In this talk at SEOday in January 2020, I spoke to the audience about how the best SEO (& content strategy) skill isn't a coding language, keyword research technique or digital PR tactic. It's the ability to get your SEO recommendations actually put in place. To have a mindset of constant improvement & working towards a 'perfect' website - something that's not achievable, but gets you in the right mindset.

1. Getting
SEO
Done:
Why Thinking
Agile is the best
SEO skill in 2020
S E O d a y , K o l d i n g ,
J a n u a r y 2 9 t h 2 0 2 0

2. @ p a g e s a u c e
STORY
Letmetellyoua

3. I wasn’t delivering the
results I hoped I
would for some clients
Alackof
progress
Problem.
@ p a g e s a u c e

4. I wasn’t delivering the
results I hoped I
would for some clients
Alackof
progress
Problem.
@ p a g e s a u c e

5. @ p a g e s a u c e
links…
Youneedsomemore
Problem.

6. @ p a g e s a u c e
Why couldn’t I make a
consistent impact for
my agency clients?
Problem.
Alackof
consitency

7. I looked at what was
working & found a
common thread
Myown
advice
Problem.
@ p a g e s a u c e

8. Last year I said to
focus on what you can
implement to make a
better site
Myown
advice
Problem.
@ p a g e s a u c e

9. @ p a g e s a u c e
better value.
Bigger&more
detailedworkmustbe
Right?

10. @ p a g e s a u c e

11. @ p a g e s a u c e
Mostclientsonlyread
thesummary…
Problem.

12. We have a simple goal
- and every bit of work
must get us closer
Tangible
benefits
Problem.
@ p a g e s a u c e st rat ec h er y.com/2017/en ds-mean s-an d-an t it r ust /

13. Tangible
benefits
Problem.
@ p a g e s a u c e st rat ec h er y.com/2017/en ds-mean s-an d-an t it r ust /
We have a simple goal
- and every bit of work
must get us closer

14. Selling without clear,
direct ROI or results is
difficult - how much
traffic for a better
XML sitemap?
Tangible
benefits
Problem.
@ p a g e s a u c e ser vedon t sell.com/blog/sellin g-product s-v s-ser v ices

15. Its down to us to find
the ways we can start
getting clients that
feeling of progress &
momentum
Tangible
benefits
Problem.
@ p a g e s a u c e

16. Wish I’d seen this six
months before…
Tangible
benefits
Problem.
@ p a g e s a u c e

17. What mindset do we
need for this
approach to our
work?
Thinking
SEOAgile
@ p a g e s a u c e

18. @ p a g e s a u c e
In software & product
development we know
how the agile
methodology works
Agile
methods
Thinking.
blo g.air t able .co m/ h ow -t o -build-yo ur-
co m pany s-cust o m-agile -wo r kf low/

19. @ p a g e s a u c e
In software & product
development we know
how the agile
methodology works
Agile
methods
Thinking.
h t t ps:/ / e n .w i k i pe di a.o r g/ w i k i /
Agile _ sof t ware _ deve lopme n t

20. @ p a g e s a u c e
In software & product
development we know
how the agile
methodology works
Agile
methods
Thinking.
h t t ps:/ / e n .w i k i pe di a.o r g/ w i k i /
Agile _ sof t ware _ deve lopme n t

21. @ p a g e s a u c e
Being prepared to
adapt to new
developments (by the
site or by Google) key
to SEO
Agile
attitude
Thinking.

22. @ p a g e s a u c e
The best SEO skill in
2020 is getting your
recommendations
implemented
Action
=results
Thinking.
kev in-indig.com/f orging-a-f ine-t uned-seo-mac hine/

23. @ p a g e s a u c e
Thinking.
ser vedon t sell.com/blog/sellin g-
ser v ices-v s-product s
To get buy-in, make
our recommendations
smaller & more
actionable
Selling
ourwork
• Moreconcretedefinitions
( E X P L A I N W H A T W E W A N T T O D O )
• Improvepathtotrust
( G E T A F E W Q U I C K W I N S )
• Altertheriskequation
( J O B S T H A T M A K E T H E S I T E B E T T E R
F O R U S E R S , N O T J U S T S E O )

24. @ p a g e s a u c e
Bitesize
improvement
Thinking.
searc h en gin ejour n al.com/seo-guide/agile-seo-
moving-from-strat e gy -t o-ac tion/
Break SEO problems &
opportunities into
small changes within
the context of your
users

25. @ p a g e s a u c e
Bitesize
improvement
Thinking.
searc h en gin ejour n al.com/seo-guide/agile-seo-
moving-from-strat e gy -t o-ac tion/
A brief for each of the
small steps on the
journey to the ‘perfect
site’ that’s always over
the horizon

26. @ p a g e s a u c e
Bitesize
improvement
Thinking.
A brief for each of the
small steps on the
journey to the ‘perfect
site’ that’s always over
the horizon

27. @ p a g e s a u c e
Bitesize
improvement
Thinking.
Always put
improvements or new
ideas in the context of
users or search
engines
“Thisletsouruser
[improvementX]”
“Thismakesiteasierfor
searchenginesto
[improvementY]”

28. @ p a g e s a u c e
Perfectionisthe
enemyofprogress
Thinking.
W I N S T O N C H U R C H I L L

29. @ p a g e s a u c e
Thepersonwho
failsthemostwins
Thinking.
S E T H G O D I N

30. What jobs can help
us with getting an
overview & finding
the first tasks we can
get buy-in for?
AgileSEO
inputs
@ p a g e s a u c e

31. Quickest way to
problems client can
relate to & put into
context
Ideas.
@ p a g e s a u c e
Content
inventory

32. @ p a g e s a u c e

33. Get actionable
insights based on
content already
invested in
Content
inventory
Ideas.
@ p a g e s a u c e siegemedia.com/seo/con t en t -audit

34. Get actionable
insights based on
content already
invested in
Ideas.
@ p a g e s a u c e ah re fs.co m/ blo g/ co n t e n t -audit /
Content
inventory

35. Convince your client
through what the
market ranks for that
you don’t
Competitor
gap
analysis
Ideas.
@ p a g e s a u c e
mo z .com/seo -com pe tit or- anal y sis /
key word-gap-anal y sis
screamin gfrog.co.uk/con t en t -gap-an al y sis/

36. Ideas.
@ p a g e s a u c e
Competitor
gap
analysis
Don’t just look at
keywords - look at
structure, offer &
positioning
t h e blue pr in t .t rain in g/ se o -co m pe t it ive -an al y sis/

37. Use Sistrix (or tool of
your choice!) to find
the links that are
broken, even if 301 is
in place
Broken
links
Ideas.
@ p a g e s a u c e

38. Dig into the past of
the site to find old
migrations etc.
Historical
issues
Ideas.
@ p a g e s a u c e
searc h en gin elan d.com/f ixin g-h ist or ical-redirect s-
using-wa y bac k-mac hine-apis-257628

39. Dig into the past of
the site to find old
migrations etc.
Historical
issues
Ideas.
@ p a g e s a u c e
searc h en gin elan d.com/f ixin g-h ist or ical-redirect s-
using-wa y bac k-mac hine-apis-257628
https://web.archive.org/cdx/search/
cdx?url=example.com/a-
folder&matchType=prefix&fl=original
&collapse=urlkey&limit=100000
Removeduplicates
Showmeallpagesfromthisfolder
OnlytheURLsasoutput

40. Finding common
areas of user demand
you can build into a
feature or new section
Finding
features
Ideas.
@ p a g e s a u c e cx l.co m/ blo g/ scale -o rgan ic-t raf f ic/

41. Ideas.
@ p a g e s a u c e
cx l.co m/ blo g/ co nve r t -v isit o rs-im prov in g-
int er nal-sit e-searc h/
Internal
search
queries
What are users telling
you they can’t find on
your site?

42. Performance reports
show the patterns of
queries Google
already thinks you are
relevant for
Search
Console
Ideas.
@ p a g e s a u c e

43. Use the coverage
reports as clear
evidence Google has
issues with parts of
your content
Search
Console
Ideas.
@ p a g e s a u c e

44. A list of all the
improvements you
want to make, ranked
& broken down into
implementable tasks
Createa
backlog
Ideas.
@ p a g e s a u c e

45. If desired, you can
collaborate on a
outline calendar with
your client
Createa
calendar
Ideas.
@ p a g e s a u c e
searc h en gin ejour n al.com/seo-guide/agile-seo-
moving-from-strat e gy -t o-ac tion/ #clos e

46. Createa
calendar
Ideas.
@ p a g e s a u c e
If desired, you can
collaborate on a
outline calendar with
your client

47. What have I been
talking about today?
In
summary
@ p a g e s a u c e

48. @ p a g e s a u c e
Get buy-in through
opportunities that
can be built in
incremental pieces
Find
winsfor
everyone
T L D R.
Get an overview - n o t h in g is o ut side yo ur
re m i t o f u n de r s t an di n g o r i n f l u e n ce
Think agile - F in d h ow small jo bs n e e d
t o be t o ge t e asy bu y -i n
Results - N o t wo r k

49. @ p a g e s a u c e
There’s no one, right
way to do SEO - our
aim is progress
Bea
solution
provider
T L D R.
t wi t t e r.co m / Cy r usS h e pard/ st at us/
107 5 8 8 5 2 314 8 213 04 3 2

50. @ p a g e s a u c e
T L D R.
To get momentum,
trust & buy-in you
have to start
somewhere
Justget
optimising
labeou fro nkko tur ner.c om/projects/introduc tions/

51. Tak!
End.
@pagesauce
charlie@chopped.io
linkedin.com/in/
charlie-williams/