What is SEO organisational design?
SEO organisational design is the practice of structuring teams, roles, processes, and governance to ensure search optimisation is integrated into product and content decisions—rather than applied as an afterthought.
Why organisational design matters for SEO
SEO is inherently cross-functional. Changes to URLs, page templates, site architecture, content, and technical infrastructure all affect organic performance—yet these changes are typically owned by product, engineering, content, and marketing teams rather than SEO specialists.
Effective SEO organisations solve the coordination problem: ensuring SEO considerations are present in decisions that affect organic visibility, without creating bottlenecks or becoming a "department of no."
The right structure depends on company size, technical complexity, content volume, and how SEO-dependent the business model is.
Organisational models
Centralised model
A dedicated SEO team owns strategy, execution, and measurement. Other teams (product, engineering, content) receive requirements from SEO and execute accordingly.
Advantages:
- Consistent standards and quality control
- Clear accountability for organic performance
- Efficient knowledge sharing within the SEO team
Disadvantages:
- Can become a bottleneck at scale
- SEO may lack context on product/business priorities
- Risk of adversarial relationships ("SEO said no")
Best suited for: Smaller organisations, companies with limited SEO complexity, or where organic is a secondary channel.
Decentralised (embedded) model
SEO specialists are embedded within product or business unit teams. Each vertical or product area has dedicated SEO resource reporting into that team's structure.
Advantages:
- Deep product/business context
- Faster decision-making within teams
- SEO becomes integrated into team culture
Disadvantages:
- Inconsistent standards across teams
- Knowledge silos and duplicated effort
- Career path and development challenges for SEO staff
- Risk of local optimisation at expense of site-wide health
Best suited for: Large organisations with distinct product lines or business units operating semi-independently.
Federated (hub-and-spoke) model
A central SEO team sets strategy, standards, and tooling. Embedded or aligned SEO practitioners in product/content teams handle execution, with dotted-line reporting to the central team.
Advantages:
- Balances consistency with contextual execution
- Central team maintains site-wide view and standards
- Embedded practitioners maintain product context
- Scalable as organisation grows
Disadvantages:
- Requires clear governance to avoid confusion
- Dotted-line reporting can create accountability gaps
- Higher coordination overhead
Best suited for: Mid-to-large organisations with multiple product areas and significant organic dependency.
| Model | Central control | Local context | Scalability | Coordination cost |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Centralised | High | Low | Limited | Low |
| Decentralised | Low | High | High | Medium |
| Federated | Medium | Medium | High | High |
Core roles and responsibilities
SEO leadership
Head of SEO / SEO Director
- Owns organic performance targets and strategy
- Manages SEO team and budget
- Represents SEO in leadership forums
- Accountable for major initiatives (migrations, redesigns)
SEO Manager
- Translates strategy into roadmap and priorities
- Coordinates cross-functional execution
- Manages reporting and stakeholder communication
- Oversees day-to-day team operations
Technical SEO
Technical SEO Specialist / Engineer
- Audits and monitors technical health (crawling, indexing, Core Web Vitals)
- Writes technical requirements and specifications
- Partners with engineering on implementation
- Owns SEO tooling, monitoring, and automation
- Reviews technical changes for SEO impact
Key competencies: HTTP/server fundamentals, HTML/CSS/JavaScript, log analysis, site architecture, structured data, performance optimisation.
Content and on-page SEO
Content SEO Specialist
- Conducts keyword and intent research
- Develops content briefs and guidelines
- Optimises existing content and templates
- Partners with content teams on editorial calendar
- Manages internal linking strategy
Key competencies: Keyword research, search intent analysis, content strategy, information architecture, editorial workflows.
Analytics and reporting
SEO Analyst
- Builds and maintains reporting infrastructure
- Analyses performance trends and anomalies
- Conducts competitive and market analysis
- Supports business cases with data
- Forecasts organic performance
Key competencies: Analytics platforms, data visualisation, SQL/data manipulation, statistical analysis, business communication.
Where SEO sits organisationally
SEO teams are commonly placed within:
Marketing: Most common. Aligns SEO with other acquisition channels. Risk: may lack engineering influence.
Product: Positions SEO as a product discipline. Strong for technical execution. Risk: may be deprioritised against feature work.
Engineering: Ensures technical SEO is treated as infrastructure. Risk: content and commercial aspects may be neglected.
Standalone / CEO-report: Maximum visibility and authority. Risk: isolation from execution teams.
The optimal placement depends on where decisions affecting SEO are made. If the primary constraint is technical implementation, proximity to engineering matters. If the primary constraint is content investment, proximity to marketing/editorial matters.
Operating processes
Integration points
SEO should be represented in decisions affecting:
| Decision type | SEO involvement | Typical forum |
|---|---|---|
| New product/feature launches | Requirements, QA | Product discovery, PRDs |
| Site architecture changes | Requirements, approval | Architecture review |
| URL or redirect changes | Requirements, approval | Change management |
| Template modifications | Requirements, QA | Sprint planning |
| Content creation/modification | Briefs, review | Editorial planning |
| Technical infrastructure changes | Impact assessment | Engineering review |
| Internationalisation | Strategy, requirements | Product planning |
Rituals and cadences
Weekly:
- SEO stand-up or sync (internal team alignment)
- Cross-functional check-ins with product/engineering partners
- Review of active tickets and blockers
Sprint/bi-weekly:
- SEO requirements in sprint planning
- QA and launch reviews for SEO-critical changes
- Backlog grooming and prioritisation
Monthly:
- Performance review (traffic, rankings, conversions, index health)
- Stakeholder reporting and roadmap updates
- Technical health review (crawl stats, log analysis, Core Web Vitals)
Quarterly:
- Strategy review and planning
- Competitive analysis refresh
- OKR/KPI setting and review
Launch and change management
For changes affecting SEO (URL changes, migrations, template modifications, new sections):
- Discovery: SEO consulted on requirements and impact
- Specification: SEO requirements documented in tickets/PRDs
- Implementation: Engineering executes with SEO guidance
- QA: SEO validates implementation pre-launch
- Launch: Coordinated release with monitoring
- Post-launch: Performance monitoring and issue resolution
RACI framework
Define accountability clearly for recurring SEO-impacting activities:
| Activity | SEO | Product | Engineering | Content |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| URL structure changes | A/R | C | R | I |
| Redirect implementation | A | C | R | I |
| Template SEO elements | A/R | C | R | I |
| Content optimisation | A | I | I | R |
| Technical performance | A/R | C | R | I |
| New content creation | C | A | I | R |
| Site migrations | A | C | R | C |
| Structured data | A/R | C | R | I |
R = Responsible (does the work), A = Accountable (owns the outcome), C = Consulted (input required), I = Informed (kept updated)
Governance and standards
Documentation
Maintain living documentation for:
- SEO requirements checklist: Standard requirements for launches and changes
- Technical standards: URL conventions, redirect rules, structured data templates
- Content guidelines: On-page optimisation standards, internal linking rules
- QA procedures: Pre-launch and post-launch verification steps
- Escalation paths: When and how to escalate SEO concerns
Quality gates
Implement checkpoints that prevent SEO-damaging changes:
- Pre-launch QA sign-off for URL-affecting changes
- Automated testing for critical SEO elements (canonicals, robots directives, structured data)
- Monitoring alerts for indexing anomalies or traffic drops
- Post-release validation procedures
Decision rights
Clarify who can make decisions affecting SEO:
| Decision | Authority | Escalation |
|---|---|---|
| Minor on-page changes | Content team | SEO review if structural |
| URL changes | SEO approval required | Head of SEO |
| Redirect rules | SEO approval required | Head of SEO |
| Template modifications | SEO consultation required | Product lead + SEO |
| Site architecture | Joint product/SEO decision | Leadership |
| Migration timing | Joint decision | Leadership |
Scaling considerations
By company stage
Startup / Early stage:
- SEO often handled by generalist marketer or founder
- Focus on foundational technical setup and content strategy
- Outsourcing to agencies or fractional SEO consultants common
Growth stage:
- First dedicated SEO hire (often technical + strategic generalist)
- Establishing processes and cross-functional relationships
- Building internal capability vs. agency dependency
Scale-up:
- Specialised roles emerge (technical, content, analytics)
- Federated model often becomes necessary
- Governance and standards become critical
Enterprise:
- Full SEO organisation with leadership, specialists, analysts
- Complex stakeholder management across business units
- Tooling, automation, and self-service become priorities
Capacity planning
Factors affecting SEO team size:
- Number of indexable pages and rate of change
- Technical complexity (JavaScript rendering, internationalisation, etc.)
- Content production volume
- Number of product teams requiring SEO support
- Dependency of business model on organic traffic
Rough benchmarks (highly variable):
- 1 SEO generalist can support a site with <10,000 pages and limited complexity
- Specialisation typically begins around 50,000+ pages or 3+ product teams
- Large-scale sites (millions of pages) may require 10+ person teams
Common failure modes
SEO as afterthought: Consulted only after decisions are made, leading to costly rework or missed opportunities.
Bottleneck by design: All changes require SEO approval, creating delays and resentment.
Accountability without authority: SEO team is responsible for organic performance but lacks influence over key decisions.
Technical isolation: SEO team lacks engineering literacy or access, unable to diagnose or specify technical requirements.
Content isolation: SEO team lacks editorial influence, unable to affect content strategy or production.
Metric fixation: Organisation optimises for rankings or traffic without connection to business outcomes.
Governance without enforcement: Standards exist but aren't followed; no consequences for non-compliance.
Key takeaways
- Choose the right model: Centralised, decentralised, or federated based on organisation size and complexity
- Define clear roles: Technical, content, and analytical competencies each require focus
- Integrate into workflows: SEO must be present in decisions that affect it, not consulted after the fact
- Establish governance: Standards, quality gates, and decision rights prevent avoidable damage
- Scale appropriately: Team size and structure should match site complexity and organic dependency
Further reading
- Google's SEO Starter Guide
Foundation for cross-functional SEO literacy across teams - How to hire an SEO
Google's guidance on evaluating SEO expertise and engagement models
