Use Data Or Be Used By Data!

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The September 18 issue of Seotistics is here for you!

One of the biggest problems I notice with websites is about processes.

We talk about SEO, Content and Links but forget about HOW to achieve that.

Processes and Frameworks are all, it's your guiding compass in a sea of uncertainty.

Today it's time to talk about processes in layman's terms so that ANYONE can apply what I say.

🚧 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.

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:

1. I don't have any current process, I just use GSC
2. Resources amount to 2 people (writer and editor), goal is updating articles before decay hits hard
3. Planning how to update articles, first do analysis, then edit the article, etc.
4. 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.

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.

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.

Ah yes, Anomaly Detection is also one of the big topics of v6 of my ebook ;)

P.S. More example in Recommended Reads, there is 1 talk covering SEO testing!

🎬 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.

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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.

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.

📚 Recommended Reads - Peak Content 🗻

Soooooo many 🗻 reads this time and my 2nd Seotistics article too!

Content Decay is a topic that is now getting hyped up (for good reasons) but I feel that the general public treats it with simplicity.

I added 2 books that I've been reading recently that helped me improve my processes.

Special mention to Giulia's presentation as it's one of the very few out there that covers SEO Testing seriously.

Gus' presentation is another great example of combining 2 apparently different fields (Project Management + SEO).

Lastly, Abdul's book is a must-have if you want to go all in on content websites.

• ​How To Fight Content Decay With Data & Prevent It​
• ​How to Decide: Simple Tools for Making Better Choices​
• ​The Ultimate Guide to Test and Learns (by Giulia Panozzo)
• ​Data and Analytics Strategy for Business​
• ​Hidden Costs in SEO​
• ​bSEO - Think like a PM and optimise beyond the SEO bubble (by Gus Pelogia)
• ​SEO Dynamo: The Road to Six Figure with Niche Sites and PR Links​

P.S. No Twitter threads because I have been spending my week on peak content.

📞 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!

👥 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 going to host weekly calls too ;)

Join our Discord Community!

🔎 Analytics For SEO Ebook (v5) - v6 Update Next Week!

[v6 update is coming out next week. The biggest update so far...]

This ebook is aimed at SEOs or Business Owners who want to explore the combination of SEO and Analytics.

If you want to start building your data empire, this is the (initial) path to take.

It will teach you or your employees to:

👉 Avoid common pitfalls that cost you money 💸

👉 Create meaningful analyses that add value 💯

👉 Shorten the learning time of Analytics ⏳

This comes with monthly updates because I want to create the Ultimate Guide out there.

v5 includes the following new information:

✅ More than 2x the original size

✅ 10+ Python/R Notebooks

✅ How To Detect Seasonality/Anomalies

✅ Content Audits in Detail

✅ Exclusive Content

Unlock Powerful Insights Now!

v6 will be the BIGGEST update so far and will include:

👉 SQL Queries

👉 ChatGPT Prompts

👉 Updates To All The New Use Cases

👉 Frameworks & Models

❗️ 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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