The manager’s task is a juggling act, and the more projects you have on your plate, the more challenging it becomes. If you’re not diligent enough to set priorities, things will start falling out from under you.

And, as a manager, you’re probably aware that when deadlines overlap or slip, it’s a ticket to disaster, resulting in a chain reaction of project failure. Unfortunately, when you’re caught up in an avalanche of failures, your company’s rhythm can be disrupted. That’s why learning to manage multiple projects effectively may be critical for you.

Multi-project scheduling is both an art and a science. You need to take into consideration what resources you have, how much time each task will realistically take, the cost of every action, and what could feasibly be done in your situation.

That may sound overwhelming at first, but don’t worry. With the right plan, multi-project scheduling can be manageable rather than a multi-tasking nightmare.

But before we take a look on how to manage multiple projects, let’s identify some of the most common reasons multi-project scheduling fails.

Most common reasons multi-project scheduling fails…

Multi-project management can be quite tricky. More often than not multi-tasking will result in multi-mistakes. The most common multi-project mistakes include:

1) Lack of prioritization

Scheduling can be quite overwhelming. But when you fail to prioritize, things tend to get worse. Without prioritizing your scheduling, you might find yourself doing the tasks that are not important first and neglecting those that require immediate attention.

There’s a difference between multi-tasking and multi-project scheduling.

Multi-tasking means doing multiple activities at the same time. Multi-project scheduling is about deciding which tasks to do first and which to leave for later, so that all of your projects stay on schedule.

2) Poor allocation of resources

Another frequent multi-project blunder is resource allocation. It’s easy to underestimate the resources it will take to complete each milestone. If you’re not careful, you might run out of time or money, or both.

3) Unrealistic deadlines

Deadlines are crucial for multi-project management. That’s why setting unrealistic deadlines is a mistake you don’t want to make. The consequences can be severe, so it’s important to set realistic deadlines that take into consideration the time needed to complete each task.

4) Not keeping yourself updated on project progress

As a manager, it is imperative you stay updated on your active projects progress. When you don’t keep yourself up-to-date, it’s likely that your projects will fail to meet their deadlines or milestones.

5) Scope changes

Changes in the middle of a project can be bad but scope changes can be devastating. A project’s success is based on scopes being established and the project manager having a clear comprehension of what needs to be done. When a project’s scope unexpectedly changes, your team loses faith in you and motivation and efficiency begin to disappear.

6) Not updating multi project schedules

Changes often happen due to factors that are out of your control. That’s why multi-project scheduling needs to be dynamic and ever evolving. If you don’t update multi project schedules when changes happen, you will lose track of how much time is left before deadlines arrive.

Skills to acquire (Overview)…

Multi-project scheduling is not rocket science, but it does require diligence, planning and thoroughness.

How to stay on top of multi-project scheduling at once:

* Prioritize. Each project must have a list of requirements that are important to its success. The importance level helps you determine your schedule for multi-project management tasks.

* Allocate resources. This means estimating what resources you need for each aspect of multi-project management, and then estimating how much time that will take.

* Put deadlines in writing. Without deadlines, multi-project scheduling is just guesswork. And without multi-project scheduling, your projects risk failing or missing out on sales opportunities. You can set up multi-project schedule templates in most multi-project management software programs.

* Keep yourself updated on progress. Set multi-project schedule reminders that’ll help you stay up-to-date on multi project scheduling tasks. This means checking your multi-project schedules every day, first thing in the morning and/or right before you leave for the day.

* Maintain multi-project schedules. The multi-project scheduling tools you choose should make multi project schedule management easy. The multi-project scheduling tool should include reminders that will help you stay on top of multi-project scheduling, assign tasks to team members and monitor their progress.

* Stay alert for changes. It’s risky to assume multi-project scheduling will stay the same. If multi-project scheduling changes, your multi project schedule needs to change too.

7 steps to successfully manage multiple projects at once…

So your business gets momentum and takes on several projects at once. To stay on top of multi-projects and multi-project scheduling you need to do the following:

1. Organize all of your projects in one location.
2. Identify what success looks like for each project.
3. Break down the overarching goal into milestones.
4. Set-aside the work that carries the most impact.
5. Recruit team members to work on tasks.
6. Identify all overlapping work.
7. Finally, create a single project plan for all of your projects.

1. Organize all of your projects in one location.

It’s very easy to lose track of each project, especially if all of your project documents are stored in several locations. That’s why finding a centralized organizational document that gives your teams access to the information they need is imperative.

This can be accomplished in several different ways from a shared google document, which is less professional but doable, or even better utilizing a management software like Teamly. Teamly, centralizes all of your key information in one place, giving you the ability to keep track of each project’s progress.

Just remember, with the right tools your team can access vital project management materials in one spot.

2. Identify what success looks like for each project.

The best way to identify a project’s success is to answer a few questions at the outset.

• When your projects are finished, what will success look like?
• How much did each project cost?
• How long did each project take?

Even if the questions appear to be simple, don’t be fooled. You must plumb into each question thoroughly, including all significant costs such as resources and personnel as well as timelines that include staff vacations.

Once you’ve answered the questions above, your projects should be much easier to manage.

3. Break down the overarching goal into milestones.

Once you’ve nailed down cost estimates and timetables for each project, it’s important to identify clear steps towards where you want to go, this is also known as milestones. Milestones are significant events or stages in project planning.

A milestone is a bigger goal that must be completed before you can continue to the next phase of a project, whereas a task is an action that must be performed in order to complete the milestone.

Note: You definitely want to consider keeping each project plan separate for now. The only thing you are trying to do, at this moment, is get a framework for what each project needs to succeed.

4. Set-aside the work that carries the most impact.

While it may be tempting to start with the simplest tasks first, don’t. Instead, rank them according to which tasks will have the most impact on your company’s objectives.

This is a multi-project scheduling tactic that can’t be stressed enough. You want to always try and get the most impactful tasks done first, this will make it easier to monitor several project schedules.

For example, your team is working on 2 new software product launches. Your software product “A” has a multi-month rollout that will impact the company’s entire sales force. But your software product “B” is a shorter multi-week rollout that will only impact the company’s sales team in your mid-western region.

You should prioritize software product “A” for scheduling purposes, because it could have the most impact. But product “B” cannot be entirely disregarded, since doing so would overlook any potential advantages or hazards involved.

5. Recruit team members to work on tasks.

Once you have a team capable of getting the work done, it’s time to assign them to specific projects or tasks.

In some cases, team members might be working on several projects at once. Especially if the tasks in each project are related. For example if you have a person who oversees all customer service, it’s likely that this person would be involved in various projects such as updating your customer database or training for all customer service staff.

But if you have a skilled programmer that is able to code in multiple languages, splitting up the projects makes it easier for this person to focus on completing specific tasks.

This creates a more efficient system where everyone knows what their responsibilities are and when they need to be completed by. Your team will depend on you keeping them organized in this way, so don’t shirk your responsibility.

It also must be noted that defining clear expectations for team members will help increase your chances of success.

6. Identify all overlapping work.

Sometimes different projects will have to share resources, this is okay as long as you are conscious of the potential problems that could arise.

Otherwise, if overlooked, it can create miscommunication and/or resentment amongst your team members who may feel they’re being overworked.

To avoid these types of issues, try creating a list of all shared tasks that exist between projects. This will help ensure everyone is on the same page about who is doing what, when.

7. Finally, create a single project plan for all of your projects.

Once you have completed steps one to six, it’s time to develop a master plan for each project in one consolidated document/plan. This will make it easier for all parties to keep track of what’s going on and where they need to be.

When you consolidate your project plan, keep in mind that you’ll have to update your tasks as necessary. For example, if one of your projects encounters a setback and needs to be delayed, all of the other projects should be adjusted accordingly.

You can use Teamly to help you stay on top of it all. Teamly allows you to manage your entire team, estimate the duration of their tasks, and stay organized as new tasks are assigned.

It’s an all-in-one management tool that uses the power of technology to help your team collaborate and stay on top of everything.

Developed back in the 1960s, it soon became a widely used technique among project managers. What made it so popular was the combination of two important characteristics – it was simple yet powerful. More importantly, you didn’t have to be an expert to use it!

The technique, known as SWOT analysis, was designed by Albert Humphrey – an American business consultant. Since its creation, SWOT analysis has helped project managers develop an organized list of four critical factors that have an impact on their businesses. Humphrey realized that a successful examination of those factors could help make sound business decisions and assist with project management efforts.

What is SWOT analysis?

SWOT analysis is a technique used to analyze the current situation and come up with a strategic plan.

A thoughtful implementation of this tool allows you to assess areas that work well and identify the pitfalls that need your attention.

SWOT analysis is also a potent process for strategic goal-setting because it helps a team pave a clear path to action.

In this article, you’ll learn about the purpose of SWOT analysis in project management, get helpful tips, and take a specific example to guide your own process of planning.

But first, it’s helpful to learn what SWOT stands for.

What does SWOT stand for?

SWOT analysis involves outlining the Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats of a project, product, or service. Hence, the acronym. Below is an overview of what each means for your strategic plan.

Strengths include any characteristics that make the project likely to succeed (positive work culture, experienced team, unique expertise in a field, hard-to-imitate customer service, etc.). Strengths are integral to your company and give you a competitive advantage by setting your business up for success. As these are internal factors, you have more control over them.

Weaknesses are internal factors that create disadvantages to your business and may hinder a project’s implementation. Typically, these are the areas for improvement. You may find weaknesses in your procedures, systems, use of technology, employee expertise, etc. The good news is – done successfully, the SWOT analysis can help you turn your weaknesses into an operational goal, a hiring plan, or other initiatives.

Opportunities are favorable external factors (outside of your control) that can help you gain an advantage or allow your project to succeed. A recently launched software tool, a special offer, or an easing of covid restrictions – all can be considered to be opportunities you’ll want to use to your benefit. Remember, opportunities are your growth goals.

Threats: These are external factors you can’t directly control. They could harm your project if they were to take place. As with opportunities, threats can be current or future. For example, the Covid pandemic caused massive supply chain disruptions that have posed challenges to workflow, budgeting, delivery, scheduling, employment, and more aspects of project management.

What is SWOT analysis in project management?

If business owners use the SWOT analysis to assess different areas of their companies, project managers use the same tool to identify actionable goals for their projects. Think of it as the first step in planning when you need to account for potential risks, address limitations, and identify the strengths you can rely on.

Who is involved in conducting a SWOT analysis?

To make accurate decisions, you’ll need a precise assessment of all four aspects of your project. Consequently, it’s essential to have a diverse and representative team working on the SWOT analysis. For example, you’ll get better information from a group that includes folks from customer service, sales, and marketing departments than if you involve only the marketing team in this process.

From a project management perspective, it’s vital to collect complete and unbiased information. Questions may arise that aren’t clear enough and require additional input. To ensure nothing is overlooked, you can think of including viewpoints from customers, sponsors, service providers, and other stakeholders, too.

Strategic planning is an important part of project management. When you involve all interested parties, you also promote transparency, collaboration, and teamwork – something you want to maintain across time and projects.

How to do the SWOT analysis?

SWOT analysis starts with identifying and analyzing the forces that affect your project. At this stage, you may want to create a SWOT matrix or a document with four columns to help you with the planning.

Source: Professional Academy

It’s useful to gain an insight into the process steps, so let’s delve in.

• Brainstorm: Great planning starts with creating a systematized view of your current state. Come together with your team and brainstorm a list for each of the four categories above (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats). Ask your teammates to come prepared to share ideas and ask questions.
• Prioritize: Time to organize the factors into a priority list. The most critical points in each section should go first, while the least important ones should be placed at the bottom. Keep all the points from your brainstorming session, but note that you can’t possibly address every single factor on the chart. Prioritization will help to determine which factors need your immediate attention, which ones require your constant input, and which ones can wait up until a more suitable time.
• Create an action plan: Now that you’ve analyzed your strengths and weaknesses as well as outlined the opportunities and threats, it’s time to create your action plan. A carefully boiled-down SWOT plan is the best way to balance priorities and give you a good starting point in managing your project.
• Review and assess: Although a SWOT analysis is part of your strategic planning and won’t be subject to constant changes, there are certain things you’ll have to watch out for. If you’re performing a SWOT analysis in project management, review the analysis after the project is complete. Maybe you weren’t successful at mitigating some of the threats. Maybe some weaknesses have changed into strengths! Recognize those changes and use them to your advantage.

A pro tip before we proceed: researchers Laurence Minsky and David Aron have found that it’s more effective to start with the external factors: you first collect information about opportunities and threats and only then turn to the internal ones.

A SWOT project management example

Time to put everything into practice.

Let’s suppose you’re trying to develop a SWOT analysis for your next marketing project for your jewelry brand. Your competitor has introduced a new product to the market that’s outperforming your own.

Here’s your completed SWOT matrix after the brainstorming session:

Strengths

• You have people with unique expertise in traditional design.
• You have a good reputation in the marketplace.
• You offer top-class customer service.
• You have good technology.
• You have a good location in the city center that draws in foot traffic.
• Your product stands out with its unique traditional design.
• You effectively use social media channels to generate buzz about your brand.

Weaknesses

• Your website visibility is low due to a lack of budget.
• You can’t handle too many projects at a time; tight deadlines are always a challenge for your team.
• You lack funding to launch a big, conceptually complete product.
• Underused option of online ordering.

Opportunities

• Your competitor is not as effective on social media as you are.
• There is an untapped market targeting women over age 50.
• The jewelry industry is expected to grow in the upcoming 2-3 years because of local events and festivals. A good presence by the time these events start could help to expand the brand’s reach among locals and tourists.

Threats

• The competitor’s product is out there, and you can’t take it away!
• You have team members who are basically irreplaceable. You can’t lose them.
• Due to the evolving covid situation, you may (again) witness supply chain disruptions.
• Supply chain disruptions may also affect raw material prices.
• The competitor may copy or imitate the design.
• There can be new competitors coming into the market.

Congratulations! The brainstorming session has been quite effective! Project SWOT analysis examples like this should help you build on your strengths, reinforce your weaknesses, invest in opportunities, and keep track of the threats.

The action plan for your project

Be careful. The SWOT analysis is not your plan; you’re going to use the SWOT analysis to create the action plan for your project. Based on the analysis above, we proceed with creating the action plan. Here’s an example:

• To invest in a new product line targeting women over age 50.
• To run a patent for colors and ornaments before releasing the product line.
• Meet with department stakeholders to explore the opportunities of obtaining capital from interested investors.
• Build relationships with distributors to mitigate the risk of supply chain disruptions.
• Use a brand face for the new product line.
• Run ad campaigns on Facebook and Instagram.
• Attend an upcoming fashion and design conference to get inspiration and fresh ideas.

That’s it. Your team is now ready to go!

The competition for winning Google’s heart is fierce.

More and more companies are investing in search engine optimization (SEO). And there is a good reason why. In fact, research shows that in 93 percent of cases, people start their online experiences with a search engine. Obviously, if companies manage to please Google, they boost their online presence and increase their profits.

If you’re searching for helpful tips to carry out a successful SEO campaign, most probably your first question is: “How do I manage SEO projects so that I can beat my competitors more easily?”

The answer is straightforward: you should incorporate project management techniques into the execution of your SEO campaigns. By doing so, you complete projects faster and achieve results with higher precision and efficiency.

What is SEO project management?

SEO project management is the planning, coordination, and monitoring of any project related to SEO.

The use of project management in SEO may not be self-evident, but project management is a large and crucial part of effective SEO campaigns.

With so much happening simultaneously, it’s easy to get lost in the weeds. Just think about it. You need to connect teams and maintain full visibility across all aspects of the project while at the same time being crammed with minor tasks.
When you have project management for SEO, you bring much-needed structure and organization into your day-to-day activities.
Fine-tuning the processes enables your team to work within a set scope and access resources in a systematized way. This ensures proper management of your search engine optimization efforts and maximizes the results.

In a nutshell, project management for SEO means that you and your team can prioritize effectively, communicate better, and take the project to its successful completion.

What does an SEO project entail?

In essence, SEO entails three main tasks:

• Handling the technical side of the website
• Creating content
• Acquiring links

On the more detailed side of it, an SEO project encompasses several crucial tasks: content strategy, keyword research, content creation, link-building, content optimization, strategic outreach for backlink opportunities, competitive analysis, and more. Beyond that, you need to take care of website analysis, technical SEO audit, UX design, etc. In other words, your SEO campaign covers all of the different factors that boost your online presence in search engine rankings. Exploring different methods to get backlinks is a pivotal aspect of enhancing your SEO strategy, offering diverse avenues to strengthen your online authority.

The role of the project manager in SEO project management

It’s the SEO project manager’s responsibility to oversee the entire process of implementing SEO efforts. They should have the skills to set clear goals, assign tasks correctly, and keep the communication flowing across teams and departments.

Deep technical knowledge in SEO is desirable but not mandatory given that the project manager is aware of the SEO best practices and can monitor the process effectively. They should see the bigger picture of the project and ensure teams can focus on their specific tasks. Knowledge and skills in using SEO tools and project management software are also essential.

Knowing how to manage SEO projects means mastering the art of communication and prioritization. Effective project management keeps all relevant stakeholders in the know and identifies the top priority tasks at the moment.

Who else is involved in SEO project management?

It’s your SEO team who shoulders the responsibility of overseeing SEO projects. But they aren’t the only ones involved. Depending on the project requirements, you’ll most probably have to engage the marketing and web development teams as well. These teams don’t and shouldn’t work in isolation; completing the simplest task may require their orchestrated effort. For example, if a website redesign causes technical issues, it’ll hinder any further marketing or SEO efforts.

With so many stakeholders involved, how to manage SEO projects effectively?

How to manage SEO projects like a pro

Step 1: Set your goals

We wish we could have it done all at once. But the path to staggering success isn’t an easy one, and it starts with setting actionable goals.

Outline your targets and then develop an SEO strategy that’ll help you get there. The targets should be broken down into tasks and subtasks. Start by answering the questions below:

• What’s the number of site visitors you expect per month?
• When do you anticipate seeing the first results?
• Which keywords do you aim to rank for on Google (or other platforms)?
• How do you define a ‘good’ conversion rate (i.e., how many people should make a purchase after visiting your website)?
• How many backlinks do you want to secure by the end of the quarter/year?
• Do you have existing blog posts you want to boost traffic for? By what percentage?

The list, of course, may go on, but the takeaway is that you should set measurable metrics to give you a clear vision in your SEO project management. Beyond everything, this will ease the process of tracking and reporting later on.

Furthermore, you may also want to answer the question: how do these metrics align with my business priorities or the client’s requirements?

Some of your priorities might be: attracting more leads, building a strong online reputation, acquiring repeat visitors, or increasing brand awareness. Always ask yourself how to manage SEO projects so that today’s task brings you closer to achieving the bigger objectives.

At this point, you can already design the tactics that’ll help you walk towards your end goal. Some of those tactics could be:

• Optimizing and restructuring the already published content,
• Using strategically chosen keywords that are focused on one specific aspect (for example, to yield conversions),
• Simplifying the website and making it user-friendly,
• Redesigning the entire website (on the backend, this means optimizing and cleaning up HTML and CSS codes),
• Focusing on a link-building campaign.

Step 2: Bring in the right tools

Gone are the days of scattered spreadsheets and project management via email alone. Acquiring the right tools to pull off the SEO project can take a lot of stress out of your coordinating efforts.

SEO tools will open the doors to valuable data, help you build your linking strategies (both internal and external), collect information about broken pages, etc. And, by the way, when it comes to bragging about the hard-earned results, you can use the insights those tools have provided to show evidence for your work.

But how do you choose the right SEO tools? What are some of the criteria you should consider?

Keep in mind that there are no good or bad tools. It all depends on the type and size of your project and what specific needs your project has. Do your own research to find the perfect fit. Here are a few aspects you should look into when evaluating SEO project tools:

• Having an intuitive and user-friendly design.
• Offering custom workflows. These workflows can automatically assign a team member based on the task’s status.
• Giving an option for various permissions. Stakeholders may want to keep an eye on the project without active participation in it. A platform with different permission levels should be quite handy in this case.
• Offering file storage and organization. Make sure the tool allows you not only to collect information (which you’ll do intensively), but also to categorize and store them in an easy-to-access format.

Step 3: Specify roles and responsibilities

It’s time to figure out how to distribute tasks.

Part of being a successful SEO project manager is keeping all stakeholders in the loop and distributing tasks smartly. Your marketing team, outreach managers, IT specialists – everyone should have clearly defined responsibilities. You may even need to engage your legal team to ensure no efforts backfire because of compliance issues.

Train and educate everyone about SEO. Let them know what SEO is and is not so that your team can communicate more effectively with the clients and customers. For example, you might want to make it clear that SEO is a long-term competition. You don’t want to complete a single sprint; you aim to win the marathon.

Step 4: Communicate early and often

Seamless internal communication is key to SEO project management. Be open and cooperative. Your team members should have open channels to ask questions, request information, and share feedback. You’re never guaranteed from unexpected issues. You can, therefore, set up 10-minute daily meetings to discuss tasks and make sure everyone is on track.

Good communication is also the best way to understand what your stakeholders want. If you’re doing an SEO project for your client, you should also have processes to check, fix or revise something upon the client’s request. It’s helpful to ask them (and do it upfront) what their communication preferences are. The more specific the communication process, the smoother the project will run.

Step 5: Validate before launching

Take this scenario. Closer to the end of the SEO project, you or your client aren’t sure about the effects of SEO changes and need more input to move on. How do you proceed from here?

Not to mess it up, set up a validation process. Ask for early tests before proceeding to launch. You can also run a pilot project on one area of the website to test and confirm the effectiveness of the campaign.

For a seamless validation process in SEO project management, share checklists, Q&A, and cheat sheets to facilitate the approval of any new development. It’s also helpful to create short, to-the-point recommendations targeting a specific team or a single aspect of the campaign. Remember that no one reads long pages; create something that your people can read and implement.

For instance, you may decide to share a word document with your content writers, detailing the dos and don’ts of what you’re looking for in the final blog post. Anything related to the style and voice of writing, usage of internal and external links, certain things you want the writers to avoid or concentrate on should go into this document.

Step 6: Measure and report the results

Did your SEO strategy work?

To answer this question, you’ll need to collect information that’s accurate, valuable, and easy to understand. Some of the things you should keep an eye on are: monitoring organic traffic, tracking indexed pages, checking conversions, reviewing ROI, and assessing your rankings on SERPs.

The data will also pinpoint the areas for improvement. Once you’ve analyzed the performance of the SEO plan, you’ll be able to make adjustments to improve results and processes. By the way, it’s not only about discovering what went wrong; something can perform better than expected! That’s also something you should take into account and explore further.

Those who have years of expertise in how to manage SEO projects will attest that proper reporting also creates a sense of accountability and enables you to provide recognition and rewards whenever possible.

Step 7: Collect constant feedback

Even after the project is finished, you’re not done. SEO simply never stops. It’s evolving, thus urging you to constantly refine and revise your strategies.

To make matters worse, Google seems to be constantly busy launching new changes and updating its tactics for ranking content. Marketers and business owners have no other choice but to adapt. To stay on top of these revisions, make sure you have the latest information about the fundamentals of content creation, technical SEO updates, strategies for acquiring backlinks, and much more.

Challenges in SEO project management

Even if you’re equipped with skills, knowledge, and expertise to properly follow all of the above-mentioned steps, case studies indicate that sooner or later, you’re going to face issues. Read on to be informed about potential hurdles on the path to SEO project completion.

1. Creative (and unmanageable) team members

The content your team creates for SEO campaigns should be unique and creative. Yes, unique and creative. But these are also the qualities of the team who produces the content! Wait. Is it a boon or a bane?

Does your arts and design team respect deadlines? How do you persuade your designers and writers that creativity should go hand in hand with discipline?

The solution: First and foremost, you should have the timeline approved beforehand and make sure everyone follows the set deadlines. Despite the challenges, remember that creative workers are rare to find and are increasingly in demand. It’s smart to be patient and search for solutions to keep them motivated and engaged.

2. Rewarding team members can be difficult

One of the challenges of SEO project management is that SEO is a collective effort and requires a number of interdependent tasks for tangible results.

Therefore, sometimes it’s difficult to attribute a certain result to a certain action. This creates challenges when you want to reward certain team members for their efforts.

The solution: An effective solution is to recognize everyone’s input in the project. By doing so, you’ll create an atmosphere of trust and camaraderie.

3. Lack of knowledge about SEO

Inadequate knowledge about SEO and how it works can be quite a feat.

Aside from learning how to manage SEO projects effectively, you might also need to educate all parties about SEO.

Let’s take an example of you managing an SEO project for a client. Firstly, you should have a clear roadmap of what you can deliver in a given timeframe. For instance, it’s not possible to simply add keywords to a website and expect to immediately rank number one on Google. It’s not possible even if the client expects you to do exactly that.

Secondly, you can’t achieve reasonable results for SEO if your client doesn’t want to invest time and effort into their overall marketing strategy.

Furthermore, no one can give your client high ranking and tons of organic traffic through easy solutions. Successful SEO campaigns are, as a rule, carefully planned, meticulously executed, and thoroughly monitored. There are best practices, but no easy shortcuts in SEO.

Finally, your client should be present and take part in the process; continuous collaboration is important to achieve desirable results.

The solution: If needed, educate your clients about what SEO strategies you’ll implement and why. Clients will appreciate your thoroughness and will see that your services add value to their business. For instance, explain why you need to make an update on their website. Tell them that there is a new Google release, so you need to do an additional review. Rest assured that they’ll show gratitude for keeping them up-to-date with industry changes.

4. Lack of visibility for clients

Issues may also pop up because your team or your clients don’t have enough access to the SEO project plan, its execution, and monitoring.

The solution: Take the guesswork out of the process and keep all stakeholders informed about what you’re currently working on. Send them performance reports, quick summaries of what has been accomplished, and an outline of the next steps. By the way, that’s why it’s so important to set up an effective communication process right from the very beginning.

5. It takes time to show results

No secret that SEO is a lengthy process.

It may take 4-12 months for SEO to materialize. For high-competition keywords, the waiting time may even stretch to a few years.

The solution: Have a proper measuring and reporting system to track the progress and assess the overall efficiency of the project results. Despite the set goals, think long-term and remember that you need to win the marathon, not a single sprint.

6. Staying up-to-date on what Google wants

Google has more than 200 ranking factors against which each webpage is assessed. And these ranking factors are subject to frequent changes and refinements. One of the challenges of SEO project management is to stay up-to-speed with all of these changes and be flexible to make adjustments while the project is in progress.

The solution: Adopt a new habit. Try to stay on top of best practices in the industry. Luckily, you’ll find multiple online resources to keep at hand and consult periodically.

Takeaways

Managing SEO projects is not about acquiring cheap traffic.

It’s your commitment to creating an online presence that appeals to people and forces them to come back again and again. Eventually, it’s about propelling brand awareness, protecting your brand reputation, and gaining a strategic advantage in the market.

SEO project management is part of your business and marketing strategy; the more visionary and substantiated your strategy, the better your chances to make Google fall in love with you.

Updating and perfecting your marketing project management strategies and standards has become an essential aspect of any business. We live in a world that’s become dominated by the internet, drastically changing the marketing landscape. With the rise of social media marketing, and brick and mortar stores remaining steadfast, marketing projects look increasingly different and must be meticulously planned to get the desired results.

In order to stand out in the saturated marketplace, companies are redefining project management for marketers. But what does that look like?

What Is Marketing Project Management?

Marketing project management is essentially the framework a marketing team follows for the successful completion of their marketing projects. This framework relies on a strong marketing manager to oversee and effectively organize the marketing strategies their team is using. The framework a marketing team follows will aim to ensure that the project is completed on time, within the assigned budget, and make sure all product goals are met. Project management for marketing can vary depending on the methodology the managing team has adopted, and on the management tools they use (more on that later).

Why Is Project Management For Marketers Important?

The quality of a marketing team’s project manager will ultimately determine the success of the marketing efforts. They will keep the marketing projects within predetermined bounds, making sure budgets are not exceeded and goals are met.

A strong project manager will be up to date on current trends and marketing practices and will implement them in their team’s marketing projects as they arise. This is an essential skill marketing project managers should have. In the modern marketing world, trends change quickly. If the project manager is unaware of the current hot marketing tactics, a project can struggle to meet its expected goals.

When a marketing project manager is involved and highly knowledgeable of the changing marketing strategies, their projects will find higher rates of success and be more profitable.

Benefits Of Marketing Project Management

A strong marketing manager will positively influence their teams and projects in many ways. While benefits can vary based on the project and the skill of the manager, there are a few that are most commonly experienced among marketing team members:

• Easier Collaboration Opportunities

  When a project team is led by a knowledgeable marketing manager, they are provided with more collaboration opportunities. Marketing involves a variety of different roles that all must work together to be successful. Encouraging collaboration between these departments and individual roles is essential.

• Better Team Coordination

  As a marketing project manager, it is your job to guide your team through each step of the project. This requires you to have a solid working knowledge of all project requirements and foundational processes your company utilizes. When your team members know what to expect as the project progresses, they will be better able to coordinate their efforts with those of the team. This will also help them align their specific tasks within the project timeline.

• Increased Efficiency

  A project that is created through the lens of a marketing project manager, is influenced by specific expectations that are predetermined based on the current marketing climate. A well-informed marketing manager will be aware of these and plan according to them as they design the project with their team. These factors increase project efficiency because guiding factors are implemented by the marketing manager before in-depth planning begins.

• More Advanced Project Planning

  There are many ways a marketing manager can plan a project. Marketing managers provide a specialized outlook on projects and can help create more in-depth project outlines directly related to current marketing strategies.

  A project is only as successful as the planning done before it begins. When managers ensure intricate planning and scheduling are in place, they can be confident their project will find success. This can be done using online tools (see below), through physical strategy boards in-office, or a mix of both. However you plan your projects, the more detailed you can be in your processes, task descriptions and assignment, and overall strategic approach, you’ll find it reflected in the success of your project.

5 Essential Steps For Managing Your Marketing Projects

When you take on any new marketing project, there are some vital steps that take place. Typically, there are five main stages of a project which can be more or less intricate depending on each one.

1. Define Your Marketing Goals Clearly

   What does success look like for this project? Before you can begin planning your project and breaking it down into individual tasks, you need to determine and define its overarching goal. Often these main goals are agreed upon and defined by the key stakeholders of the project. Once this has been done, marketing managers will then break those goals down into smaller project goals for their team to work towards during the project lifetime.

2. Plan The Project

   Before intricate planning can begin, there are a variety of aspects that must be determined first. The most notable are:

   • Identifying project deliverables (ie. what you’re producing, such as a specific campaign)
   • Agreeing on budgets
   • The breakdown of the project into individual tasks, often working backward from the overall deliverables
   • Assigning tasks to team members best suited to complete them. (Consider individual skill sets, and let the members of your teamwork within their most confident areas)
   • Estimate of the project scope. An accurate estimate will help you avoid completing more work than is needed, creating a more efficient plan

   Using these guiding factors to create your project plan will help you make more informed decisions and outlines. This is essential in ensuring your project stays within the budget assigned. Use this information to create a project schedule in line with the agreed-upon end date for deliverables.

   During this stage, break the project up into milestones for your team to meet so that you can measure the progress of your project as it is being completed. This will help you ensure it is on schedule and intervene if it begins falling behind schedule at any stage.

   

3. Execute Your Plan

   Assign the tasks you and your team decided upon in the previous stage and provide access to the required resources. Support your team in creating the deliverables and publishing the marketing materials once they are completed and have passed the editorial process.

   This support is crucial to your team’s success in finishing a highly proficient project. Prioritizing your team’s needs promotes a healthy workplace, drives up performance, and creates a more capable team altogether.

4. Monitor And Respond To Red Flags

   Once the project has been launched, you will have to closely monitor its progress. This will require asking for feedback from your team regarding their task completion. Manage any problematic areas that begin to form, and create any secondary steps to rectify those problems as needed.

   Your team will be a valuable asset to identifying and managing any risks that come up throughout the process. Hold regular meetings and encourage your staff to share any areas of concern, discuss any unforeseen problems that may arise, and brainstorm how you can improve all aspects being brought forward.

5. Review And Measure

   Review the final project and measure its successes using your predetermined KPIs. By doing this, you will be able to create better processes for future projects and assess the overall success of your project. Your KPIs will highlight the weaker areas of the project while identifying its strengths as well. This gives you the opportunity to recognize those tasks that were completed exceptionally well, and take note of those involved in making them so impactful. This project feedback will help you determine the quality of your team’s performance and yours as well, which creates an opportunity for professional reflection and growth. This is an important factor to any project and is an essential part of your team’s success in future assignments.

Top 10 Marketing Project Management Tips

Knowing how to run an effective marketing project is vital to its success. While going through the motions will certainly get you to the finish line eventually, there are a few things you can do to enhance your project management style.

If you’re looking to optimize your existing processes, create a more efficient system, and make your next marketing project a huge success, try including a few (or all) of these tips in your next marketing project.

1. Use A Professional Management Tool

   Including a professional online management tool can completely change the productivity and efficiency potential of your team.

   While offline management software can allow you to oversee your team from one standalone application, the functionality and accessibility of an online management tool goes beyond that. These tools provide you with a versatile way to connect and manage your team all from one place, with some even offering downloadable software and device applications as well. This means both you and your team can access the project and connect with each other from any place and through any device. Online project management tools are the best option in the modern world where remote teams are growing in popularity.

   The features and benefits of these online tools can vary based on which service you choose to use. Therefore, it’s important to carefully consider what types of support would be most valuable to both you and your team.

   While there are many online management tools on the market, some of the most valuable features they may offer, include:

   • Task management tools, such as task assignment, outline creation, review and revision requests, and tracking capabilities
   • Timeline planning for individual projects
   • Direct access to team members both individually and collectively
   • Tools to create a visual workflow for your team to easily follow and refer to throughout a project lifetime
   • The ability to set specific reminders to make sure deadlines do not go unmet
   • Collaboration tools to allow your team to connect, gather, share, and track necessary information about the project

   Adding an online management tool can make team management easy from start to finish, whether you’re in the office or working remotely.

   

2. Use The SMART Goal Setting Method

   Goal setting is an important step in any project planning process. One of the best ways to create strong, effective goals is by using the SMART goal setting method. When marketing project managers use this method to break down their project goals, they are better able to visualize their needs and have a high likelihood of finding success.

   SMART goals are:

   S: Specific
   M: Measurable
   A: Achievable
   R: Relevant
   T: Time-Bound

   SMART goals make it easy for you to define your goals in more clear terms, while also taking steps to make sure they are within your reach.

3. Monitor Task Completion Closely

   As a marketing project manager, it’s important to track the progress of tasks throughout the lifetime of the project. Monitoring the individual aspects of the progress of your project is crucial to its success. This will help identify any problems your project may face in real-time, so you can manage them before they become larger and more complex to navigate.

   Monitoring your team’s task progress also provides you with a way to hold each member accountable throughout the project. When any particular task is falling behind schedule, you’ll be able to connect with that person and support them in completing it. This will help you guide your staff and create natural learning opportunities, making your team stronger and more capable over the course of the project.

4. Include Your Team In Planning The Project

   Team inclusivity is essential for a project to exceed expectations. Involving your team in the planning process and decision-making is beneficial in a variety of ways. Managers who do this have found that it leads to higher levels of productivity and a happier work environment all around. This occurs because team members feel appreciated, valued, and understood when they are invited to participate in the foundational building of a project they are being asked to work on.

   Including everyone in the project planning also provides an opportunity for a broader range of perspectives. This helps you create a more balanced and highly skilled final product that finds greater success. Additionally, including brainstorming sessions with your team can result in reduced project costs and create a more efficient schedule. This happens when everyone on your team has a chance to give their opinions, helping collaborative opportunities be discovered through similar tasks being highlighted, and skill sets being combined to maximize efficiency.

5. Design And Test Different Workflows

   The workflows you adopt throughout a project will depend heavily on the complexity of tasks. For projects that have recurring aspects, create a specific workflow to manage those tasks quickly and efficiently. By creating different workflows to implement and test, you’ll be able to perfect a step-by-step system to manage your regularly occurring tasks with ease. This will help you move through them faster and refocus your attention and energy on more important aspects of the project.

   

6. Find The Best Methodology For Your Marketing Project

   The methodology you choose to work with will depend on your management style and the type of project you’ll be working on. There are four main methodologies that marketing project managers implement.

   • The Agile Methodology
     • One of the most popular in the modern marketing world
     • Breaks a project into specific stages
     • Prioritizes collaboration between stakeholders and teams
     • Is a progressive model that continually develops, becoming more refined over time
     • Often used in long-term projects
     • Best for inbound and online marketing projects

    

   • The Scrum Methodology
     • Focuses on the deliverables of a project, and prioritizes them based on importance
     • Uses a hierarchy system ensuring the highest priority items are delivered first before moving onto anything considered less important
     • Often used for projects with set schedules and deadlines
     • Best for product marketing and B2B projects

    

   • The Waterfall Methodology
     • One of the most classic project management methodologies in marketing
     • Sequential in nature. Each task naturally leads into the next ones until the project is completed
     • Usually provides all deliverables at one time, unlike scrum or agile
     • Often has a deadline that is far in the future
     • Best for projects that experience a less radical change in their strategies requirements, such as in-store marketing

    

   • A Hybrid Methodology
     • This methodology is exactly as it sounds; a mix of those methods above to meet the specific needs of a marketing project
     • Ideal for teams in need of more flexibility in their approach
     • Promotes taking the best aspects of one method and including it with another
     • Best for content and brand marketing

       

    

7. Start Making Project Templates (And Make Them Easily Accessible)

   Templates are becoming more and more popular as the marketing landscape evolves. Templates can be helpful in streamlining processes for future projects and can be used as many times as they’re needed, creating greater efficiency. Many existing workflows can be repurposed for other projects, which can make the planning process quicker and easier.

   When creating your templates, ensure you include a variety of styles so that you can utilize them no matter what type of project you are managing. This will reduce your planning time for new projects. You’ll be able to easily input the essential information of your project into the template and begin the project in a shorter time. This will make your planning process easier, less stressful, and less time-consuming. It also will increase productivity and boost your production rates, allowing more projects to be done in a fraction of the time previously needed.

8. Respond To Feedback Requests Quickly

   As a marketing project manager, you will be required to verify and provide feedback throughout the project, and it may not always come at the most ideal times.

   When feedback on aspects of the project is requested, it’s important to provide it within a timely manner. When you delay your feedback, your team can’t continue with that specific piece of the project. If this is done regularly throughout the project lifetime, it can set the project back and lead to a missed deadline, or a final project being produced that wasn’t verified by you.

   Feedback can be as easy as telling your team that you’re pleased with what they’ve sent over, and giving them permission to continue on with it. Immediate response isn’t necessary or feasible at times. However, getting that feedback to your team as soon as you can is essential to your marketing project’s success.

   

9. Create An Ideal Consumer Profile

   Creating an ideal consumer profile can be a highly beneficial tool in your marketing efforts. When done correctly, this will provide a clear understanding to your team about who they are reaching out to through this project. Include things like the ideal consumer’s age, demographic, income range, and style.

   While that’s a good starting point, you can go even deeper with it to reap more benefits. Imagine one singular person as the ideal consumer. Make a mock-up of who this person is. Give them a name. Detail what kind of car they drive, what their lifestyle would look like, how will they find you, and what struggles they may be facing that directly relate to your marketing project. This will help you zero in on your project from a secondary perspective, and help you lead your team into creating a final marketing project that speaks directly to the ideal consumer.

10. Include Risk Management In Your Project Schedule

    Risk management is an important part of any project. There are always risks that projects will be susceptible to, so it’s important to carefully consider them and strategize accordingly.

    During the planning stage of your project, make a list of the potential risks you could face, along with when they would begin to show up in the project timeline. Add each one into your project schedule so that they remain on your radar and your team is aware of when to begin watching for them to occur. This will help you actively track their occurrence rates and be ready to manage them immediately if needed.

    During this planning, include action steps on how to handle these risks should they arise. Include these as a note in the scheduled risk. This will ensure everyone knows both what they are looking for, and exactly how to manage it if it happens.

    When you include risk management and planning in your project strategy, you’ll be better able to keep your project on track and meet all your goals by being proactive.