Technical SEO Metrics - SMX West 2013 - Dave Lloyd, Adobe

Technical SEO Metrics – Keeping S.C.O.R.E.

© 2012 Adobe Systems Incorporated. All Rights Reserved. Adobe Confidential.

Global team delivering Organic & Site Search
strategies for all Adobe products

Team charter
• Deliver industry best practices
• Drive KPI-focused results
• Align with Marketing Cloud product teams

Dave Lloyd
dalloyd@adobe.com
@davelloyd1
linkedin.com/in/davelloyd
Senior Manager, Global Search
dalloyd@adobe.com

© 2012 Adobe Systems Incorporated. All Rights Reserved. Adobe Confidential. 2

Moneyball

“When the numbers acquire
the significance of
language, they acquire the
power to do all the things
which language can
do…and it is victory and
defeat which is all that the
sub-conscious really
understands.”


How to hit less foul balls – and more technical HRs

Google

Your Domain

Once you’ve hit a foul ball, it’s too late. You’ve got to be able to correct your swing early.

What’s the S.C.O.R.E. ???

1. Standardize on Metrics
2. Commit to tools & tracking
3. Organizational alignment
4. Reports & Dashboards
5. Execute Consistently


Standardize on Metrics

1
Business Question?
1. Executives & BU
2. Web Strategy
3. Analytics

Technical Question?
1. SEO Team
2. Web Production
3. IT


Inherent challenge of being data-driven

You can’t manage what you can’t
measure

All that’s measureable should not
be managed

Questions you must answer
Why Where
 Ruthless prioritization  Might you be out of compliance
 Offensive vs. defensive metrics  To find metrics
Who  To store – email, dashboard
 Will gather
 Will analyze When
 Will you share with  How often will you count them
 How often will you distribute
What
 Is the risk How
 Metrics are possible  Will you distribute
 Metrics matter most  Will you share
 Can you do to impact change  Will you act on

What’s considered acceptable
Webmaster Guidelines
http://support.google.com/webmasters/bin/ans
wer.py?hl=en&answer=35769

Algorithm Changes – 200 in 2H 2012
http://insidesearch.blogspot.com/2012/10/sear
ch-quality-highlights-65-changes.html

How Search Works
http://www.google.com/insidesearch/howsearc
hworks/algorithms.html


Commit to using tools & tracking metrics

2

• Use the right tools
• Track the right metrics
for you


Tools Adobe uses
 Adobe Analytics (Site
Catalyst, Discover)
 Adobe Media Optimizer
 Adobe Social
 Google Webmaster Tools
 Bing Webmaster Tools
 BrightEdge
 Google Insights & Trends
 Advanced Web Ranking
 SEOMoz
 Xenu LinkSleuth
 Screaming Frog
 Web Position
 + 5 others


In data analysis, 90% of the
analysis takes 90% of the time.

The last 10% takes the other 90%
of the time.


Principles of data analysis

Don’t go for home
runs every time
Automate data
gathering if possible
Focus on key KPIs
Watch for red flags
Drill in to
data as needed

14

Organizational alignment

3

• SEO Maturity Model
• Align team focus to
algorithm
• Center of Excellence


SEO Maturity Model

http://www.searchenginuity.com/seo-maturity-model/


Optimize team focus to SEO signals

SEO Algorithm Team Priorities & Workload


How to get traction with teams – who & what
 Web Strategy, Editorial
IT  Rank, HTML Suggestions, Bounce Rate, Search
Queries, Formulaic Metrics (AOV, Order Rate)
Web Social
Production  Web Production
 Minimize redirects, Crawl Errors, Page Load
Global Speed, Internal Link trends, Robots.txt errors, not
Web
Teams
Strategy followed or unreachable, 302 redirects, browser
(Loc)
caching, using CSS sprites, defer parsing of
Javascript
BU & IT
Content
SEO Analytics


Team  Crawl rate, crawl errors, 404 trends, redirect
Owners
chains, log file analysis, malware alerts
 Social
Paid
Search Product  Correlation of Social activity with SEO KPIs
& Mktg
Media
 Global
Store  Country Web Ranking of key terms, Localization
Execs
Teams benefit, Country growth trends, Impact of Geo
User
strategies, Canonical issues
Interface
 Analytics
 Segment governance, Agree on KPIs, SEO as part
COE model - Weekly, Monthly, or Quarterly of all revenue drivers
18

Getting traction in your organization
 WIIFM – What’s in it for them
 People don’t care how much you know until they know how
much you care – about their interests
 Experiment with how (email vs. dashboard vs. meeting) you
share insights with your org
 Unless an emergency, your metrics & analysis may not initially
be used
 Ask - Get feedback from stakeholders on what metrics matter
most to them
 Be transparent and make analytics a part of most discussions
 Share wins – give credit where due


Reports & Dashboards

4

• Reporting Process
• Success Metrics
• Tools


One-slide Executive Summary

 Keep it simple

 Report on current
trends

 Provide context
for data changes


Monthly Webmaster Tools dashboard

• 36 key metrics
• Pulled manually
• Monthly export
• Stakeholder
distribution &
meetings
• IT
• Web
Production
• Global
• Social


Pages not Found (404) Reporting

dummy data

• Track number of 404 PageViews and URLs Google couldn’t crawl on the site
• Provide context and provide recommendations to Dev/IT (i.e. setup 301 redirects)
• 404 PageViews data from Adobe Analytics (SiteCatalyst)
• Google 404 URLs from Google WT
23

Your critical metrics and how do you measure them?

Talk to someone
1 minute each

2 minutes

1. Top technical metrics?

2. What tool do you use to
measure or monitor?
End

Common Mistakes of Analysis

 Correlation vs. Causation
 Data Bias
 Making decisions based on a small sample
size
 Analyzing too much data (analysis paralysis)
 Working with biased data (i.e. seasonal
trends)


Execute consistently

5
Identify patterns &
anomalies
Operations plan


Big data isn’t about having more
data.

It’s about getting to the data that
matters, identifying patterns &
anomalies, and then executing.

Agile Scrum methodology

Scrum methodology Benefits
- Prioritized team projects (200+) • Adaptable
- Twice weekly “stand up” meetings • Collaborative
1. what you did? • Accountable
2. what you’re doing? • Organized
3. challenges? • Measureable
http://searchengineland.com/have-you-adopted-agile-marketing-yet-2-127247

http://www.slideshare.net/jcolman/agile-marketing-4-principles-and-13-hacks-
seomoz-mozcon-2012


What’s in the Appendix

 6 charts of technical SEO metrics (all dummy
data)
 Key browser plug-ins for tracking technical impact
 RFP Checklist for evaluating SEO Dashboards
 100+ Industrial Strength Digital Marketing Tools
 Social metrics – what to track and who to send to


Site SEO Global Visits Reporting

dummy data
• Provide month/month and year/year change for the latest month
• Present total results for the whole year and project current year SEO Visits
• Indicate data source, i.e. Adobe SiteCatalyst or Discover

32

Site SEO Global Revenue Reporting

dummy data
• Provide month/month and year/year change for the latest month
• Present total results for the whole year and project current year SEO Revenue
• Indicate data source, i.e. Adobe SiteCatalyst or Discover

33

Project Dashboard: Tracking KPIs

dummy data

Decrease in cross-links may reflect setup of GEO targeting tool (directories assigned to regional sites)
Project reporting: provide stakeholders with
monthly report on KPIs like Visits, Revenue,
Members, Trial Downloads and Orders

34

Project Dashboard: Tracking KPIs

dummy data

Provide stakeholders with
monthly report on each of the
KPI,s i.e. SEO Visits

35

Target Keywords Visibility vs Competition

dummy data

• Provide month/month and year/year change for the latest month for your
website and competitors
• Provide context of the trends, for example, change in algorithm, provide recs
• Identify source of data (i.e. WebPosition) and visibility score methodology
36

Site Crawl: Cross-links/Backlinks

dummy data
• Report on Backlinking and Cross-linking trends
• Provide actionable recommendations
• Indicate source of data (i.e. Google Webmaster Tools)

37

Browser Plug-ins

 WooRank (Chrome)
 iSEO (Chrome)
 SEO Site Tools (Chrome)
 Web Developer (Firefox)


WooRank


GTMetrix


WebPageTest.org


Enterprise SEO Dashboards


Questions for a major tool purchase

Will it:
1. Free up time for Strategy?
2. Improve executive visibility?
3. Scale across teams, geos, products?


RFP Checklist for evaluating SEO Dashboards
Must-have Features Variable Features
 Customizable for our criteria  QA & broken link evaluation
 Executive roll-up
 Highlight KPIs
 Stakeholder views
 Paid integration
 Data aggregration
 Analytics integration  Actionable Recommendations

 Robust Reporting  Task management
 Link Management  Long tail recommendations
 Keyword Discovery
 Predictive Analytics
 Trend monitoring
 ROI Measurement
 Monitoring & Alerts
 Competitor Analysis  Country & language support

 Training  Social signals
 Case Studies


100+ Industrial Strength Digital Marketing Tools

SEO
http://searchengineland.com/enterprise-seo-tools-part-1-the-browser-41994
http://searchengineland.com/enterprise-seo-tools-part-2-the-cloud-46133
http://www.directionseo.com/seo-tools/ultimate-seo-tools-list/
http://dailywebtip.com/seo/top-enterprise-seo-tools-for-businesses/
http://www.seosoftware.net/category/enterprise-seo-software/
http://www.seosoftware.net/best-seo-software/

Keyword Research, Paid, Social, MVT
http://searchenginewatch.com/article/2140051/Tools-to-Monitor-Online-Reputation-
Across-Different-Languages
http://www.websitetestingtools.com/category/ppctools/
http://www.websitemagazine.com/content/blogs/posts/archive/2011/12/05/master-list-of-
multivariate-testing-tools.aspx
http://www.websitemagazine.com/content/blogs/posts/pages/popular-keyword-research-
tools-for-2012.aspx
http://sproutsocial.com/insights/2011/10/twitter-tools-enterprise/
http://software.topseos.com/


SEO Metrics articles
 http://dynamical.biz/blog/web-analytics/measuring-seo-performance-
37.html

 http://searchenginewatch.com/article/2049476/Measuring-SEO-Results

 http://www.practicalecommerce.com/articles/1014-Measuring-SEO-
Performance

 http://yoast.com/measuring-seo-rankings/

 http://www.practicalecommerce.com/articles/506-SEO-Metrics-That-Matter


Social KPIs - Measurement Approach
Provide the right metrics to the
respective audience.
Executives

Budget Stakeholders

Social Practitioners


Social KPI Framework
Business KPI 1 KPI 2 KPI 3 KPI 4 KPI 5
Objective
Awareness Volume of Share of voice Sentiment Engagement* Community
conversation / Growth %
sentiment
Engagement Re-tweets Repeat @messages hashtags Repost
comments shares
Lead Gen RFI submission Sales call led
through social
Demand / Direct attribution Referring URL web analytics Social analytics:
Conversion revenue and trial (volume of traffic tracking: Measure the
(adobe.com) (samcap and to adobe.com Impressions, correlations
bitly): from Conversions, trials between
button/link/twee channel/page) (engaged vs. not awareness,
t/post engaged with sentiment, volume
designated social of conversation
media) and revenue and
trial.
Support Cost savings CSAT Sentiment Volume
(decrease call (adobe.com) conversations
volume, y, z)
Loyalty Retweets Repeat @messages hashtags Repost
(individual) comments shares
Advocacy # advocates #conversion Influence score of Impact (variance
from neg, to the advocate on KPIs compared

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