Jono Alderson
Independent technical SEO consultant
Measuring What Matters
Slide 2
Slide 2 text
Jono Alderson
Independent technical SEO consultant
The illusion we built
Slide 3
Slide 3 text
Jono Alderson
Independent technical SEO consultant
Clicks don’t count
Slide 4
Slide 4 text
Jono Alderson
Independent technical SEO consultant
We built dashboards around
what we could see
Slide 5
Slide 5 text
Jono Alderson
Independent technical SEO consultant
Rankings and tra c were
interface artefacts
Slide 6
Slide 6 text
Jono Alderson
Independent technical SEO consultant
Composite authority scores
were confidence theatre
Slide 7
Slide 7 text
Jono Alderson
Independent technical SEO consultant
Attribution was a
polite fiction
Slide 8
Slide 8 text
Jono Alderson
Independent technical SEO consultant
SEO was forced into a
channel-shaped box
Slide 9
Slide 9 text
Jono Alderson
Independent technical SEO consultant
We measured
artefacts, not causes
Slide 10
Slide 10 text
Jono Alderson
Independent technical SEO consultant
AI exposed our
measurement fictions
Slide 11
Slide 11 text
Jono Alderson
Independent technical SEO consultant
What changed
Slide 12
Slide 12 text
Jono Alderson
Independent technical SEO consultant
We optimised documents
Slide 13
Slide 13 text
Jono Alderson
Independent technical SEO consultant
Systems now
evaluate entities
Slide 14
Slide 14 text
Jono Alderson
Independent technical SEO consultant
AI aggregates
distributed signals
Slide 15
Slide 15 text
Jono Alderson
Independent technical SEO consultant
The battleground is your
reputation surface
Slide 16
Slide 16 text
Jono Alderson
Independent technical SEO consultant
…Through time
Slide 17
Slide 17 text
Jono Alderson
Independent technical SEO consultant
The decision layer
moved upstream
Slide 18
Slide 18 text
Jono Alderson
Independent technical SEO consultant
Most of your metrics
describe moments that
no longer happen
Slide 19
Slide 19 text
Jono Alderson
Independent technical SEO consultant
The hard pivot
Slide 20
Slide 20 text
Jono Alderson
Independent technical SEO consultant
Discoverability and
desirability are no longer
separate problems
Slide 21
Slide 21 text
Jono Alderson
Independent technical SEO consultant
Discoverability without
desirability was a
temporary glitch
Slide 22
Slide 22 text
Jono Alderson
Independent technical SEO consultant
We mistook algorithmic gaps
for strategic strength
Slide 23
Slide 23 text
Jono Alderson
Independent technical SEO consultant
Broader evaluation
shrinks easy wins
Slide 24
Slide 24 text
Jono Alderson
Independent technical SEO consultant
SEO rejoins marketing
Slide 25
Slide 25 text
Jono Alderson
Independent technical SEO consultant
“This Isn’t SEO”
Slide 26
Slide 26 text
Jono Alderson
Independent technical SEO consultant
SEO isn’t dead, but…
Slide 27
Slide 27 text
Jono Alderson
Independent technical SEO consultant
Prompt tracking
Slide 28
Slide 28 text
Jono Alderson
Independent technical SEO consultant
Prompt tracking feels
like control
Slide 29
Slide 29 text
Jono Alderson
Independent technical SEO consultant
It’s the same trap
Slide 30
Slide 30 text
Jono Alderson
Independent technical SEO consultant
Prompts are not stable
units of demand
Slide 31
Slide 31 text
Jono Alderson
Independent technical SEO consultant
Variance is a feature,
not a signal
Slide 32
Slide 32 text
Jono Alderson
Independent technical SEO consultant
Inclusion is not preference
Slide 33
Slide 33 text
Jono Alderson
Independent technical SEO consultant
You must
measure minds
Slide 34
Slide 34 text
Jono Alderson
Independent technical SEO consultant
Yes, surveys
are challenging
Slide 35
Slide 35 text
Jono Alderson
Independent technical SEO consultant
Models cannot
report memory
Slide 36
Slide 36 text
Jono Alderson
Independent technical SEO consultant
Synthetic journeys are still
interface observations
Slide 37
Slide 37 text
Jono Alderson
Independent technical SEO consultant
Synthetic personas drift
towards optimism
Slide 38
Slide 38 text
Jono Alderson
Independent technical SEO consultant
If prompt tracking
doesn’t count, what
should?
Slide 39
Slide 39 text
Jono Alderson
Independent technical SEO consultant
None of this is new theory
Slide 40
Slide 40 text
Jono Alderson
Independent technical SEO consultant
Byron Sharp and the
Ehrenberg-Bass Institute
Slide 41
Slide 41 text
Jono Alderson
Independent technical SEO consultant
Growth comes from
availability
Slide 42
Slide 42 text
Jono Alderson
Independent technical SEO consultant
Availability is structural
Slide 43
Slide 43 text
Jono Alderson
Independent technical SEO consultant
AI doesn’t change
the theory
Slide 44
Slide 44 text
Jono Alderson
Independent technical SEO consultant
So measure availability ,
not just visibility
Slide 45
Slide 45 text
Jono Alderson
Independent technical SEO consultant
The model
Slide 46
Slide 46 text
Jono Alderson
Independent technical SEO consultant
Experience integrity
Physical availability
Mental availability
Distinctiveness
Reputation
Commercial proof
Slide 47
Slide 47 text
Jono Alderson
Independent technical SEO consultant
Experience integrity
Physical availability
Mental availability
Distinctiveness
Reputation
Commercial proof
Slide 48
Slide 48 text
Jono Alderson
Independent technical SEO consultant
Experience integrity
Physical availability
Mental availability
Distinctiveness
Reputation
Commercial proof
Slide 49
Slide 49 text
Jono Alderson
Independent technical SEO consultant
Experience integrity
Physical availability
Mental availability
Distinctiveness
Reputation
Commercial proof
Slide 50
Slide 50 text
Jono Alderson
Independent technical SEO consultant
Experience integrity
Physical availability
Mental availability
Distinctiveness
Reputation
Commercial proof
Slide 51
Slide 51 text
Jono Alderson
Independent technical SEO consultant
Experience integrity
Physical availability
Mental availability
Distinctiveness
Reputation
Commercial proof
Slide 52
Slide 52 text
Jono Alderson
Independent technical SEO consultant
Experience integrity
Physical availability
Mental availability
Distinctiveness
Reputation
Commercial proof
Slide 53
Slide 53 text
Jono Alderson
Independent technical SEO consultant
And visibility ?
Slide 54
Slide 54 text
Jono Alderson
Independent technical SEO consultant
Experience integrity
Slide 55
Slide 55 text
Jono Alderson
Independent technical SEO consultant
Become an expert in
Jobs to be done
Slide 56
Slide 56 text
Jono Alderson
Independent technical SEO consultant
Task completion rate
(completed tasks / task attempts) × 100
Slide 57
Slide 57 text
Jono Alderson
Independent technical SEO consultant
Satisfaction rate
(scores > 8 / responses) × 100
Slide 58
Slide 58 text
Jono Alderson
Independent technical SEO consultant
High friction sessions
% non-converting sessions with ‘high friction’
Slide 59
Slide 59 text
Jono Alderson
Independent technical SEO consultant
Technical quality
[I’m not going to tell you how to evaluate your
technical SEO]
Slide 60
Slide 60 text
Jono Alderson
Independent technical SEO consultant
Physical availability
Slide 61
Slide 61 text
Jono Alderson
Independent technical SEO consultant
Distribution coverage
[I’m not going to tell you how to evaluate links]
Slide 62
Slide 62 text
Jono Alderson
Independent technical SEO consultant
Inclusion in
meaningful comparisons
[I’m not going to tell you how to evaluate mentions]
Slide 63
Slide 63 text
Jono Alderson
Independent technical SEO consultant
Buying question &
documentation coverage
[I’m not going to tell you how to research
the questions your audience are asking]
Slide 64
Slide 64 text
Jono Alderson
Independent technical SEO consultant
Structured data
completeness
[I’m not going to tell you how to evaluate schema]
Slide 65
Slide 65 text
Jono Alderson
Independent technical SEO consultant
Mental availability
Slide 66
Slide 66 text
Jono Alderson
Independent technical SEO consultant
Share of branded search
(vs competitors)
brand search volume /
total branded search volume in category
Slide 67
Slide 67 text
Jono Alderson
Independent technical SEO consultant
Share of search vs
share of market
share of search vs (revenue / total category revenue)
Slide 68
Slide 68 text
Jono Alderson
Independent technical SEO consultant
Relative direct tra c
direct sessions / total direct sessions in category
Slide 69
Slide 69 text
Jono Alderson
Independent technical SEO consultant
Category entry
point coverage
CEPs where the brand has meaningful recall /
total CEPs in category
Slide 70
Slide 70 text
Jono Alderson
Independent technical SEO consultant
Category entry
point coverage
respondents recalling your brand for a CEP /
total respondents mentioning any brand for that CEP
Slide 71
Slide 71 text
Jono Alderson
Independent technical SEO consultant
Unaided recall
mentions of your brand /
total brand mentions across all respondents
Slide 72
Slide 72 text
Jono Alderson
Independent technical SEO consultant
NB, cultural salience is
future cashflow
Slide 73
Slide 73 text
Jono Alderson
Independent technical SEO consultant
…And salience compounds
Slide 74
Slide 74 text
Jono Alderson
Independent technical SEO consultant
Distinctiveness
Slide 75
Slide 75 text
Jono Alderson
Independent technical SEO consultant
Distinctive asset
recognition
respondents correctly attributing the asset to the brand /
total respondents who recognised the asset
Slide 76
Slide 76 text
Jono Alderson
Independent technical SEO consultant
Message consistency score
assets with correct positioning /
total assets evaluated
Slide 77
Slide 77 text
Jono Alderson
Independent technical SEO consultant
NB, distinctiveness reduces
cognitive load
Slide 78
Slide 78 text
Jono Alderson
Independent technical SEO consultant
Reputation
Slide 79
Slide 79 text
Jono Alderson
Independent technical SEO consultant
Sentiment
[I’m not going to tell you how to measure sentiment]
Slide 80
Slide 80 text
Jono Alderson
Independent technical SEO consultant
Narrative coherence
across time
historical brand descriptions aligned with current
positioning / total historical descriptions analysed
Slide 81
Slide 81 text
Jono Alderson
Independent technical SEO consultant
NB, reputation compounds
Slide 82
Slide 82 text
Jono Alderson
Independent technical SEO consultant
…and sentiment
stability matters
Slide 83
Slide 83 text
Jono Alderson
Independent technical SEO consultant
NB, stability increases
recommendation
probability
Slide 84
Slide 84 text
Jono Alderson
Independent technical SEO consultant
Commercial proof
Slide 85
Slide 85 text
Jono Alderson
Independent technical SEO consultant
Conversion e ciency
[I’m not going to tell you how to measure conversion rate]
Slide 86
Slide 86 text
Jono Alderson
Independent technical SEO consultant
Price resilience
sales during promotion / sales outside promotion
revenue generated during promotions / total revenue
Slide 87
Slide 87 text
Jono Alderson
Independent technical SEO consultant
Acquisition e ciency
[I’m not going to tell you how to measure cac]
Slide 88
Slide 88 text
Jono Alderson
Independent technical SEO consultant
Retention & loyalty signals
[I’m not going to tell you how to measure retention/churn]
Slide 89
Slide 89 text
Jono Alderson
Independent technical SEO consultant
The model
Slide 90
Slide 90 text
Jono Alderson
Independent technical SEO consultant
Experience integrity
Physical availability
Mental availability
Distinctiveness
Reputation
Commercial proof
Slide 91
Slide 91 text
Jono Alderson
Independent technical SEO consultant
Experience integrity
Physical availability
Mental availability
Distinctiveness
Reputation
Commercial proof
Visibility
Slide 92
Slide 92 text
Jono Alderson
Independent technical SEO consultant
Visibility
Slide 93
Slide 93 text
Jono Alderson
Independent technical SEO consultant
Visibility is a
reflection layer
Slide 94
Slide 94 text
Jono Alderson
Independent technical SEO consultant
NB, prompt tracking
lives here
Slide 95
Slide 95 text
Jono Alderson
Independent technical SEO consultant
Visibility is volatile because
reputation is aggregated
Slide 96
Slide 96 text
Jono Alderson
Independent technical SEO consultant
When visibility rises but
revenue doesn’t …
Slide 97
Slide 97 text
Jono Alderson
Independent technical SEO consultant
Visibility without
foundation is theatre
Slide 98
Slide 98 text
Jono Alderson
Independent technical SEO consultant
Closing thoughts
Slide 99
Slide 99 text
Jono Alderson
Independent technical SEO consultant
Stop playing with
the surface
Slide 100
Slide 100 text
Jono Alderson
Independent technical SEO consultant
Start optimising
the truth
Slide 101
Slide 101 text
Jono Alderson
Independent technical SEO consultant
Contribution beats
manipulation
Slide 102
Slide 102 text
Jono Alderson
Independent technical SEO consultant
What you measure
shapes behaviour
Slide 103
Slide 103 text
Jono Alderson
Independent technical SEO consultant
Clicks didn’t count.
Competitiveness does .
Slide 104
Slide 104 text
Jono Alderson
Independent technical SEO consultant