Mozcon NYC 2025: Stop Losing SEO Traffic

Presented at Mozcon NYC 2025. For all mentioned resources, go to https://thegray.company/blog/mozcon-2025-nyc

Transcript

1. Stop Losing SEO Traffic BY SAM TORRES
2. Problem: MOMENT OF DREAD ???
3. Traffic is Down Senior leadership needs answers
4. Which often leads to a scramble •Scrambling to find the right data •Cobbling different sources together •Too little insight leading to too much guesswork
5. • Poor resource decisions • Lost revenue • Team burnout …which comes with business costs -$ -$ -$ -$ -$ -$
6. You need a system, not a scramble • Most teams are reactive with their data, and often delayed • Too many focus on dashboards, not finding solutions • Lack of repeatable processes to define, track, & optimize performance
7. • Two-sided marketplace serving both consumers & service providers • ~1.3B impressions & ~25M clicks annually • International availability • Supports multiple services • Highly localized search intent = MANY search term variations Example Client Tons of Plant Varieties (Query Variations) Microclimates (Local Intent) Garden Beds (Services/Markets)
8. But first, resources…
9. 3-Step SEO Triage Step 1 Pinpoint Step 2 Plan Step 3 Prove
10. the Problem Step 1 It’s all about how you slice the data to find the problem areas Pinpoint
11. Leverage AI for precision Pinpoint the Problem Step 1
12. 1. Gather your GSC data using Search Analytics for Sheets 2. Build traffic models using machine learning 3. Investigate anomalies Anomaly Detection with Machine Learning Pinpoint the Problem Step 1
13. Building a Forecast Model Pinpoint the Problem Step 1 • Use Google Colab • Code your notebook with Claude • Recommended models: • Isolation forest • Local outlier factor • Forecast-residual approach
14. Building a Forecast Model Pinpoint the Problem Step 1
15. Seasonality “Weather” Topic or intent query clusters “Plant Types/Species” URL groups (templates, directory/folder) “Garden Beds” SERP feature changes “Pollinators/competition” Search type “Indoor/outdoor” Geo/Local Intent “Microclimates” Device “Shade vs Sun”
16. Pinpoint the Problem Step 1 Tool Recommendation
17. Pinpoint the Problem Step 1 Steep vs. Gradual Pattern Recognition to Identify the Likely Culprit(s)
18. 3-Step SEO Triage Step 2 Plan Step 3 Prove Step 1 Pinpoint 3-Step SEO Triage
19. Step 2 Plan SEO playbook you know & love • Manual penalties • Tech health • Backlink profile • Algorithm updates • SERP changes • Site content quality • Competition • Market shifts
20. • Check GSC alerts • …don’t be shady Manual Penalties Plan Step 2
21. • Check GSC messages weekly • Conduct logfile analysis regularly • Ensure site monitoring is enabled • Look for issues that scale by auditing templates Tech Health Plan Step 2
22. Tech Health Plan Step 2 • Monitor the site’s technical health with Moz Pro
23. Tech Health Plan Step 2 • Adopt template- based technical auditing with tools like Sitebulb
24. • Quality over quantity • Disavow carefully • Engage in digital PR • Consistency in your entity Backlink Profile Plan Step 2
25. • Use GSC Guardian Chrome extension • Marie Haynes’ Google algorithm update list • Join communities like Women in Tech SEO and The SEO Community Algorithm Updates & SERP Changes Plan Step 2
26. • Benchmark content against new ranking leaders • Conduct gap analysis • Review for cannibalization • Own your topics • Prune the fluff Site Content Quality Plan Step 2
27. Keyword Cannibalization Plan Step 2 • Identify content to consolidate, retire, or better differentiate • Recommended tools: SEO Gets, SEOTesting
28. Conduct a competitive audit, looking at both on-page factors (UX, content quality) and domain-level factors (DA, referrals) Competition Plan Step 2
29. Comparing On-Page Factors Plan Step 2
30. Use Google Trends or top of the funnel keyword research to understand shifts in demand for overarching topics, products, and categories. Market Shifts Plan Step 2
31. Google Trends Topics Plan Step 2 • Use “Categories” to drill down to your industry • Periodically review the Top and Rising topics
32. • Gauge prevalence across site (as a share/percentage) • Estimate level of effort and impact How To Prioritize The Fixes Plan Step 2
33. Your Recovery Roadmap Plan Step 2 • Use weighted value-delivery to make prioritizing easier
34. 3-Step SEO Triage Step 2 Plan Step 3 Prove Step 1 Pinpoint 3-Step SEO Triage
35. 3-Step SEO Triage Step 3 Prove Show ROI to secure buy-in • Relevant case studies • Small proof-of-concept tests • AI-powered forecasting models
36. Building Proof of Concept Test Cases 1. Review your plan to see what can be broken down into smaller increments 2. Decide what kind of test: sampling, time-based, or user-based? 3. Calculate for statistical significance 4. Document what metrics you expect to be impacted 5. Run the test Prove Step 3
37. Forecasting Models • Use fan charts to communicate confidence intervals / margin of error • Resource: Tom Capper's forecast model from the Moz blog Prove Step 3
38. Recap
39. Step 1 Pinpoint 3-Step SEO Triage Step 2 Plan Step 3 Prove
40. Let’s Be Data-first & Solution-driven • The answer isn’t yet another dashboard, it’s how to find meaning in the data • Adopt “here’s what we’re going to do” language instead of “here’s what happened”
41. Use our system to… • Catch issues early • Show value fast • Build trust with stakeholders
42. /company/graydotco /in/samantha-torres-seo LinkedIn @thegray.company @sam.thegray.co BlueSky SLIDES & RESOURCES