Use Data Or Be Used By Data!

The April 29 issue of Seotistics is here for you!

We often talk about SEO, Content and Links but forget about execution.

Processes and Frameworks are all... your guiding compass in a sea of uncertainty.

This issue acts as a review of some great concepts you should know!

P.S. I am implementing a referral system this week. You'll be able to invite friends to Seotistics and get amazing rewards!

Expect more surprises in the next few weeks and updates on my course!

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Simple > Complex

Before we even start, I want to remind you that last time we discussed about complexity.

It's important to embrace simplicity and only adopt complex solutions if you can't solve your problem.

A simple process is a better one.

You often see crazy solutions on social media to achieve useless tasks...

those processes will only increase costs and won't contribute to the business.

Below is an example of how to monitor what's going on with your website.

Also check this past Seotistics issue on the intangibles in SEO.

How To Start Building Processes

Let's say you have a website and want to get maximum value now.

Do the following:

Brainstorm what are your current processes, if you have any. If not, find your activities.
Evaluate your resources and goals
Start writing down a series of tasks in sequential order
Document each step in detail to be sure the others understand

That's it, you don't have to make it complex. Once you are able to do this simple exercise, your organization will skyrocket.

Woman processing Blank Template - Imgflip — Y'all while trying to figure out how to make SEO easier

Quick example for you: I want a process to update my articles for my fictional website/company.

Fair enough, let's go through all the steps:

I don't have any current process, I just use GSC
Resources amount to 2 people (writer and editor), goal is updating articles before decay hits hard
Planning how to update articles, first do analysis, then edit the article, etc.
Document the process for easier scaling

Point(s) Of Friction

No process is flawless and you may notice some point(s) of friction.

Let's say that your editors are often struggling with one step of the process, this would be a problem because it slows down the entire process.

You can think of it as a bottleneck.

BOTTLENECK EFFECT – Kaizen Chronicles — Source: https://clubkaizenblog.wordpress.com/2022/01/30/bottleneck-effect/

It's important to spot them and allocate more resources, if necessary.

Or you may want to change the process to remove steps that cause friction within your organization.

You don't need complex stuff in 90% of the cases, you will notice what's wrong by asking!

The Role Of Data

Data has always been crucial for processes, as many Management students will recall from studying Lean or Statistical Analysis in Manufacturing.

In SEO, the idea is the same, you can use data to alter your decisions and affect how you behave.

If working on a cluster or idea isn't working out, you can use data to verify that.

As usual, data play a crucial role in almost everything, given that you know how to use it.

And algorithms such as those for Anomaly Detection are my favorite choice for monitoring.

Google Analytics 4 gives you a taste of them, as you can see in the picture below.

This chart isn't even that important, go check out my past issue on GA4 instead!

So what happened on those days? It's up to you to investigate and see if that's something you can ignore or an actual problem.

But I know you like serious sh*t and want to have your own models or experiments.

You can do it yourself with R or Python, as the field of Anomaly Detection is a big one.

The interpretation of the above plot is explained here.

Cloud Automation

I've been talking about Cloud here and there, it's definitely one of those think to look for if you want to build solid processes.

Cloud tools are also part of my SEO stack, as you can see from the processes I mentioned in my article.

On an enterprise level, you'll almost always see Google Cloud because of its flexibility.

If you are half serious about large projects, you should explore at least Google BigQuery!

Doing VS Thinking

You know I love Execution and what I tell you is centered on actually doing something at the end.

That shouldn't lead you astray from thinking and abstracting things out.

One of the things I notice the most in many many fields is the inability to look at the big picture.

Throughout history, the contrast between detail and overview (micro vs macro) has always been present.

Now you would relate this concept to zooming (in or out) within your website.

Your audits/analyses may unlock new processes that can alter how your clients work.

But you don't need to change an efficient process just for a new tool or because of "innovation".

Writing is cool; protecting your content over time, scaling it and repeating it across 100 websites is better.

Sometimes, I love spending some time alone to think about strategy.

It's important to think about what you can do and if your focus is correct.

Just publishing doesn't make the cut, especially if you want a dominant market share.

Example: My Process For Writing

As long as you get results and can protect them over time, anything goes.

My process for writing can be reduced to:

Preparing Plan
Research
Briefs
Writing
Editing
Updating

Yes, that's it.

Of course, in reality each step gets documented and articulated differently...

but the idea is exactly the same.

I list the possible steps and try to keep it as simple as possible.

The Checklist/Model For Deciding

If you are still unsure about a project, consider the following:

How profitable can I be?
When should I stop investing money?
What would be my monthly costs?

Financial estimation is important to prevent you from embarking on bad projects.

A good method I've learned from this book is to create a decision tree like the one below.

The 6 Step Process for Better Decision Making. - WisdomFromExperts — Source: https://wisdomfromexperts.com/to-make-a-good-decision-you-must-use-a-decision-tree-with-probabilities/, OG Book in Recommended Reads

Each decision gets several potential outcomes, with a likelihood (words) and the related percentage.

This simple but powerful tool allows you to ponder complex decisions.

Right now, after the onset of the HCU, I'd not recommend embarking on fresh projects unless you plan on using 2-3 channels!

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Even if you leave SEO, the foundations are the same for other jobs!

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Going Beyond SEO

SEO is a strange beast because it's historically under Marketing, yet we consider it as separate.

It's a marketing channel like others so you should reconcile it with the rest.

This often refers to the content side of SEO, so how you can repurpose and distribute your articles across other channels.

This isn't about SEO but about managing the entire website and business.

Operations are the heart of what you do.

What I said in this issue applies to other completely different jobs too!

You could follow such advice if you are a Business Analyst or even an entrepreneur (make sure to tweak it though!).

👥 Join Our Community

Our Discord community offers a small place where we can talk business and SEO.

If you hate all the noise of social media, then this place is for you.

P.S. We are having weekly calls on Tuesday where we can discuss about what you want!

Join our Discord Community!

📚 Recommended Reads - Peak Content 🗻

Read this and you will learn a tons of valuable lessons!

Most of the knowledge you need isn't even SEO related...

having solid processes require you to go beyond hard skills!

🔎 Analytics For SEO Ebook (v7)

If you want to learn about Analytics for SEO and get the best resource out there, this is for you.

It will teach you or your employees to:

👉 Prepare audits that make sense and are actionable 🔥

👉 Avoid common pitfalls that cost you money 💸

👉 Create analyses that add value and money💯

👉 Move the needle faster with efficient SEO systems ⏳

This comes with periodical updates to keep the content fresh.

Unlock Powerful Insights Now!

📞 One-Hour Call

If you have doubts about SEO or Analytics, you can book a call with me.

Have doubts about your content website or with your data?

Look no further, I can help you:

Book A Call Now!

❗️ Feedback and Recommendations

If you have ideas/recommendations for the next issues of Seotistics, you can simply reply to this email.

Marco Giordano
SEO Specialist & Data Analyst

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Bernerstrasse Süd 169, Zurich, Switzerland
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🏗 SEOps: Build Processes & Monitor Them With Data