The document discusses approaches for justifying budgets for SEO testing during times of economic uncertainty. It recommends moving fast with tests to prove the worth of SEO initiatives. It also suggests focusing on avoiding losses to address risk aversion, and structuring business cases around quick wins, efficiency gains, and avoiding losses to secure budgets. The document provides tips like connecting initiatives to business goals and outcomes, and emphasizing certainty over size of outcomes when justifying large spends.

2. Source: https://yhoo.it/44kiejN

3. Source: https://yhoo.it/44kiejN
Left college

4. Source: https://yhoo.it/44kiejN
Left college
Ran our
first
conference

5. Source: https://yhoo.it/44kiejN
Left college
Ran our
first
conference
Launched
SearchPilot

6. Source: https://yhoo.it/3P6bSiL

7. Source: https://yhoo.it/3P6bSiL

8. Source: https://yhoo.it/3P6bSiL
Bought
platinum
wedding
rings

9. Source: https://yhoo.it/44kiejN
Left college
Ran our
first
conference
Launched
SearchPilot

10. As a result, this is your CFO.

11. …and if youʼre not careful.

12. Source: https://www.statista.com/chart/12136/worldwide-digital-and-tv-ad-spending/
Whatʼs happening now is most like what we saw in 2008/2009 - delaying and pausing.

13. There are certain
themes that Iʼm
hearing again and
again

14. “Engineering resources
allocated to SEO have
been reduced recently”

15. “Weʼre being asked to
do more with less”

16. First, Iʼm going to talk
about some
approaches to dealing
with these problems:

17. Move fast
and prove
your worth

18. Move fast
and prove
your worth
Tips for
driving the
efficiencies
CFOs want

19. Move fast
and prove
your worth
Tips for
driving the
efficiencies
CFOs want
Loss
aversion is
more
important
than ever

20. Iʼm coming from a background heavily in SEO testing:

21. For the purposes of this talk, the cool part is dashboards:

23. Head to the
breakout
room during
Q&A to learn
more about
how SEO
testing works

24. Many of you may already be running SEO tests. I hope
this is useful to you either way!
1. Securing budgets for testing 2. Protecting budgets with testing

25. Move fast
and prove
your worth
Tips for
driving the
efficiencies
CFOs want
Loss
aversion is
more
important
than ever

26. Move fast and
prove your worth
1.

27. FASTER
MORE
CERTAIN

28. CERTAIN

29. FAST

30. Cheap change
Strong
hypothesis
Weak
hypothesis
Expensive change Link

31. Cheap change
Strong
hypothesis
Require high
confidence of large
enough uplift for
cost
WAIT until ruled out
Weak
hypothesis
Expensive change Link

32. Cheap change
Strong
hypothesis
Consider deploying
if moderate
confidence of any
uplift
Require high
confidence of large
enough uplift for
cost
WAIT until ruled out
Require moderate
confidence of large
enough uplift for
cost
WAIT until ruled out
Weak
hypothesis
Expensive change Link

33. Cheap change
Strong
hypothesis
Consider deploying
as long as not
trending negative
[>50% chance +ve]
Consider deploying
if moderate
confidence of any
uplift
Require high
confidence of large
enough uplift for
cost
WAIT until ruled out
Require moderate
confidence of large
enough uplift for
cost
WAIT until ruled out
Weak
hypothesis
Expensive change Link

34. Cheap change
Strong
hypothesis
Weak
hypothesis
Expensive change

35. Cheap change
Strong
hypothesis
Require moderate
confidence of large
enough uplift for
cost
Weak
hypothesis
Expensive change

36. Consider deploying
as long as not
trending negative
Cheap change
Strong
hypothesis
Consider deploying
as long as not
trending negative
Require moderate
confidence of large
enough uplift for
cost
Weak
hypothesis
Expensive change

37. Consider deploying
as long as not
trending negative
Cheap change
Strong
hypothesis
Just SHIP
Consider deploying
as long as not
trending negative
Require moderate
confidence of large
enough uplift for
cost
Weak
hypothesis
Expensive change

38. 2.
Tips for driving
the efficiencies
CFOs want

39. Without testing

40. Without testing
With testing

41. Avoid losers
Without testing

42. Avoid ineffective
Without testing

43. All the wins!
Without testing

44. Without testing
Same result, less
engineering!

45. 3.
LOSS AVERSION is
more important
than ever right
now

46. Consider deploying
as long as not
trending negative
Cheap change
Strong
hypothesis
Just SHIP
Consider deploying
as long as not
trending negative
Require moderate
confidence of large
enough uplift for
cost
Weak
hypothesis
Expensive change

47. Big drops are immediately career-limiting
Small drops are compounding problems

48. Move fast
and prove
your worth
Tips for
driving the
efficiencies
CFOs want
Loss
aversion is
more
important
than ever

49. Next, I want to talk
through some tips for
securing budgets
generally. Learning
from a couple of
common mistakes:

50. 1.
Thinking large
spends are
impossible to
justify

51. Poker players train
themselves to think in
odds rather than $$$

53. Remember the scale of company budgets

54. 2.
Thinking that
vague
justifications are
sufficient

55. Itʼs critical to tie your arguments to real business goals

56. Tip: look at what your CEO is saying on earnings calls

57. Connect to the overall channel size and / or opportunity
Source: https://www.similarweb.com/website/nike.com/#traffic-sources

58. Certainty of outcome
> Size of outcome

59. Finally, here is how I
think about
structuring business
cases for SEO testing
in particular:

60. Quickly pays for itself
1.

61. Derisk
with
quick
wins

62. Business case in efficiency gains
2.
Quickly pays for itself
1.

63. Without testing
Same result, less
engineering!

64. Safety and security in avoiding losses
3.
Business case in efficiency gains
2.
Quickly pays for itself
1.

65. “Just two losses
avoided would justify
for the whole
program.”
Focus on high confidence outcomes:

66. Big wins and ROI is the 🍒 on the 🧁
4.
Safety and security in avoiding losses
3.
Business case in efficiency gains
2.
Quickly pays for itself
1.

67. “Our expected
outcome is an
additional $100m in
revenue.”
It can be hard for the business to believe huge
positive upsides:

68. Big wins and ROI is the 🍒 on the 🧁
4.
Safety and security in avoiding losses
3.
Business case in efficiency gains
2.
Quickly pays for itself
1.

69. Head to the
breakout
room shortly if
you want to
learn more
about how
SEO testing
works

71. Thanks!
Subscribe here:
https://www.searchpilot.com/resources/newsletter
If you have follow-ups, email me: will.critchlow@searchpilot.com

72. Image credits
● Armadillo - Dennis Church
● Armadillo ball - Nathan Rupert
● Clouds - Tom Barrett
● Lightning - Johannes Plenio
● Castle - Tim Schmidbauer
● Armor - Natasa Grabovac
● Dollar - Kenny Eliason
● Poker chips - Apolo Photographer