How to Make SEO Audits That Matter & Get Implemented for SEO Success - The Extended Edition at #SEOCampixx

#seoaudits by @aleyda from @orainti
How to Make SEO
Audits That Matter
& Get Implemented
for SEO Success
THE EXTENDED EDITION

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Achieving SEO
Success is hard

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https://twitter.com/aleyda/status/1422869276537536513
For real, is not just you! It’s also only getting harder

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Higher SEO
maturity across
most profitable
industries
The evolution of
Websites Tech
Stack (JS)
Growing
competition and
barriers to entry

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Shift and
sophistication in
user search
behavior
Search algorithm
and presentation
improvements
Better user
search experience
and quality
required to rank

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More resources
to invest in bigger
companies but high
bureaucracy to
implement
More flexibility to
implement in smaller
companies but lower
resources
More complexity
to manage SEO
project execution

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I asked about the
most damaging
issues that
negatively
affected results

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The top were the
lack of investment,
patience, support,
and approval for
execution

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Also the lack of
understanding
and misaligned
expectations

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Which also force
SEO to work in a
“silo” or as an
afterthought

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Not (entirely) our fault right?!

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But in the end, we are the ones who suffer the most
and get the blame for the lack of SEO results

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We can (largely)
avoid it starting
with our SEO
Audits though

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Let’s see how leverage them to maximize cost-effective
implementation and achieve SEO success
Make your SEO
audits solutions
focused to develop
action driven
recommendations
Connect each of
your SEO
recommendations to
SMARTER SEO
goals
Prioritize your SEO
recommendations
based on impact and
effort, with SEO low-
hanging fruits
Format SEO
recommendations to
facilitate actionability
and collaboration
Establish ongoing
actions to prevent
new SEO issues &
leverage
opportunities during
the process
Develop frequent
recommendations
reviews & tests to
keep them relevant
and impactful

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Make your SEO
audits solutions
focused to develop
action driven
recommendations

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We’re not paid
to identify SEO
issues, but to
provide solutions
for them and
achieve results

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SEO checklists are
great to remember
validations but
don’t replace
recommendations
HTTPS://DOCS.GOOGLE.COM/SPREADSHEETS/D/1LGC9RXURRTV2K0ZSCKH1CIREQ9E9RP7-04K1WNVIKHG/EDIT?USP=SHARING

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Recommendations should explain what causes and
how issues are found, as well as how to fix them
Errors URLs
 
(4xx, 5xx)
Redirected URLs
 
(301s, 302s)
Canonicalized URLs
Noindexed URLs
… …
WHAT
CAUSE
THEM?
HOW
THEY’RE
FOUND?
PLATFORM BUG
NOT SET RULES
…
LINKING PAGES
XML SITEMAPS
…
HOW TO
FIX THEM
AFFECTED URLS

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Describe how each SEO issue is generated across
different scenarios, segmenting per area/page type
Type A
Type B
Scenario 1

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Should 301 Redirect
Links to
Should link instead
Show the ideal state of the identified issues vs. the
existing ones for each scenario with screenshots

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Provide examples of how the recommendations are
already implemented by competitors successfully
vs

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PAGES OF X TYPES THAT ARE
CANONICALIZED TO OTHERS
TO WHAT PAGES DO
THEY
CANONICALIZE?
FROM WHAT PAGES
ARE THEY LINKED?
Do these URLs need to be
canonicalized to others?
Do these canonicalized URLs need to be linked
from these pages? If so, do these links need to be
crawlable?
Are they canonicalizing to the
relevant indexable URLs?
Are the links
followed?
Attach the identified data segmented by scenario,
 
to facilitate their implementation and validation

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Each
recommendation
should show “What
is happening,
Where does it
happen, and How
to fix it”

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Connect each of
your SEO
recommendations
to SMARTER SEO
goals

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Explain how each
of the SEO actions
you provide will
help you to
achieve SEO goals

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COMMUNICATION SOFTWARE COMPANY
INCREASE 150% SALES FOR COMMUNICATION SOFTWARE BY REMOTE
PROFESSIONALS
INCREASE 400% TRAFFIC TO MID-BOTTOM OF THE FUNNEL CONTENT
OF COMMUNICATION SOFTWARE FOR REMOTE WORKERS
GROW 250% ORGANIC SEARCH TRAFFIC TO COMMS
SOFTWARE LISTINGS, COMPARISONS, REVIEWS AND
PRODUCTS PAGES
TAKE INTO TOP 3 POSITIONS OF CURRENT
TOP 10 FOR MID-BOTTOM OF THE FUNNEL
QUERIES TARGETED BY SOFTWARE LISTINGS
AND COMPARISONS PAGES
 
TAKE INTO TOP 10
PILLAR PAGES OF
COMMS SOFTWARE
FOR REMOTE
PROFESSIONALS
….
1. YOU’RE TRYING TO GET THIS
2. TO OBTAIN THIS!
Biz Goals
 
[What Decision
Makers care
About]
SEO goals
 
[What SEOs care about]
Start by establishing top-to-down SEO goals for your
process that connect with your business ones

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INCREASE 150% SALES FOR COMMUNICATION SOFTWARE BY REMOTE PROFESSIONALS
INCREASE 300% TRAFFIC & 50% CONVERSIONS OF MID-BOTTOM OF THE FUNNEL
CONTENT OF COMMUNICATION SOFTWARE FOR REMOTE WORKERS
….
TOP-TO-DOWN SEO GOALS
SEO goals
 
[What SEOs care about]
TOP-TO-DOWN CONTENT GOALS
IMPROVE KEY REMOTE WORK USER JOURNEY CONTENT
ORGANIC SEARCH TRAFFIC BY 250%
GROW 250% ORGANIC SEARCH TRAFFIC TO COMMS SOFTWARE LISTINGS,
COMPARISONS, REVIEWS AND PRODUCTS PAGES
TAKE INTO TOP 3 POSITIONS OF CURRENT TOP 10
FOR MID-BOTTOM OF THE FUNNEL QUERIES
TARGETED BY SOFTWARE LISTINGS AND
COMPARISONS PAGES
 
TAKE INTO TOP 10 PILLAR
PAGES OF COMMS
SOFTWARE FOR REMOTE
PROFESSIONALS
IMPROVE KEY REMOTE WORK USER JOURNEY
CONTENT SOCIAL TRAFFIC BY 50%
Content goals
 
[What the Content
team cares about]
….
IMPROVE KEY REMOTE WORK
USER JOURNEY CONTENT
ENGAGEMENT BY 50%
Biz Goals
 
[What Decision
Makers care
About]
They will allow you to easily get decision-makers
 
buy-in as well as stakeholders support

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….
COMPARISONS PAGES
 
PAGES OF COMMS
SOFTWARE FOR REMOTE
PROFESSIONALS
As well as to connect each SEO action to goals,
allowing to focus on impact and show its importance
1. RECOMMENDATIONS TO IMPROVE X
WHY IS IT IMPORTANT?
HOW DOES IT AFFECT THE SITE RANKINGS?
WHERE HAS BEEN FOUND AND IS GENERATED?
Screens
hot
SCENARIO 1
HOW CAN IT BE FIXED?
Screens
hot
SCENARIO 1
Screens
hot
SEO
Effect
Affected
Areas
Business
Importance
Optimization
Status
Execution
Difficulty
Required
resources
Priority
High Paginations Medium Low Low Technical High
1. WILL HELP TO
ACHIEVE THIS
2. TO OBTAIN THIS

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This will facilitate stakeholders support too, as you’ll be
able to connect actions to what they care about
WITH DECISION MAKERS WITH OTHER AREAS [EG. CONTENT]

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When establishing your SEO goals use the SMARTER
principles, to ensure impact and meaningfulness
SMARTER
Specific
 
[Significant]
Measurable
 
[Meaningful]
Attainable
 
[Action
 
Oriented]
Relevant
 
[Rewarding]
Time-Bound
 
[Trackable]
Evaluated
 
[Ethical]
Reviewed
 
[Rewarding]

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“Grow 150% organic search conversions YoY
 
of X, Y, Z product lines”
Specific [Significant]: Will allow to achieve the desired business goals (+150% sales)

Measurable [Meaningful]: Organic search revenue, traffic and rankings can be tracked

Attainable [Action Oriented]: You’ll have reasonable time to see results (1 year)

Relevant [Rewarding]: It will impact the relevant areas/sections to achieve sales goals

Time-Bound [Trackable]: It should be achieved during a specific time (1 year)

Evaluated [Ethical]: Its evolution will be assessed at the end of each month

Reviewed [Rewarding]: Its activities will be reviewed based on their impact

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Advanced Web Ranking
Run forecasts to establish different SEO goals
scenarios, showing impact on revenue

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Advanced Web Ranking
As well as how much it would cost to bring those same
visits running paid search ads, and if nothing is done

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You can use tools like AWR or Forecast Forge to
develop your rankings, traffic & conversions forecast
https://www.forecastforge.com/

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Or do it from scratch with Miracle’s guide,
 
showing the impact on revenue too
https://erudite.agency/insights/forecasting-for-seo-creating-expectation-and-showing-return-on-investment/

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Can’t tie a recommendation to a SMARTER SEO goal?
It’s a non-problem and shouldn’t be prioritized then
….
COMPARISONS PAGES
 
PAGES OF COMMS
SOFTWARE FOR REMOTE
PROFESSIONALS
Screens
hot
SCENARIO 1
Screens
hot
SCENARIO 1
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hot
SEO
Effect
Affected
Areas
Business
Importance
Optimization
Status
Execution
Difficulty
Required
resources
Priority
1. WILL HELP TO
ACHIEVE THIS?
2. TO OBTAIN THIS?
X

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Show also how
competitors are
outperforming
you in search
results by doing
what you’re
recommending
Your
 
Competitor
You

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Include how much
traffic they’re
attracting with
those group of
pages vs yours vs
Semrush

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Show also the impact on the bottom line comparing
unoptimized pages performance vs optimized ones
SHOW HOW YOU’RE LOSING MONEY WITH NON-OPTIMIZED
CATEGORIES COMPARING WITH OPTIMIZED ONES
Google Analytics

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Do this to focus on
actions that will
make the boat go
faster and show their
importance clearly

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Prioritize your SEO
recommendations
based on impact
and effort, starting
with SEO low-
hanging fruits

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You will always tend to have limited resources within
 
a restrictive timeline to execute SEO activities

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HIGH PRIORITY
 
HIGH IMPACT WITH LOW DIFFICULTY
MEDIUM PRIORITY
 
HIGH IMPACT WITH MEDIUM DIFFICULTY
 
MEDIUM IMPACT WITH LOW DIFFICULTY
LOW PRIORITY

MEDIUM IMPACT WITH MEDIUM DIFFICULTY

HIGH IMPACT WITH HIGH DIFFICULTY
DON’T PRIORITIZE

MEDIUM IMPACT WITH HIGH DIFFICULTY

LOW IMPACT
IMPACT
1
3
2
+ DIFFICULTY
+
-
2
3
Prioritize the recommendations to start with those
 
with higher potential impact and lower difficulty

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IMPACT
EFFORT
1.

To Execute
 
Now
Don’t Do
2.
 

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IMPACT
EFFORT
1.
 

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The affected areas
The SEO effect
The business importance
Current optimization
Required resources
Known restrictions
Scope
IMPACT DIFFICULTY
The impact and difficulty will be relative, connected
 
to the site goals and complexity of implementation

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IMPACT
EFFORT
1.

To Assess
 
& Prioritize
2.

To Assess
 
& Prioritize
Assess and prioritize based on your own project status,
goals and restrictions/requirements
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

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Use this SEO Recommendations Prioritization
 
Template in Google Sheets to easily do it
HTTPS://DOCS.GOOGLE.COM/SPREADSHEETS/D/15DD2VFZE203ZIKD-VTQLG3WG-YQY9A-HS5J7AT-S4JA/VIEW

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What happens when you have activities that
 
seem to have similar effort and impact?

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https://fs.blog/2016/04/second-order-thinking/
Use second-order thinking to select the one with
 
more positive implications for goals achievement

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https://www.aleydasolis.com/en/search-engine-optimization/seo-product-triangle/
Prioritize the task
with the biggest
overall impact on
the business
beyond SEO

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Doing this will
allow you to get
easier support
from
stakeholders and
other areas too

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IMPACT
EFFORT
1.

To Execute
 
Now
Don’t Do
2.
 

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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
SEO
Recommendations
Low Hanging Fruit SEO
Implementation
Week 1 Week 2 Week 3 Week 4 Week 5
SEO

Process
Goals
These are strategy agnostic SEO opportunities that
can be done in parallel to the initial SEO analysis

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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
address 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
For example, improving the CTR of top-ranked
 
pages for relevant, popular queries

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RYTE, SEOTESTING
Establishing initial and recurrent validations to always
identify these easy-to-address issues in parallel

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These will tend
to be easy to
implement and
have a straight-
forward to see
impact

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Mitigate client
or decision maker
impatience
towards results
Show value of
SEO
implementation
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 doesn’t only allow you to achieve results faster
but helps to address some of the big SEO challenges

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https://www.slideshare.net/aleydasolis/seo-low-hanging-fruit-identifying-high-impact-opportunities-fast-seoforukraine
I share more about
it in this
presentation, with
methods to
identify & address
them

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Format SEO
recommendations
to facilitate
actionability and
collaboration

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Make your SEO actions easy to understand and
implement with an actionable & concise formatting

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HTTPS://WWW.IPMA.WORLD/5WS-1H-A-TECHNIQUE-TO-IMPROVE-PROJECT-MANAGEMENT-EFFICIENCIES/
Start by establishing
the 5Ws (and the H)
for each of your SEO
recommendations

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Use them to describe and develop the actions for each
SEO recommendations, making them actionable & clear
WHAT IS IT ABOUT
WHY IS IT IMPORTANT
HOW IT SHOULD BE IDEALLY
WHO SHOULD IMPLEMENT
WHERE HAS IT BEEN FOUND
Screens
hot
SCENARIO 1
Screens
hot
SCENARIO 1
Screens
hot
SEO
Effect
Affected
Areas
Business
Importance
Optimization
Status
Execution
Difficulty
Required
resources
Priority
WHEN SHOULD IT BE DONE

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Adding an introductory summary to each of the
recommendations, highlighting the 5Ws & the H
WHAT IS IT ABOUT
WHY IS IT IMPORTANT
HOW IT SHOULD BE IDEALLY
WHO SHOULD IMPLEMENT
WHERE HAS IT BEEN FOUND
Screens
hot
SCENARIO 1
Screens
hot
SCENARIO 1
Screens
hot
SEO
Effect
Affected
Areas
Business
Importance
Optimization
Status
Execution
Difficulty
Required
resources
Priority
WHEN SHOULD IT BE DONE
SEO Recommendation
Summary

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#seoaudits at #searchnorwich by @aleyda from @orainti
Why is important?
How does it affect the site rankings?
Where it has been found and how is generated?
Screensh
ot
Scenario 1
How can it be fixed?
Screensh
ot
Scenario 1
Screensh
ot
Efecto SEO
Areas
Afectadas
Importancia
Negocio
Estado
Optimización
Dificultad
Ejecución
Recursos
Ejecución
Prioridad
ALTO
PAGINACIONE
S
MEDIO BAJO NA TECNICO 1
1. Recommendation to improve X
Screensh
ot
Why is important?
Screensho
t
Scenario 1
Screensho
t
Scenario 1
Screensho
t
Efecto SEO
Areas
Afectadas
Importancia
Negocio
Estado
Optimización
Dificultad
Ejecución
Recursos
Ejecución
Prioridad
ALTO PAGINACIONES MEDIO BAJO NA TECNICO 2
2. Recommendation to fix Y
Screensho
t
Why is important?
Screensh
ot
Scenario 1
Screensh
ot
Scenario 1
Screensh
ot
Efecto SEO
Areas
Afectadas
Importancia
Negocio
Estado
Optimización
Dificultad
Ejecución
Recursos
Ejecución
Prioridad
ALTO PAGINACIONES MEDIO BAJO NA TECNICO 3
3. Recommendation to improve Z
Screensh
ot
START
WITH
HIGHEST
PRIORITY
The document organization should be prioritized,
 
starting with the highest priority recommendations

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Use this Action Driven and Prioritized SEO
 
Recommendations Template in Google Slides for it
HTTPS://DOCS.GOOGLE.COM/PRESENTATION/D/1NBI_KDHYHHUKQNSJ1CCQFM4KABLNYBN8BFGW955IIBC/VIEW

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RECOMMENDATIONS
AFFECTED
AREAS
SEO
EFFECT
BUSINESS
IMPORTANCE
CURRENT
OPTIMIZATION
CONTENT
SUPPORT
TECH
SUPPORT
LINKBUILDING
SUPPORT
IMPLEMENTATION
DIFFICULTY
VALIDATED
PRIORITY
PAGE
PERSON IN
CHARGE
IMPLEMENTA
TION DATE
LAUNCHING
DATE
NOINDEX AND BLOCK
CRAWLING OF INTERNAL
SEARCH RESULT PAGES
THAT GENERATE CONTENT
DUPLICATION
INTERNAL
SEARCH RESULT
PAGES
HIGH LOW LOW NO YES NO LOW 1 1 MARIA 01/08/2021 15/08/2021
INDEX THE PAGES OF
COLORED FILTERS WITH
SEARCH VOLUME HIGHER
THAN 100
COLORED
FILTERED PAGES
OF SUB-
CATEGORIES
HIGH HIGH LOW YES YES NO MEDIUM 2 5 MARIA 15/08/2021 30/08/2021
301 REDIRECT OLD PAGES
WITH 404 HTTP STATUS
PAGES ATTRACTING
EXTERNAL LINKS
OLD BLOG
POSTS FROM
PREVIOUS BLOG
VERSION
MEDIUM MEDIUM LOW NO YES NO MEDIUM 4 10 JAVIER 30/08/2021 15/09/2021
DIFFERENTIATE SUB-
CATEGORIES pages TITLES
INCLUDING THE SUB-
CATEGORY NAME IN THEM
SUB-CATEGORY
PAGES
MEDIUM MEDIUM MEDIUM YES YES NO MEDIUM 3 15 JAVIER 15/09/2021 30/09/2021
WHAT WHY
WHERE WHO WHEN
HOW
The 5Ws and H will also facilitate recos planning
 
and coordination with other team members too

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Create an executive summary highlighting the top
recommendations targeted at decision-makers
Executive Summary
SEO Recommendations Gathered SEO Issues Data
….
Decision Makers

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They should easily refer to the SEO recommendations
& gathered data for operational stakeholders
Executive Summary
….
Operational Stakeholders

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Use a collaborative document format & organization
that facilitate stakeholders & decision-makers to review
Executive Summary
….
Google Slides Google Docs Google Sheets

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HTTPS://WWW.ATLASSIAN.COM/AGILE/PROJECT-MANAGEMENT/USER-STORIES
Leverage user
stories to
establish minimum
requirements
 
to accept the
tasks as “done”

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RACI
Who is RESPONSIBLE
for the job?
Who is ACCOUNTABLE for final
decisions and ultimate ownership?
Who is CONSULTED before a
decision or action is taken?
Who is INFORMED that the
decision or action has been taken?
Along the RACI model to establish the SEO process
roles & responsibilities for each action

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It’s not only delivering the SEO recommendations, but
ensuring there’s a framework in place to execute them

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Establish ongoing
actions to prevent
new SEO issues &
leverage
opportunities
during the process

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SEO auditing
should be a
recurrent activity
to prevent issues
and identify
opportunities on
an on-going basis

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I asked around and a high share SEOs efforts go to fix
already existing stuff rather than building new one

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FIX

Eliminating/minimizing Tech Debt to avoid crawlability/indexability/Page
Experience issues that will hold the site pages back from ranking well
IMPROVE

Optimizing existing site content for already targeted
relevant queries to Improve their rankings, traf
fi
c &
conversions
BUILD

Creating Content to Target
New Relevant Queries
through user search journey
aligning with product/
marketing initiatives to
achieve business goals
The Pyramid of SEO Success Needs
We’re stuck fixing and improving, rather than building
which is how we actually get results to the next level

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That’s why SEO recommendations should set ongoing
 
SEO quality assurance measures during the process
SEO RECOS ONGOING SEO IMPLEMENTATION
SEO QUALITY ASSURANCE FRAMEWORK

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With ongoing SEO education, validation and
monitoring measures for an optimal execution
SEO RECOS ONGOING SEO IMPLEMENTATION
EDUCATION
 
To prevent SEO
mistakes
VALIDATION
 
To avoid launching
 
SEO Errors
MONITORING
 
To catch SEO
incidents fast

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COMPANY CONTENT OPTIMIZATION & TECH SEO
GUIDELINES/WIKI
ONLINE SEO TRAINING AND Q&AS FOR TECH/CONTENT/
[STAKEHOLDERS] TEAMS
RECOMMENDATIONS AND REPORTS FEATURING SEO
CONCEPTS & IMPORTANCE TOWARDS GOALS
INCLUDE A “WHY DOES THIS
MATTER” SECTION IN AUDIT &
REPORTS
CREATE PERSONALIZED
GUIDELINES WITHIN WIKI/PM
PLATFORM
DO LIVE (AND RECORD) WEBINARS
& Q&AS WITH INVOLVED TEAMS
Establish your SEO Quality Framework with a base of
SEO education when delivering SEO recommendations

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Develop Online SEO Training for Tech, Content
 
teams using SEO recommendations insights

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Personalize the
training based on
the team/
audience profile
Feature real
scenarios &
examples from
your SEO audit &
research
Don’t blame or
have a negative
focus,
acknowledge
efforts so far
It’s critical to show the value of SEO in other teams’
goals, to establish understanding & minimize issues

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Record your
SEO training so
videos can be
played to new
team members

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Develop a Company
SEO Wiki w/ Content
& Tech SEO Best
Practices that you can
easily refer

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WEB PLATFORM CONFIGURATION/SETTINGS CHANGES
INTEGRATED VALIDATION
CONTENT OPTIMIZATION & TECH SEO CONFIGURATION
CHECKLIST FOR COMMON WORKFLOWS
RECURRING / ONGOING SEO TECH/CONTENT VALIDATION
PRE & POST WEB RELEASES
SET RECURRING CRAWLS
 
WITH SEO CRAWLERS
WEB PLATFORMS SEO
CONFIGURATION CHECKS
CREATE EASY TO FOLLOW/USE
CHECKLISTS FOR USUAL
ACTIVITIES
Strengthen your SEO Quality Framework with a
seamless SEO execution validation workflow

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HTTPS://DOCS.GOOGLE.COM/SPREADSHEETS/D/1LGC9RXURRTV2K0ZSCKH1CIREQ9E9RP7-04K1WNVIKHG/EDIT?USP=SHARING
Set & agree on teams
usage of content &
tech configuration
checklist for common
workflows

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Automate
feasible SEO
validations within
the Web platform
w/ plugins & Dev
support
INDEXABLE CATEGORY PAGES WITH <3 INVENTORY & NO SPECIFIC DESCRIPTION
HAS > N
TRAFFIC
OBFUSCATE LINKS,
ELIMINATE FROM XML
SITEMAPS AND
CANONICALIZE PARENT
CATEGORY
TARGETS
QUERY > Y
SEARCH
VOLUME
HAS
FEATURED >3
PRODUCTS IN
LAST X
MONTHS
NO
YES
NO YES
NO
KEEP INDEXED AND ADD
SPECIFIC DESCRIPTION

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Set a release validation workflow with devs,
 
to crawling before & after launching
PRE-RELEASE SEO
VALIDATION: OK?
SEO
IMPLEMENTATION
YES
NO
YES
ON-GOING SEO
VALIDATION
SEO RELEASE
NO
FIX
POST-RELEASE SEO
VALIDATION: OK?
YES
NO
FIX
ON-GOING SEO
VALIDATION: OK?
FIX

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Take into consideration “what-ifs” scenarios,
 
to establish actions if incidents arise
PRE-RELEASE SEO
VALIDATION: OK?
SEO
IMPLEMENTATION
YES
NO
YES
ON-GOING SEO
VALIDATION
SEO RELEASE
NO
FIX
POST-RELEASE SEO
VALIDATION: OK?
YES
NO
FIX
ON-GOING SEO
VALIDATION: OK?
YES
NO
FIX IN LESS
24H
REVERSE
IMPLEMENTATION

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Your SEO validation is
only going to be as
strong as your
alignment with the
team in charge

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HTTPS://WWW.PIPEDOUT.COM/RESOURCES/DIY-UNIT-TESTING-FOR-SEO/
Is the Website too big & dynamic to identify changes
easily? Check each page type with your "unit tests”
By Dominic Woodman

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Errors will still happen from time to time! Set a
monitoring system to catch, fix fast & learn to avoid

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WEB CONTENT & TECHNICAL CONFIGURATION CHANGES
ALERTS
WEBSITE SEARCH CRAWLING ISSUES ALERTS
WEB RANKINGS DECREASE/INCREASE ALERTS
ORGANIC SEARCH TRAFFIC & CONVERSIONS DECREASE/
INCREASE ALERTS
QUERIES SEARCH POPULARITY DECREASE/INCREASE
ALERTS
MENTIONS & BACKLINKS ALERTS
SPAM OR MANUAL ACTIONS ALERTS
It’s about catching critical SEO configurations and
 
KPIs changes fast to take action before it’s too late
WEB ANALYTICS TOOLS
SEO CONFIGURATION ALERTS TOOLS
(LITTLE WARDEN, CONTENTKING)
WEB SERVER LOG MONITORING TOOL
AND SEARCH CONSOLE
RANK TRACKERS
SEARCH TRENDS TOOLS
MENTIONS/BACKLINKS TOOLS
GOOGLE SEARCH CONSOLE

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Monitor it all: From Crawlability and Indexability,
Rankings, Traffic, to Backlinks & Manual Actions
MENTIONS & BACKLINKS
SPAM & MANUAL ACTIONS
ORGANIC SEARCH TRAFFIC & CONVERSIONS
SEARCH TRENDS CHANGES
WEB RANKINGS & SERPS CTR
CONTENT OPTIMIZATION
CRAWLABILITY & INDEXABILITY CONFIGURATIONS

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LITTLE WARDEN & CONTENTKING
Use real-time SEO crawlers like ContentKing or
LittleWarden to identify SEO changes in real time

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Configure your Real-time monitoring to catch when
meaningful tech & content configurations change

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Too many pages updating all the time? Monitor
Critical URLs of each type with your own criteria

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Configure the alerts so they go to the relevant email,
slack or project management tool to not be missed

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WEB PLATFORM CONFIGURATION/SETTINGS CHANGES INTEGRATED VALIDATION
ORGANIC SEARCH TRAFFIC & CONVERSIONS DECREASE/INCREASE ALERTS
WEB RANKINGS DECREASE/INCREASE ALERTS
QUERIES SEARCH POPULARITY DECREASE/INCREASE ALERTS
WEB CONTENT & TECHNICAL CONFIGURATION CHANGES ALERTS
CONTENT OPTIMIZATION & TECH SEO CONFIGURATION CHECKLIST FOR COMMON WORKFLOWS
COMPANY CONTENT OPTIMIZATION & TECH SEO GUIDELINES/WIKI
ONLINE SEO TRAINING AND Q&AS FOR TECH/CONTENT/[STAKEHOLDERS] TEAMS
RECURRING / ONGOING SEO TECH/CONTENT VALIDATION PRE & POST WEB RELEASES
EDUCATION
VALIDATION
MONITORING
MENTIONS & BACKLINKS ALERTS
WEBSITE SEARCH CRAWLING ISSUES ALERTS
SPAM OR MANUAL ACTIONS ALERTS
RECOMMENDATIONS AND REPORTS FEATURING SEO CONCEPTS & IMPORTANCE TOWARDS GOALS
This is how you
say goodbye to
continuous
SEO F*ck Ups
that hold your
execution back

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https://www.slideshare.net/aleydasolis/goodbye-seo-fck-ups-learn-to-set-an-seo-quality-assurance-frameworkpdf
Learn more about
setting a Quality
Assurance
Framework in this
presentation

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It shouldn’t be only a matter of catching errors faster,
 
you should prevent them in the first place

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Develop frequent
recommendations
reviews & tests to
keep them relevant
and impactful

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POPULAR &
 
AUTHORITATIVE
RELEVANT &
 
TRUSTWORTHY
CRAWLABLE &
 
INDEXABLE
GREAT USER
 
EXPERIENCE
RANKABLE
 
FOR RELEVANT
 
QUERIES
>
YOUR PAGE
YOUR COMPETITORS PAGES
Your search
landscape will
shift and your
SEO actions
should update
accordingly
SEARCH BEHAVIOR SEARCH RESULTS
COMPETITORS

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Remember the R of smarter goals: These & activities
 
tied with them should be reviewed when reporting
SMARTER
Specific
 
[Significant]
Measurable
 
[Meaningful]
Attainable
 
[Action
 
Oriented]
Relevant
 
[Rewarding]
Time-Bound
 
[Trackable]
Evaluated
 
[Ethical]
Reviewed
 
[Rewarding]

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How are your activities impacting goals? Are they still
“making the boat go faster”? Is an update needed?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q_CSuBqYkZI

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MEANINGFUL KPIS
CLEAR
 
DATA PRESENTATION
DATA STORYTELLING
COMMUNICATE
RESULTS
EXPLAIN THE
CAUSE OF
RESULTS
DRIVE ACTION
TO ACHIEVE
GOALS
SEO reports should help you to not only communicate
results but review & refine actions to achieve goals

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+50% SEO Process ROI in
12 months
GOAL
SEO Process ROI
KPI
Organic Search Revenue
 
 
SEO related Cost
(Consulting, resources)
METRICS
1st in Organic Search Traffic
marketshare in 12 months
Organic Search Traffic
marketshare
Website Organic search
traffic
 
 
Competitors Organic search
traffic
PROGRESS
TO BE SHOWN
VIA
TO BE
CALCULATED
WITH
Monitor & review your SEO goals achievement with
meaningful KPIs that stakeholders care about

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https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1g88EW02BRQGtaHQQ6wohL0jUVrSqcozaLUcTqbveNfQ/view?usp=sharing
Here’s a Sheet version of the SEO report Planner
 
for using meaningful KPIs

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Leverage data storytelling to communicate what’s
happening, the cause of results and how to proceed
What happened? Why Did it Happen? How to Proceed?
SETUP CONFLICT RESOLUTION

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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 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.
Partial 1st Release Partial 2nd Release
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.
RECOMMENDATIONS
CAUSE OF RESULTS
RESULT
Your SEO reports
should be a
“review” &
extension of your
SEO
recommendations

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Executive Summary
PAGE 1 PAGE 2 PAGE 3
KPI 3
KPI 2 KPI 1
KPI 3
KPI 1
KPI 2
SEO Goals Progress Overview
Setup

Conflict

Resolution
Setup

Conflict

Resolution
Setup

Conflict

Resolution
Conclusion
Data Appendix
SEO REPORT STRUCTURE
Use this SEO Report structure to facilitate
 
data storytelling and action

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

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Negative results
don’t need to
damage client
perception!
Show you know
why they
happened & what
to do next

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https://www.slideshare.net/aleydasolis/seo-reporting-for-success-at-fos22
Learn more
about
developing
effective SEO
reports in this
presentation

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Is it difficult to
assess the impact
of some actions
to re-prioritize
further or get
buy-in for?

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Run tests to
assess their
impact in your
context or see if
there are better
alternate ways to
achieve results
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!

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Leverage SEO testing tools to execute different
 
types of SEO tests, from group to split tests
SEOtesting.com, Ryte, Zippy, Splitsignal

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You can integrate directly with CDN workers
 
to implement test changes fast
Ranksense, Zippy

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https://www.slideshare.net/chr156r33n/how-to-construct-your-own-seo-a-b-split-tests-for-free
You can also create
your own SEO A/B
Split Tests for Free
by using Google
Tag Manager as
Chris shows here

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This will allow
you to change
what is not
impactful fast
and identify
opportunities to
leverage

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Too much work?

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It’s about developing SEO Audits That Matter
 
& Get Implemented for SEO Success
Make your SEO
audits solutions
focused to develop
action driven
recommendations
Connect each of
your SEO
recommendations to
SMARTER SEO
goals
Prioritize your SEO
recommendations
based on impact and
effort, with SEO low-
hanging fruits
Format SEO
recommendations to
facilitate actionability
and collaboration
Establish ongoing
actions to prevent
new SEO issues &
leverage
opportunities during
the process
Develop frequent
recommendations
reviews & tests to
keep them relevant
and impactful

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This makes it worth it!

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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 Newsletter Wrangler

* Maker LearningSEO.io

* European Search Personality of the Year in 2018

* remoters.net Co-Founder
Thank you! Questions?

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How to Make SEO Audits That Matter & Get Implemented for SEO Success - The Extended Edition at #SEOCampixx

How to Make SEO Audits That Matter & Get Implemented for SEO Success - The Extended Edition at #SEOCampixx

Aleyda Solis

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