Comments on: Why all web developers should learn SEO

By: Dave Malone

Dave Malone — Fri, 29 Apr 2011 07:48:23 +0000

Yea, because even a “decent” web developer doesn’t have enough on their plate in order to keep up with in an ever-evolving IT world, having to design for mobile, cross platform, cross browser, designing for usability, information architecture, and keeping up with all of the latest trends in everything else… Now lets talk about programmers that are also involved in the aspect of designing and developing the web front end. Their responsibilities are even more extensive. I agree that it doesn’t hurt to understand SEO concepts, but it’s truly the responsibility of the Marketing team to come on board, work side by side with the devs when creating the website, and tell the devs what the business wants to achieve with the website, what kinds of terms they actually hope to rank for, and how to optimize the site for search engines and the kind of organic traffic that marketing wants to achieve. This article hits the nail on the head – SEO is a set of tasks, 50-100 items long, which can help the website rank better in search engines. But, as a web developer, I’m not going to sit back and dream up what the business hopes to rank for, and, more importantly, I should be concerned with the technical solution. How can I design and develop an app which enables the marketing team to publish their content, sell their products, AND allow the marketing team to make SEO changes without having to bug me every time they want to change the title, meta tags, header tags, and site content, so that the marketing and SEO team can do their jobs. The real reason why this doesn’t get done sometimes? Because corporations, in all of their short-sighted wisdom, like to cut budgets in areas they don’t feel are as important up front. Or, because a project is horribly managed, and ends up going over budget, past due, and then cuts are made even in necessary areas of the project just to try to rush it out the door.
No, a good developer has a lot more to be worried about than learning how to do someone else’s job. It’s the developers job to implement the site according to the business specifications. If the business can’t step up and identify their own business and marketing strategies accordingly, then it’s their own fault.

By: g1smd

g1smd — Thu, 28 Apr 2011 06:24:40 +0000

Great post! Glad I suggested it now, the two complement each other very well.

By: Bradley Gauthier

Bradley Gauthier — Wed, 27 Apr 2011 14:24:35 +0000

absolutely! I hire my programmers based on their SEO experience.
It pretty much should be a prerequisite for a higher-waged developer. These days it seems anyone can pick up a book and learn how to toss up a website. But with so many options for decent designers, they’ve got to realize SEO knowledge will be a huge factor in hireability going forward.
Right on Ian, another great post!

By: Sarah carling

Sarah carling — Wed, 27 Apr 2011 12:32:29 +0000

This article really helped me to put the ‘SEO’s should learn to program’ post into perspective. In both cases if you had said ‘X needs to understand and have some comprehension of Y’ I think I would have agreed completely. However to say ‘X needs to learn Y’ suggests that Devs should be able to do SEO without using an SEO professional and vice versa, and I’m pretty sure we have all seen the mess that happens when a professional in one industry pretends to be a professional in another.
In programming especially I liken this to my understanding of french, I can order from a menu and read some road signs, enough to get along, but don’t ask me to converse…that’s pretty much my comprehension level of programming too

By: Andrew Shotland

Andrew Shotland — Wed, 27 Apr 2011 12:08:49 +0000

Too true!
I often compare SEO consulting assignments to going on a blind date with engineers. Some you click with instantly, but some have already decided you’re a jerk before you even show up.
Having a basic understanding of SEO can go a long way to making these dates more productive and enjoyable.