the best step in building a holistic SEO strategy is to have a conversation.
You need to understand your teams, their strengths and skillsets, and how they operate.
Mastering SEO at scale starts with collaboration and listening helps you learn.
Did I miss something? Feel free to share with me!
