Build Your Internet Marketing Team Like A Football Team
The 2011 football season is underway with all the excitement that it always brings. The NFL disputes have been resolved, and college stadiums are once again full of the fans and adrenaline. Monday Night Football trounced the CNN Republican Presidential Candidates debate this past Monday. There is no question that America loves its football. The NFL is a $9 billion dollar industry, and NCAA / BCS football brings in nearly $300 million per year. Football is big business.
But let's face it, when the game's over, we've still got our own businesses to run. Wouldn't it be great if we could get as excited about using the internet to market and grow our businesses as we do about football? What if our love and understanding of football could be used to inspire a love of internet marketing, to the benefit of our company or organization?
As I searched for the answer, I came across this incredible blog post written by Dan Bischoff on www.seo.com and I loved it so much I had to share it with you. Here's a big shout out to Dan for his talent at making internet marketing accessible to football lovers!
In honor of college football’s return, here are the position-by-position starters if Internet marketing strategies made up a football team:
Head Coach – Analytics and A/B Testing The head coach analyzes everything and makes changes to improve. Analytics and testing gives you the stats, tells you what is working, where people are coming from, how long they’ve been on the site, what is bringing traffic and what converts best. Through analytics and testing, you can tweak strategies to be more successful.
Assistant Coach – Competitive Analysis 
The assistant coach often scouts out the competition to know how to beat the bad guys. A detailed competitive analysis will reveal the strengths and weaknesses of your competitors so you can know how and where to strike.
Offensive Starters – Building the Brand, Getting Exposure and Outbound Marketing
Quarterback – SEO
Arguably, the quarterback position is the most important position on the field. Top quarterbacks win games despite weaknesses in other areas of the team. If you get top rankings for the right keywords, you will get more website traffic and sales. All-Pro SEO services will almost instantly make you a major player in your industry. Quarterbacks are also the face of a team. Similarly, organic natural results act as the face of your company
Running Back – Conversion Optimization 
There are crucial times in any football game where a team needs 1 yard for a first down or a few inches to score a touchdown. A dependable running back will get that extra yardage almost every time. Conversion optimization plays that role for your website. Once you get that extra website traffic, you need dependable website conversion principles to take that visitor into the end zone.
Fullback – Web Design
Fullbacks are often the lead blocker that clears the way for the running back to get that extra yard. Good SEO Web design clears the way for everything else to work right.
Wide Receiver — Social Media Marketing 
Fast wide receivers can change the game with one quick-striking score. Good social media marketing using viral video, infographics, blog posts, etc., can quickly send a lot of traffic and create a ton of exposure in a short period of time. Social media can be a game changer just like a flashy wide receiver that blows past the defense.
Tight End – Online Public Relations
Tight ends are instrumental in blocking for the quarterback and running backs. But they also consistently score touchdowns and get first downs in tight situations. Tight ends are critical in clutch moments whether it’s a run or pass play. Online public relations have the same dependability. Online PR doesn’t always results in a home run, but it does consistently bring good traffic quality links. And sometimes online PR scores a touchdown by getting the attention of big blogs and publications. Online PR is the go-to weapon in tight situations when you need good links, and more traffic and exposure.
Offensive Line – Keyword Research 
The offensive line is the foundation of every football team. They give the quarterback time to throw and open holes for the running backs. Games are won and lost in the trenches, and they are similar won and lost with the right or wrong keyword research. Every search strategy revolves around picking the right keywords to target. Targeting the right keywords will make you a lot of money. The wrong keywords will keep you guessing and will lose you money.
Defensive Starters, Protecting Your Online Brand
Defensive Line – Reputation Management
The defensive line is the literally first line of defense. Any offense will roll over a team with a pansy D-line. For online marketing, this is similar to reputation management. It’s the foundation to defending your brand online.
Line Backer – Link Building
I chose this mostly because linebackers and link building have the same abbreviation: LB. So, you can come up with your own analogy on this one.
Corner Back – Social Media Profiles
Corner backs protect the pass and are sometimes the secret weapon on a corner blitz to reach the quarterback. I compare this to social media profiles. An active profile that provides valuable information and brings in fans, is a big part of protecting your brand and company. Social profiles are usually found high in the search engines for a company’s name. Plus, social media is all the buzz right now. In the sports world, corner backs are usually the guys with all the hype.
Safety – PPC 
The Safety position is self-explanatory. The Safety has a lot of roles, but is there to basically defend wherever things break down. That’s what PPC is for. A good mix of PPC with your SEO will make sure you get the right exposure and traffic while you work on getting your SEO rankings where you want them.
Kicker/Punter – Local Search and Maps Optimization
A good kicker can nail a field goal in clutch situations or pin a team near the end zone on a good punt. Local Internet marketing places your website in the right spot for local shoppers to find your business and buy your products.
Click here to see Dan's original post on SEO.com