James Patterson, Senior Manager, SEO, American Eagle at C3 2018 While SEO is typically viewed as one channel within a larger digital marketing portfolio, the research that we do can drive content and technical decisions that impact all digital marketing channels. Identifying useful SEO data and using it to educate key functional teams is a core competency of an in-house SEO. Whether you are involved in early Ideation or tactical Implementation, SEO data should feed your decision making.

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BIG PICTURE STRATEGY
#C3NY
Using Search Data To Influence
Organizational Decisions
J. James Patterson
Senior Manager SEO, American Eagle Outfitters

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1. Search Data & Examples of Org Decisions
2. Multi-Team Content Development
3. Breaking Through Roadblocks
4. Building a Scalable SEO Team
Today’s Agenda

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Common SEO data and their sources
Content Research
 Search Volume
 Clicks
 Rank
 Market Share
 AdWords
 SEMrush
 Search Console (GSC)
 Data Cube
 Conductor Tool
 STAT
 Search Volume
 Clicks
 Rank Position
 % Market Share
 AdWords
 SEMrush
 Search Console (GSC)
 Audience Intent
Explorer
Site Performance
 Visits
 Entries
 Revenue
 Orders
 Units
 Click Events
 Google Analytics
 Adobe AdHoc
 GSC
Local Search
 Local KW Research
 Neighborhood
Boundaries
 3 Pack Volatility
 Review Quality &
Velocity
 KW Research Tools
 Google Maps
 Rank Trackers
 Local Search
Emulators
Page Load & Crawlability
 Render Blocking
Scripts
 # of DOM Nodes
 Unused Code
 CDN Storage Fees
 GSC
 Lighthouse (Chrome)
 Splunk
 WebPageTest.org

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Common Org decisions impacted by SEO data
Content Development
1. How do we speak to our customers? "Brand Voice" vs "Product Verbiage"
2. How do we appeal to different life stages? "Having a baby" vs "College Savings Plans"
3. How do we stand out in a saturated marketplace? “Washington DC Hotel" vs “Dupont Circle Hotel"
Prioritizing Tech Resources
1. Where do our Engineers focus a majority of their time? "Server Stability" vs "Page Load Speed"
2. How often do we review potentially outdated code? "Cleanup CSS" vs "Develop New Site Feature"
Hiring & HR
1. New Copy Writer? "In-house" vs "Freelance/Contractor"
2. Which new Marketing team member do we hire? "Local SEO driving Footfall" vs "Email team member"
3. How do we keep track of Store Manager performance? “GMB Review Monitoring” vs “Surveys on Receipts”

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Source: AdWords, Google Maps
Functional Teams: SEO, Digital
Marketing, Hotel Operations, PR
Decision: How do we stand out in a
saturated market?
Data: Rank, Search Volume,
Competition, Neighborhoods

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Source: AdWords, Google Maps
Functional Teams: SEO, Digital
Marketing, Hotel Operations, PR
Decision: How do we stand out in a
saturated market?
Data: Rank, Search Volume,
Competition, Neighborhoods

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Source: AdWords, Google Maps
Functional Teams: SEO, Digital
Marketing, Hotel Operations, PR
Decision: How do we stand out in a
saturated market?
Data: Rank, Search Volume,
Competition, Neighborhoods

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Organizational Impact:
1. Hotel Name on all marketing:
1. Building Signage
2. Linens
3. Table Ware
4. All Digital Assets
2. PR outreach for neighborhood
partnership opportunities
3. Coordinated marketing across
all channels.
Source: AdWords, Google Maps
Functional Teams: SEO, Digital
Marketing, Hotel Operations, PR
Decision: How do we stand out in a
saturated market?
Data: Rank, Search Volume,
Competition, Neighborhoods

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Organizational Impact:
1. Hotel Name on all marketing:
1. Building Signage
2. Linens
3. Table Ware
4. All Digital Assets
2. PR outreach for neighborhood
partnership opportunities
3. Coordinated marketing across
all channels.
Data: Rank, Search Volume,
Competition, Neighborhoods
Source: AdWords, Google Maps
Functional Teams: SEO, Digital
Marketing, Hotel Operations, PR
Decision: How do we stand out in a
saturated market?
A few callouts about the data
Rank:
 Use GSC data for untracked keyword research
Search Volume:
 Choose your source and stick with it
Competition:
 Don’t use Google’s “About X results in Y seconds” metric!
 Build a matrix of Keyword, Search Volume, Competitor Rank
Neighborhood Boundaries:
 Lots of overlapping boundaries, use your judgement

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Copy Team
Wants a
Change.
…by inserting SEO data during ideation...
Source: AdWords/SEMrush, Conductor,
Adobe AdHoc
Functional Teams: SEO, Digital
Marketing, Analytics, Merchandising,
Planning, Copy, Business Strategy
Decision: How do we appeal to a
larger market of customers?
Review w/
Functional
Teams
Final
Approval &
Deployment
Final
Approval &
Deployment
Too late to alter
verbiage. Title
and Meta are
only options
SEO research should
guide verbiage and
contextual decisions
Copy Team
Wants a
Change
Data: Search Volume, Rank, Clicks,
Conversion Rate, Avg. Order Value

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…thus leading to decisions that impact KPIs.
224%
318%
0%
50%
100%
150%
200%
250%
300%
350%
Unique
Visitors
Revenue
Widget B:
Pacing After 39 Weeks
353%
191%
0%
50%
100%
150%
200%
250%
300%
350%
400%
Unique
Visitors
Revenue
Widget A:
Pacing After 13 Weeks
Organizational Impact:
1. SEO data is the “sounding
board” for copy decisions.
2. Multi-functional team has a
reliable forecasting model.
Source: AdWords/SEMrush, Conductor,
Adobe AdHoc
Functional Teams: SEO, Digital
Marketing, Analytics, Merchandising,
Planning, Copy, Business Strategy
Decision: How do we appeal to a
larger market of customers?
Data: Search Volume, Rank, Clicks,
Conversion Rate, Avg. Order Value

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Organizational Impact:
1. SEO data is the “sounding
board” for copy decisions.
2. Multi-functional team has a
reliable forecasting model.
Data: Search Volume, Rank, Clicks,
Conversion Rate, Avg. Order Value
Source: AdWords/SEMrush, Conductor,
Adobe AdHoc
Functional Teams: SEO, Digital
Marketing, Analytics, Merchandising,
Planning, Copy, Business Strategy
Decision: How do we appeal to a
larger market of customers?
Revenue Forecast: Need a “Patient 0”
[Traffic Forecast]*[Known Conversion Rate of Organic Traffic
Entering on Targeted Page]*[Average Order Value of Customer who
Enters on the Targeted Landing Page via Organic]
Traffic Forecast:
[New KW Category MSV]*[Percentage of Search Market Acquired]
Define the Percentage of Search Market Acquired:
[Established KW Category Gain in Organic Entries]/[Aggregate
Monthly Search Volume Jan-Apr from Currently Ranking KWs]
Adjust this forecasting model for your needs.

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CONTENT?
LET’S DIG DEEPER!

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Front-Doors vs Side-Doors
HOME
CATEGORIES
PRODUCTS
FRONT DOORS = Brand Focused

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Front-Doors vs Side-Doors
HOME
CATEGORIES
PRODUCTS
SIDE DOORS = Product Focused

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Functional Teams: UX, Analytics, Web Dev
Decision: How do we increase conversion
rates?
Brand-First Mindset Creates Blind Spots
Typical Process:
1. UX tests ways to improve a KPI
2. Web Dev implements the test
3. Analytics verifies the findings
4. Test improved the KPI so change is
made
HOME
CATEGORIES
PRODUCTS

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What if over 50%
of your traffic is
Branded?

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A lot is at Risk
Company Goals
 New Customer Acquisition
 Brand Awareness
 Market Share
Impacted Teams
 Loyalty & Credit Programs
 Database Marketing
 Retargeting
 Paid Search & PLA

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Making content decisions based on current user
behavior alone can be problematic!
Future SEO

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Reaching your
audience will
have roadblocks.

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3 Most Common Organizational SEO Roadblocks
Conditioned to Not Care
Web of bureaucracy creates a “Get Off My Lawn” culture1
Limited Bandwidth to Care
Teams have their own lists of priorities and goals to meet2
No Reason to Care
Lack of understanding; Org education never prioritized3
"I don’t do anything that impacts SEO"
“Call Google and tell them they are wrong"
"The work of the SEO team only impacts Organic Search"

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Create Your “Lightbulb” Examples1)

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2) Achieve Someone Else’s Goals

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3) Map the Decision Approval Flows
That path appears
to be “cleaner”.

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Scalable Teams

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Core SEO Team
3-4
Specialists

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Analytics UX
Copy
Engineering
Finance
Business
StrategyStore
Operations
Site Latency
IT Security
SEO Clones

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1) Be Passionate

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2) Be Patient

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3) Be Persistent
“Opportunity is missed by
most people because it is
dressed in overalls and looks
like work.”
Thomas Edison As quoted in An Enemy Called Average (1990) by John L. Mason, p. 55

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TL;DR
1. Everyday SEO data has very broad applications
2. Side Doors are the lifeline of growth
3. Make connections and break down barriers
4. Education of the Org must be a priority

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J. James Patterson
Family Life:
 Father of two (4 and 1.5)
Weirdest Place Visited in 2018:
 Gatorland in Orlando, FL
Embarrassing Song in my Head:
 “You're Welcome” by Dwayne Johnson
(Moana Soundtrack)@JJPattersonSEO
Thank you for your time today!

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