El Nacional takes a whole-company approach to SEO

By Ijeoma S. Nwatu

INMA

Baltimore, Maryland, United States

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It was only a matter of time before fútbol took center stage — and that it did in Clara Soteras’ SEO presentation during the recent INMA Latin-American Conference.

Soteras serves as head of SEO and product at the Spain-based media company El Nacional. Her presentation served as a guide to building the best team to think, plan, and execute SEO organisation-wide. From offensive to defensive players, there is space and roles for each team member to play to maximise the benefits and fringe opportunities of SEO. 

In her opening, Soteras shared that Google continues to dominate the market share in terms of search and browser usage: “Organic traffic can represent 30% of all Web traffic.”

This represents a lot of opportunity for media brands. According to Soteras, Nacional receives a healthy amount of traffic from Google Discover, an app that showcases news stories from around the world based on a user’s interests. “We have to pay a lot of attention to it,” Soteras said.

Google Discover has increased its presence in Latin America and has seen more growth compared to Google Search and Google News, based on data from 400 newsrooms throughout Latin America. 

When thinking about SEO and training staff, Soteras said, “It is essential. It’s very important to have a strong, journalistic capacity. This is the center of the tactics, this is the strategy.”

Clara Soteras, head of SEO and product at Spain's El Nacional, said journalists are the center of the company's SEO strategy.
Clara Soteras, head of SEO and product at Spain's El Nacional, said journalists are the center of the company's SEO strategy.

The journalists are at the center of the field, helping to form the strategy and maintain journalistic integrity. They create the product, the news articles, and stories. 

There are two types of journalists — the forward players (investigative journalists, etc.) and defensive players (those who focus on lifestyle and design), Soteras said: “They are indispensable. Without them, there would be no game.”

The section managers are the midfielders, helping to move the game and deciding the coverage of certain stories based on their editorial experience. “For example, he knows the best breaking news of the moment,” she said.

Defensive midfielders are the SEO professionals. They offer guidelines regarding content coordination and what’s best for the needs of the newsroom, particularly as it relates to visibility. The SEO team works in real-time alongside journalists, “proposing tactics and strategies.”

Where should an SEO team focus?

Soteras explained the newsroom focuses on mobile traffic because that’s where most of the traffic comes from. In addition to the mobile perspective, they also look at events, breaking news and trends, etc. 

The final “play” of the game is coming together and involves other players on the side, such as community managers who put the final touches on social media content to maximise sharing. In addition to creating shareable content to its community, El Nacional’s strategy involves engaging a newer, younger audience while earning from increased views and engagement.

The defense side of the newsroom is all about data: “We can find in real-time how the analytics and data tools are working as well as how they are being consumed by our audience.”  

Soteras also highlighted the editorial component of the newsroom’s impact, however the focus is audience engagement and traffic. For example, Soteras asked: “What article is going to go on the front page? What are our users engaged in right now?” 

Analytics serve as not only a guide but a measurement as to what content needs prioritisation, in addition to whether or not a strategy needs adjustment. 

The “goalkeeper” of the team is ‘“responsible for embracing the new changes and the modifications that come into place. The goalkeeper is the person who has the whole view from the field.” That viewpoint is essential in directing editorial decisions and goals, globally and otherwise. 

In thinking about ancillary players, Soteras references other journalists as allies, similar to backup players who remain ready to play. One way Soteras uses these types of journalists is by considering the types of news they deliver and the unique perspectives they can bring. 

Last but not least is the chief digital officer, who serves as the trainer of the team. This role is multifaceted because it requires an understanding of marketing, editorial operations, technical tools, business goals, and more. The chief digital officer has to have the knowledge and capacity to offer training and expertise. Their leadership will inform a business.

How to win the digital game

Scoring points is not enough for Soteras and her team. Winning is what counts though it’s too early to say what winning will look like due to the influx and impact of Artificial intelligence (AI) on newsrooms. According to Soteras, Google has not provided clarity on how it will measure or account for AI content. Ultimately, El Nacioinal is positioning itself to have top stories and breaking news as well as appearing in Google Discover. 

To get the ball from one end of the field to the other, you need movement. 

Similar to how a story starts off as an idea, how it's written by a journalist or team of writers and later a draft is submitted for editorial review and SEO revision, Soteras said: “What are the titles we have to put what are the words that have to be in this article so that it makes it so that it reaches the audience we want it to reach?” 

The content then moves to the social and design teams who add their audiovisual elements and supportive links.

Then, the sharing process takes shape with the goal of using resources to circulate the news. 

Based on the article’s circulation and performance, Soteras and her team can identify whether or not a follow-up or parallel news article needs to be written to further the amplification of a particular news topic. 

That’s the winning strategy: intentionally moving a story step-by-step to maximise its potential and reach.

About Ijeoma S. Nwatu

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