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Counterintuitive SEO - How to Achieve SEO Goals Going Beyond SEO Best Practices #BBSEO23

Counterintuitive SEO - How to Achieve SEO Goals Going Beyond SEO Best Practices #BBSEO23

Learn how to incentivize your SEO activities to achieve goals going beyond SEO best practices with these tips.

Aleyda Solis

November 16, 2023
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  1. COUNTERINTUITIVE SEO BY @ALEYDA FROM ORAINTI AT #BARBADOSSEO
    COUNTERINTUITIVE SEO BY @ALEYDA FROM ORAINTI AT #BARBADOSSEO
    Counterintuitive SEO


    Going Beyond Best Practices to


    Achieve Long Term Success

    View Slide

  2. COUNTERINTUITIVE SEO BY @ALEYDA FROM ORAINTI AT #BARBADOSSEO
    It’s hard to achieve SEO goals in 2023
    https://hub.seofomo.co/seo-auditing-survey/
    Only 17% of SEOs said
    they achieved goals
    more than 90% of the
    time

    View Slide

  3. COUNTERINTUITIVE SEO BY @ALEYDA FROM ORAINTI AT #BARBADOSSEO
    We face recurring SEO execution challenges
    Less buy-in,
    resources, and
    support to execute
    Higher
    implementation
    constraints
    Greater difficulty
    predicting organic
    search traffic
    https://hub.seofomo.co/seo-auditing-survey/

    View Slide

  4. COUNTERINTUITIVE SEO BY @ALEYDA FROM ORAINTI AT #BARBADOSSEO
    As well as new threats along with persisting ones
    that make our day to day even more challenging
    - +
    Level of Control
    Potential Effect*
    Unpredictability
    of Core Updates
    Overlook of
    configurations
    affecting
    crawlability and
    indexability
    Lack of SEO
    Validation of

    Web migrations
    😱
    🕹
    +
    Uncertainty
    of Generative
    Search

    View Slide

  5. COUNTERINTUITIVE SEO BY @ALEYDA FROM ORAINTI AT #BARBADOSSEO
    But if we want
    different results,
    we need to go
    beyond those SEO
    “best practices”
    we tend to adopt
    that are already
    failing us

    View Slide

  6. COUNTERINTUITIVE SEO BY @ALEYDA FROM ORAINTI AT #BARBADOSSEO
    Let’s go through 3 of them, as well as
    counterintuitive approaches to achieve success
    Starting SEO
    execution only
    after delivering
    recommendations
    Including all SEO
    issues and
    opportunities in
    recommendations
    Saying It Depends
    whenever
    decision makers
    ask about results
    1. 2. 3.

    View Slide

  7. COUNTERINTUITIVE SEO BY @ALEYDA FROM ORAINTI AT #BARBADOSSEO
    1. BEST PRACTICE TO KILL


    STARTING SEO EXECUTION ONLY AFTER
    DELIVERING RECOMMENDATIONS

    View Slide

  8. COUNTERINTUITIVE SEO BY @ALEYDA FROM ORAINTI AT #BARBADOSSEO
    SEO long term nature is one of the main

    reasons for its execution challenges
    “Lack of time, delays, or
    impatience from clients expecting
    immediate results”

    View Slide

  9. COUNTERINTUITIVE SEO BY @ALEYDA FROM ORAINTI AT #BARBADOSSEO
    Rankings, Keyword &
    Competition Research
    Content Audit
    T
    echnical Audit
    Link Popularity
    Audit
    SEO Strategy &
    Prioritized SEO
    Roadmap
    Initial SEO Analysis for an SEO Process
    SEO Roadmap
    Implementation
    Week 1 Week 2 Week 3 Week 4 Week 5
    SEO

    Process
    Goals
    It doesn’t help that it takes so long to develop an
    initial SEO audit to understand the site context

    View Slide

  10. COUNTERINTUITIVE SEO BY @ALEYDA FROM ORAINTI AT #BARBADOSSEO
    COUNTERINTUITIVE APPROACH FOR SUCCESS


    DEVELOP A PARALLEL SEO LOW HANGING FRUIT
    FRAMEWORK TO EXECUTE FOR QUICK WINS

    View Slide

  11. COUNTERINTUITIVE SEO BY @ALEYDA FROM ORAINTI AT #BARBADOSSEO
    IMPACT
    EFFORT
    1.


    To Execute

    Now
    Don’t Do
    2.


    To Assess

    2.


    To Assess

    Low hanging fruit should be
    the first to prioritize, as they
    have the highest impact
    with the lowest effort
    There are always context agnostic SEO low-
    hanging fruit opportunities across processes

    View Slide

  12. COUNTERINTUITIVE SEO BY @ALEYDA FROM ORAINTI AT #BARBADOSSEO
    Rankings, Keyword &
    Competition Research
    Content Audit
    T
    echnical Audit
    Link Popularity
    Audit
    SEO Strategy &
    Prioritized SEO
    Roadmap
    Initial SEO Analysis for an SEO Process
    Parallel Low Hanging Fruit Assessment
    Low Hanging Fruit
    SEO Opportunities
    Assessment
    SEO Roadmap
    Implementation
    Low Hanging Fruit
    Recommendations
    Week 1 Week 2 Week 3 Week 4 Week 5
    SEO

    Process
    Goals
    These can be developed in parallel to initial

    SEO analysis to achieve results much faster
    SEO
    Low Hanging Fruit
    Execution
    SEO

    View Slide

  13. COUNTERINTUITIVE SEO BY @ALEYDA FROM ORAINTI AT #BARBADOSSEO
    Mitigate
    client or
    decision maker
    impatience
    towards
    results
    Show value
    of SEO
    implementation
    faster to gain
    further
    support
    Minimize
    concerns of
    complex
    implementations
    starting with
    easiest
    actions
    Establish a
    good
    coordination base
    for more complex
    implementation
    later on
    This also helps to address some of the big

    SEO recommendations execution challenges

    View Slide

  14. COUNTERINTUITIVE SEO BY @ALEYDA FROM ORAINTI AT #BARBADOSSEO
    More traffic for

    already ranked pages
    More Popularity

    for Key Pages
    Refreshed Targeting

    to Regain Traffic
    For example, here are 3 SEO low-hanging fruit
    actions you can easily execute across processes
    Improving the
    CTR

    of already top-
    ranked pages
    Optimizing
    internal linking

    of almost best
    ranking pages
    Identifying
    search shifts and
    content decay to
    update & rank
    better

    View Slide

  15. COUNTERINTUITIVE SEO BY @ALEYDA FROM ORAINTI AT #BARBADOSSEO
    These will
    tend to have
    an important
    aggregate
    traffic
    impact fast

    View Slide

  16. COUNTERINTUITIVE SEO BY @ALEYDA FROM ORAINTI AT #BARBADOSSEO
    Non-Relevant Term
    for your Site
    Poor SERPs CTR
    Relevant Term for
    your Site
    Non-Relevant Ranked
    Page
    Lack of content to be
    created to effectively
    target the query
    Non-Relevant /
    Unattractive Titles
    and Meta
    Descriptions to
    Optimize
    Relevant Ranked
    Page
    SERP features
    inclusion that you’re
    not leveraging but
    could
    SERP features
    inclusion that you’re
    not leveraging but
    can’t use
    More ads inclusion
    that lowers CTR
    Search intent satisfied
    directly in search
    results, generating a
    non-click
    Content
    Cannibalization to fix
    between many
    similar/relevant pages
    High Priority

    Medium Priority

    No Priority
    Set a validation checklist for common scenarios
    of low hanging fruits, eg. poor SERPs CTR

    View Slide

  17. COUNTERINTUITIVE SEO BY @ALEYDA FROM ORAINTI AT #BARBADOSSEO
    Create resources, like Dashboards to identify top
    opportunities like this for poorer CTR performers
    HTTPS://DATASTUDIO.GOOGLE.COM/REPORTING/8FBF65E6-9C0A-4627-95AC-F858BFAC89E2

    View Slide

  18. COUNTERINTUITIVE SEO BY @ALEYDA FROM ORAINTI AT #BARBADOSSEO
    or Sheets workbooks to easily spot important
    meant to rank pages lacking internal links

    View Slide

  19. COUNTERINTUITIVE SEO BY @ALEYDA FROM ORAINTI AT #BARBADOSSEO
    Automate the process using tools like Ryte or
    SEOtesting, that feature CTR Underperformers
    RYTE AND SEOTESTING. COM

    View Slide

  20. COUNTERINTUITIVE SEO BY @ALEYDA FROM ORAINTI AT #BARBADOSSEO
    Or SEOTesting content decay report to spot

    pages decreasing in clicks, needing a refresh
    SEOTESTING. COM

    View Slide

  21. COUNTERINTUITIVE SEO BY @ALEYDA FROM ORAINTI AT #BARBADOSSEO
    It’s about
    tackling common
    existing
    scenarios faster
    to achieve results
    sooner

    View Slide

  22. COUNTERINTUITIVE SEO BY @ALEYDA FROM ORAINTI AT #BARBADOSSEO
    Take a look at my SearchLove presentation

    for more SEO Low Hanging Fruit tips
    https://speakerdeck.com/aleyda/seo-low-hanging-fruit-number-searchlove

    View Slide

  23. COUNTERINTUITIVE SEO BY @ALEYDA FROM ORAINTI AT #BARBADOSSEO
    2. BEST PRACTICE TO KILL


    INCLUDING ALL SEO ISSUES & OPPORTUNITIES


    IN YOUR SEO RECOMMENDATIONS

    View Slide

  24. COUNTERINTUITIVE SEO BY @ALEYDA FROM ORAINTI AT #BARBADOSSEO
    We know how critical is to establish action driven,
    solution-focused, prioritized recommendations
    https://www.aleydasolis.com/en/seo-flowcharts/#1-2

    View Slide

  25. COUNTERINTUITIVE SEO BY @ALEYDA FROM ORAINTI AT #BARBADOSSEO
    IMPACT
    EFFORT
    1.


    To Execute

    Now
    Don’t Do
    2.


    To Assess

    2.


    To Assess

    Recommendation Impact [0-10] Effort [0-10] To Prioritize Higher
    Medium impacting
    with high effort
    6 4 12
    Low impacting with
    high effort
    4 4 8
    Low impacting with
    very high effort
    4 2 6
    Very low impacting
    with very high effort
    2 2 4
    To achieve goals more easily, we already prioritize
    SEO recommendations based on impact and effort

    View Slide

  26. COUNTERINTUITIVE SEO BY @ALEYDA FROM ORAINTI AT #BARBADOSSEO
    There are many frameworks for this, I shared

    an SEO Actions Prioritization Template to help
    HTTPS://DOCS.GOOGLE.COM/SPREADSHEETS/D/15DD2VFZE203ZIKD-VTQLG3WG-YQY9A-HS5J7AT- S4JA/VIEW

    View Slide

  27. COUNTERINTUITIVE SEO BY @ALEYDA FROM ORAINTI AT #BARBADOSSEO
    However, this is not enough,

    most SEOs are already doing it
    • +90% of the time: 62% SEOs


    • 70%-89% of the time: 24% SEOs


    • 50%-69% of the time: 10% SEOs


    • 20%-49% of the time: 2% SEOs


    • -20% of the time: 1% SEOs
    • Balancing Impact vs Effort


    • Focus on Business Goals and
    Objectives Achievement


    • Setting an Optimized Web Base First


    • Balancing Resources and Feasibility
    SEO Prioritization Frequency SEO Prioritization Criteria
    https://hub.seofomo.co/seo-auditing-survey/

    View Slide

  28. COUNTERINTUITIVE SEO BY @ALEYDA FROM ORAINTI AT #BARBADOSSEO
    https://hub.seofomo.co/seo-auditing-survey/
    “Insufficient resources, including
    human resources, budget, or
    development capacity”
    But it’s clearly not
    working, we face
    buy-in, resources,
    and support issues
    for execution
    https://hub.seofomo.co/seo-auditing-survey/

    View Slide

  29. COUNTERINTUITIVE SEO BY @ALEYDA FROM ORAINTI AT #BARBADOSSEO
    COUNTERINTUITIVE APPROACH FOR SUCCESS


    PROVIDE A MAXIMUM OF TOP 7-10 SEO SOLUTION
    FOCUSED ACTIONS PER RECOMMENDATIONS

    View Slide

  30. COUNTERINTUITIVE SEO BY @ALEYDA FROM ORAINTI AT #BARBADOSSEO
    Prioritized Tech SEO Recommendations
    Even if prioritized,
    who goes through all
    of these and has the
    resources to
    implement them?

    View Slide

  31. COUNTERINTUITIVE SEO BY @ALEYDA FROM ORAINTI AT #BARBADOSSEO
    +
    Prioritized Tech SEO Recommendations Prioritized Content Recommendations
    And those were only the tech SEO ones! What
    when we add content into the plan? It’s too much!

    View Slide

  32. COUNTERINTUITIVE SEO BY @ALEYDA FROM ORAINTI AT #BARBADOSSEO
    FIXING
    IMPROVING
    BUILDING
    Creating key content to target new
    relevant queries through user search
    journey to grow organic conversions
    further to achieve goals
    Optimizing key existing content
    through the customer journey to grow
    organic conversions for already
    targeted relevant queries
    Minimizing crawlability or indexability
    challenges on key pages to keep and
    grow rankings, traf
    fi
    c and conversions
    SCOPE OF YOUR SEO
    RECOMMENDATIONS BEFORE
    Your recommendations shouldn’t include all that
    matters, is too complex & won’t be done anyway

    View Slide

  33. COUNTERINTUITIVE SEO BY @ALEYDA FROM ORAINTI AT #BARBADOSSEO
    It’s time for a radical prioritization, w/ a maximum
    of 7-10 high impact solution driven, action plan
    FIXING
    IMPROVING
    BUILDING
    Creating key content to target new
    relevant queries through user search
    journey to grow organic conversions
    further to achieve goals
    Optimizing key existing content
    through the customer journey to grow
    organic conversions for already
    targeted relevant queries
    Minimizing crawlability or indexability
    challenges on key pages to keep and
    grow rankings, traf
    fi
    c and conversions
    SCOPE OF YOUR SEO
    RECOMMENDATIONS LATER

    View Slide

  34. COUNTERINTUITIVE SEO BY @ALEYDA FROM ORAINTI AT #BARBADOSSEO
    You will only include what you should execute
    now, and leave the rest for future iterations
    IMPACT
    EFFORT
    1.


    To Execute

    Now
    Don’t Do
    2.


    To Assess

    2.


    To Assess

    Eliminate anything that
    doesn’t have a high impact towards your
    current goals: only must-have, not nice-to-
    have!
    Be specific of the scope of the execution (type
    and number of pages)
    Clearly specify how each action will help
    achieve the established seo goal and the
    business importance
    Provide examples of what needs to be
    executed, so it shows viability

    View Slide

  35. COUNTERINTUITIVE SEO BY @ALEYDA FROM ORAINTI AT #BARBADOSSEO
    Your recommendations will become

    easier to go through and execute
    vs
    IMPACT
    EFFORT
    1.


    To Execute

    Now
    Don’t Do
    2.


    To Assess

    2.


    To Assess

    SEO RECOMMENDATIONS BEFORE
    SEO RECOMMENDATIONS AFTER

    View Slide

  36. COUNTERINTUITIVE SEO BY @ALEYDA FROM ORAINTI AT #BARBADOSSEO
    Leverage data storytelling to explain, engage &
    drive action with each of your recommendations
    What happened?
    Why Did it Happen?
    How to Proceed?
    SETUP
    CONFLICT
    RESOLUTION
    RECOMMENDATION X
    WHAT IS THE ISSUE/OPPORTUNITY ABOUT &
    WHY IS IT SO IMPORTANT
    CAUSE OF THE ISSUE/OPPORTUNITY
    PROPOSED SOLUTION FOR ISSUE/OPPORTUNITY

    View Slide

  37. COUNTERINTUITIVE SEO BY @ALEYDA FROM ORAINTI AT #BARBADOSSEO
    WHAT IS THE ISSUE/
    OPPORTUNITY ABOUT & WHY
    IS IT SO IMPORTANT
    CAUSE OF ISSUE/
    OPPORTUNITY
    PROPOSED SOLUTION FOR
    ISSUE/OPPORTUNITY
    WHAT IS THE ISSUE/
    OPPORTUNITY ABOUT & WHY
    IS IT SO IMPORTANT
    CAUSE OF ISSUE/
    OPPORTUNITY
    PROPOSED SOLUTION FOR
    ISSUE/OPPORTUNITY
    SEO RECOMMENDATIONS STRUCTURE
    Executive Summary PAGE 1 PAGE 2 PAGE 3
    ACTION 3
    ACTION 2
    ACTION 1
    SEO ACTIONS TO ACHIEVE GOALS
    Setup


    Conflict


    Resolution
    Setup


    Conflict


    Resolution
    Setup


    Conflict


    Resolution
    Conclusion
    Data Appendix
    ACTION 2
    ACTION 3
    Feature an executive summary at the start

    to facilitate it further to decision makers
    WHAT IS THE ISSUE/
    OPPORTUNITY ABOUT & WHY
    IS IT SO IMPORTANT
    CAUSE OF ISSUE/
    OPPORTUNITY
    PROPOSED SOLUTION FOR
    ISSUE/OPPORTUNITY
    ACTION 1

    View Slide

  38. COUNTERINTUITIVE SEO BY @ALEYDA FROM ORAINTI AT #BARBADOSSEO
    Remember you’re
    not paid to spot all

    SEO issues, but for
    achieving SEO goals
    by solving those
    that are actually
    hurting the business
    Feature a
    maximum of 10
    high impact to
    goals actions
    Use
    storytelling
    to better
    communicate
    importance
    and drive
    action
    Add an
    easy to
    understand
    executive
    summary for
    decision
    makers

    View Slide

  39. COUNTERINTUITIVE SEO BY @ALEYDA FROM ORAINTI AT #BARBADOSSEO
    3. BEST PRACTICE TO KILL


    SAYING IT DEPENDS WHENEVER DECISION
    MAKERS ASK ABOUT SEO IMPACT

    View Slide

  40. COUNTERINTUITIVE SEO BY @ALEYDA FROM ORAINTI AT #BARBADOSSEO
    We complain that
    “Clients prioritize
    other channels as
    they fail to
    understand the
    impact of SEO
    recommendations”
    but we continue
    saying “it depends”
    when asked

    View Slide

  41. COUNTERINTUITIVE SEO BY @ALEYDA FROM ORAINTI AT #BARBADOSSEO
    COUNTERINTUITIVE APPROACH FOR SUCCESS


    PROVIDE POTENTIAL OUTCOMES VIA SEO
    FORECASTING, TESTING AND AUTOMATION

    View Slide

  42. COUNTERINTUITIVE SEO BY @ALEYDA FROM ORAINTI AT #BARBADOSSEO
    It’s time to stop those
    “it depends” and
    start SEO forecasting
    to give potential
    outcomes depending
    on execution support
    SCENARIO 1
    SCENARIO 2
    EXECUTING
    ACTIONS X, Y, Z
    EXECUTING
    ACTION X

    View Slide

  43. COUNTERINTUITIVE SEO BY @ALEYDA FROM ORAINTI AT #BARBADOSSEO
    Develop forecasts with tools like AWR for targeted
    queries impacted by different SEO actions
    ADVANCED WEB RANKING

    View Slide

  44. COUNTERINTUITIVE SEO BY @ALEYDA FROM ORAINTI AT #BARBADOSSEO
    You can also use free resources like

    Miracle’s guide in Excel
    https://erudite.agency/insights/forecasting-for-seo-creating-expectation-and-showing-return-on-investment/

    View Slide

  45. COUNTERINTUITIVE SEO BY @ALEYDA FROM ORAINTI AT #BARBADOSSEO
    Use this to explain how results are tied to
    execution scenarios and compound over time
    ADVANCED WEB RANKING

    View Slide

  46. COUNTERINTUITIVE SEO BY @ALEYDA FROM ORAINTI AT #BARBADOSSEO
    This will help to establish reasonable expectations
    and show importance of decision makers support

    View Slide

  47. COUNTERINTUITIVE SEO BY @ALEYDA FROM ORAINTI AT #BARBADOSSEO
    Do decision makers still not support SEO despite
    showing opportunity? Show what they can lose!

    View Slide

  48. COUNTERINTUITIVE SEO BY @ALEYDA FROM ORAINTI AT #BARBADOSSEO
    Include in your SEO
    forecasts how much
    would it cost to
    achieve it with paid
    search, to show how
    cheap SEO can be

    View Slide

  49. COUNTERINTUITIVE SEO BY @ALEYDA FROM ORAINTI AT #BARBADOSSEO
    As well as how behind they can fall in marketshare,
    by forecasting competitors & showing gap

    View Slide

  50. COUNTERINTUITIVE SEO BY @ALEYDA FROM ORAINTI AT #BARBADOSSEO
    Are decision makers still unsure? Offer doing

    SEO tests or pilot projects to prove value

    View Slide

  51. COUNTERINTUITIVE SEO BY @ALEYDA FROM ORAINTI AT #BARBADOSSEO
    This is also a way
    to address
    obstacles from
    other areas,
    eliminate ego and
    opinions out of
    SEO execution
    decision making
    “Political
    issues, top
    management vetoes,
    or internal conflicts
    affecting
    implementation.”
    “Bureaucratic
    processes, approval
    delays, or challenges
    in communication
    across
    stakeholders.”

    View Slide

  52. COUNTERINTUITIVE SEO BY @ALEYDA FROM ORAINTI AT #BARBADOSSEO
    There are now
    a few SEO tools
    like SEOTesting
    or Ryte that
    facilitate the
    development of
    SEO tests
    SEOTESTING.COM

    View Slide

  53. COUNTERINTUITIVE SEO BY @ALEYDA FROM ORAINTI AT #BARBADOSSEO
    You can prove the
    value of your
    recommendations
    by executing them
    faster in a small
    group of pages,
    and get support
    for full execution
    SEOTESTING.COM

    View Slide

  54. COUNTERINTUITIVE SEO BY @ALEYDA FROM ORAINTI AT #BARBADOSSEO
    Select a few categories to
    implement fast and assess
    impact vs similar
    unchanged ones:


    * Positive result? Replicate
    to rest.

    * Negative outcome? Move
    to other implementations!
    Eg. to show value
    and address
    conversion or
    speed concerns
    when featuring
    FAQs,
    Descriptions or
    Q&As in
    ecommerce
    category pages

    View Slide

  55. COUNTERINTUITIVE SEO BY @ALEYDA FROM ORAINTI AT #BARBADOSSEO
    This will facilitate not only decision makers buy-in
    but eliminate blockers from other areas/channels
    vs
    Conversions
    Speed

    View Slide

  56. COUNTERINTUITIVE SEO BY @ALEYDA FROM ORAINTI AT #BARBADOSSEO
    Can’t you
    implement
    actions at all due
    to restrictive
    Web platforms?
    It’s time to use
    AI and Edge
    solutions!
    “Technical
    complexities,
    limitations, or
    difficulties in
    implementing
    recommendations”
    “Legacy systems,
    technical debt, or
    platform constraints
    affecting
    implementation”

    View Slide

  57. COUNTERINTUITIVE SEO BY @ALEYDA FROM ORAINTI AT #BARBADOSSEO
    For example, to implement and automate

    from structured data to internal linking
    INLINKS, WORDLIFT

    View Slide

  58. COUNTERINTUITIVE SEO BY @ALEYDA FROM ORAINTI AT #BARBADOSSEO
    Using tools like InLinks or Wordlift,

    by just adding a script on your site pages
    INLINKS

    View Slide

  59. COUNTERINTUITIVE SEO BY @ALEYDA FROM ORAINTI AT #BARBADOSSEO
    Something
    similar can be
    done via Edge
    SEO solutions
    leveraging CDN
    workers
    Botify

    View Slide

  60. COUNTERINTUITIVE SEO BY @ALEYDA FROM ORAINTI AT #BARBADOSSEO
    These can help to workaround execution
    bottlenecks to show value and gain support faster

    View Slide

  61. COUNTERINTUITIVE SEO BY @ALEYDA FROM ORAINTI AT #BARBADOSSEO
    BONUS: BAD PRACTICE TO KILL


    SENDING SEO REPORTS TO ONLY COMMUNICATE
    RESULTS

    View Slide

  62. COUNTERINTUITIVE SEO BY @ALEYDA FROM ORAINTI AT #BARBADOSSEO
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    41% of SEOs
    said to only use
    a dashboard
    with data for
    reporting
    https://twitter.com/aleyda/status/1459202085715591174

    View Slide

  63. COUNTERINTUITIVE SEO BY @ALEYDA FROM ORAINTI AT #BARBADOSSEO
    SEO dashboards, even personalized ones,

    can’t achieve all SEO reporting goals
    Only partially this one
    COMMUNICATE
    RESULTS
    EXPLAIN THE CAUSE
    OF RESULTS
    DRIVE ACTION TO
    ACHIEVE GOALS

    View Slide

  64. COUNTERINTUITIVE SEO BY @ALEYDA FROM ORAINTI AT #BARBADOSSEO
    COUNTERINTUITIVE APPROACH FOR SUCCESS


    USE SEO REPORTS TO COMMUNICATE AND ALSO
    DRIVE SEO ACTIONS

    View Slide

  65. COUNTERINTUITIVE SEO BY @ALEYDA FROM ORAINTI AT #BARBADOSSEO
    Follow these 3 principles to maximize the value


    of your SEO reports and help achieve goals
    MEANINGFUL KPIS
    CLEAR

    DATA PRESENTATION
    DATA STORYTELLING
    COMMUNICATE
    RESULTS
    EXPLAIN THE
    CAUSE OF
    RESULTS
    DRIVE ACTION TO
    ACHIEVE GOALS

    View Slide

  66. COUNTERINTUITIVE SEO BY @ALEYDA FROM ORAINTI AT #BARBADOSSEO
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    Avoid using
    proprietary
    metrics which
    are unreliable
    and difficult to
    connect with
    your SEO goals

    View Slide

  67. COUNTERINTUITIVE SEO BY @ALEYDA FROM ORAINTI AT #BARBADOSSEO
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    Don’t add to reports
    all what you monitor,
    only KPIs connected
    to SEO goals each
    audience care about
    CMO WILL CARE ABOUT THIS
    THIS WILL ONLY ADD CONFUSION TO CMO

    View Slide

  68. COUNTERINTUITIVE SEO BY @ALEYDA FROM ORAINTI AT #BARBADOSSEO
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    What’s the ROI?


    What’s the revenue?


    What’s our traffic marketshare?
    Eg. Management and decision makers will care
    about business SEO KPIs, not indexability
    What’s the ROI?


    What’s the revenue?


    What’s our traffic marketshare?


    How are we ranking?


    Are we gaining backlinks?


    Is new content attracting traffic?
    What’s our traffic marketshare?


    How are we ranking?


    Are we gaining backlinks?


    Is new content attracting traffic?


    Are key pages getting indexed?


    Are key pages getting crawled?
    What’s our traffic marketshare?


    How are we ranking?


    How’s the crawl budget trend?


    Is page speed better?


    Are key pages getting indexed?


    Are key pages getting crawled?
    CEO/CMO/NON-TECHNICAL
    CLIENT
    SEO TEAM
    HEAD OF SEO

    / TECHNICAL CLIENT
    OTHER AREAS
    STAKEHOLDERS


    (EG. TECH, UX)
    MANAGEMENT/DECISION MAKERS
    OPERATIONAL STAKEHOLDERS

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  69. COUNTERINTUITIVE SEO BY @ALEYDA FROM ORAINTI AT #BARBADOSSEO
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    Here’s a Sheet version of the SEO report planner
    for using meaningful KPIs for each audience
    https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1g88EW02BRQGtaHQQ6wohL0jUVrSqcozaLUcTqbveNfQ/view?usp=sharing

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    It’s also not about
    “creating a pretty
    report” but about
    making your data
    easy to understand
    Top Ranked Queries
    Beautiful but difficult to understand

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    vs
    Have Visits in the Last Quarter
    improved 30% YoY?
    Difficult to understand
    Sometimes a
    simpler
    scorecard will be
    easier to
    understand than
    a fancy time
    series
    Easier to say

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  72. COUNTERINTUITIVE SEO BY @ALEYDA FROM ORAINTI AT #BARBADOSSEO
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    Here’s a Sheet of the Charts Usage Checklist


    To use for clear data presentation
    https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1g88EW02BRQGtaHQQ6wohL0jUVrSqcozaLUcTqbveNfQ/view#gid=2882816

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  73. COUNTERINTUITIVE SEO BY @ALEYDA FROM ORAINTI AT #BARBADOSSEO
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    Data storytelling
    creates
    compelling
    narratives to help
    audiences
    understand &
    drive action
    https://www.forbes.com/sites/brentdykes/2016/03/31/data-storytelling-the-essential-data-science-skill-everyone-needs/

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    Be careful to not misrepresent the data


    bringing to wrong conclusions though
    Cherry-pick data Manipulate scale Be inconsistent
    Show the Whole Picture Give Full Visual Context Keep visuals & language

    consistent across report
    DON’T DON’T DON’T
    DO DO DO
    https://ppcexpo.com/blog/storytelling-with-data

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  75. COUNTERINTUITIVE SEO BY @ALEYDA FROM ORAINTI AT #BARBADOSSEO
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    Explain and
    drive action
    without
    misleading,
    even if results
    are not
    positive, to
    keep trust
    2021
    2020
    What’s the site organic search traffic trend?
    What’s the site organic search traffic trend?
    vs
    Q3 2021
    Q4 2021
    The site organic search traffic has had a strong +39% growth in Q4 2021 versus Q3, in a
    steady trend to achieve goals of 30% YoY in 2022.
    The site organic search traffic had a -8.3% decrease in 2021 vs 2020 due to drop in Q2
    and Q3 2021after being hit by Google Core Updates. However, content optimization
    efforts started in May and thanks to them the site started to recover in Q4 and has now a
    steady positive trend and is expected to fully in January 2022. If content optimization
    efforts continue to be made for the positive performance to be kept through 2022, the
    30% YoY traffic goal for 2022 should be achievable.
    A bit misleading
    More accurate
    April Google Update
    Content Optimization Process
    June Google Update

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    Start by crafting a compelling narrative

    for each KPI using the 3 act structure
    What happened? Why Did it Happen? How to Proceed?
    SETUP CONFLICT RESOLUTION
    https://towardsdatascience.com/how-to-build-a-narrative-from-data-85e327940c13

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    Here you have
    the steps and a
    template to use
    for each KPI
    Goal: X% of [METRIC] by [DATE]


    Audience: [ROLE]

    KPI: [KPI NAME]
    [DESCRIPTIVE KPI PROGRESS SUMMARIZING
    HEADING]
    Introduction explaining what happened
    and if the expected results have been
    achieved or not.


    Why [THE RESULT IS THE ONE IT IS]?


    Explain why this happened, good or bad.
    How to achieve the expected goal?


    Summarize the proposed next steps to start, continue or stop executing to
    achieve the expected goal.
    RESOLUTION
    CONFLICT
    SETUP
    KPI CHART

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    Even when
    results have
    fallen short to
    what was
    expected, it
    works
    Goal: 30% branded traffic share by December


    Audience: CEO/CMO

    KPI: Branded Traffic Share
    What’s the branded traffic share?
    Website Traffic January - December 2021

    Source: Google Search Console
    December Branded traffic Share reached 28.9%
    but Still Fell Short from 30% Goal
    Despite an important increase from
    8% to 28.9% in the last month,
    December’s branded traffic share
    results have fell short from the 30%
    goal.


    Why have we fell short?


    The “Branded Content” initiative
    meant drive the increase of branded
    traffic share suffered a 4 months
    delay: Planned to be released in
    March 2021, faced UX & development
    Partial 1st Release Partial 2nd Release
    constraints, only launching 40% of planned content then, leaving 60%
    to be launched until October, leaving too little time to see the full
    results for December.


    How to achieve the expected goal?


    Given the release delays, it’s expected to reach the +30% branded
    traffic share in January, a month later than what was initially
    planned, however, this also means a delay in the expected +50% goals
    for next year for which the “Commercial Branded Content” initiative
    had been planned to release in March. It’s then recommended to
    launch them in January instead, to catch up with expected results.
    CONFLICT
    SETUP
    RESOLUTION

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    Download the SEO report template

    in Google Slides Format from here
    https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1jFumv0jI0tAfnkIkbEu8x5JwuOq_k93sVcWe5vZMeR0/edit?usp=sharing

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  80. COUNTERINTUITIVE SEO BY @ALEYDA FROM ORAINTI AT #BARBADOSSEO
    It’s about tackling the biggest SEO execution
    issues with a counterintuitive SEO approach
    Avoid Starting
    SEO execution
    only after
    delivering
    recommendations
    Don’t include all
    SEO issues and
    opportunities in
    recommendations
    Don’t say It
    Depends
    whenever
    decision makers
    ask about results
    1. 2. 3.
    Don’t send SEO Reports To Only Communicate Results
    Bonus

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  81. COUNTERINTUITIVE SEO BY @ALEYDA FROM ORAINTI AT #BARBADOSSEO
    Is it hard? Perfect,
    fewer people will
    be willing to do it,
    meaning less
    competition for
    those who do

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  82. COUNTERINTUITIVE SEO BY @ALEYDA FROM ORAINTI AT #BARBADOSSEO
    It will be hard only at the start too and is not bad


    if goals are achieved and ROI is positive

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  83. COUNTERINTUITIVE SEO BY @ALEYDA FROM ORAINTI AT #BARBADOSSEO
    I’m Aleyda Solis


    * SEO Consultant & Founder at Orainti


    * SEO Speaker at +100 Events in +20 countries


    * Author “SEO. Las Claves Esenciales.”


    * Crawling Mondays Video & Podcast Series Host


    * #SEOFOMO & #MarketingFOMO Newsletters Author


    * Maker LearningSEO.io


    * European Search Personality of the Year in 2018


    * remoters.net Co-Founder
    Thanks! Questions?
    COUNTERINTUITIVE SEO BY @ALEYDA FROM ORAINTI AT #BARBADOSSEO

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