SEO leadership: Get from 'Why' to 'Why Not'

SEO LEADERSHIP THROUGH FRICTIONLESS CLARITY
WHY THE HELL NOT?!

Woo-Woo
Po‫﬛‬ break schedule

h‫﬙‬p://portent.co/why-the-heck-not

@portentint
Examples and exploding heads portrayed in this
presentation are based on an aggregation of
actual events. I smushed them together. Names
have been changed to protect the innocent. I am
not talking about you. Really. Honest. I’m not.

@portentint
If you get ﬁred, it is not my fault.

@portentint
This story has a happy ending.

@portentint
HERE’S THE THING
AW YEAHHH WE GOT THE
GOOD IDEAS WE’RE GONNA
KICK SOME ASS

@portentint
heeelllllppp meeeeeeee
ALAS.

@portentint
“Start producing good content.”
“What’s the impact?”
“You’ll build authori‫﬚‬ & brand.”
“We’ll need to test that.”

@portentint
“Fix all of your broken incoming links.”
“You’ll reclaim all this link juice.”
“I’ll need to run this by my IT team.”

@portentint
“Tweak your site architecture like this…”
“No, we can’t do that. Can we just skip to
the next thing?”
From @gﬁorelli1

@portentint
“Please let us know when you change anything.”
“Anything?”
“It’s really, really important.”
“It’s not up to us, but I’ll ask.”
From @LocalSEOGuide

@portentint
“Fix these on-page issues.”
“[NAME HERE] tells me it’s not necessary.”
“Sorry, but it’s really imporatnt.”
“We’ll have to agree to disagree on that...”
“I…”
(partly) from @ShahMenz

@portentint
One time, I
kinda lost it.

Part 1: In which you
learn from my mistakes.

Our job: Move towards the goal

Their job: Move towards the goal

why won't you take
my good advice?

@portentint
he wants us to
change the nav?!
OMG he's so cute and
innocent i could just
hug him.

fix this thing and
we'll do better.
trust me.
HOW YOU THINK
YOU LOOK

@portentint
fix this thing and
we'll do better.
trust me.
HOW YOU REALLY
LOOK

You bring risk, eﬀort & ambigui‫﬚‬

In that context, their ﬁrst question is…

Once that question is asked…

…you’re scrambling, chasing the
question, trying to answer it, losing
focus on the goals

@portentint
WE are asked to LEAD
But we’re not in charge

“BECAUSE I’M RIGHT”
WILL NEVER WORK
IF YOU’RE NOT IN CHARGE,

BECAUSE I SAID SO
IS NOT LEADERSHIP
IT’S NOT THEM, IT’S US

Part 2: In which we
sometimes ﬁx it

We have to crush ‘why should we’

@portentint
“Please let us know of upcoming
changes to architecture/server setup.”
“OK, how oﬅen.”
“Daily updates would be great.”
“Our internal process is weekly.”
“That works.”
“Great, we’ll get that set up.”

@portentint
The heavens opened

@portentint
“We need to consolidate these 3 links.”
“Why?”
“It’ll help channel authori‫”.﬚‬
“Done.”

@portentint
“You need a content strategy.”
“Can’t do that.”
“How about if we try one longform
piece?”
“Go for it.”

To get to why not, know the numbers
and establish frictionless clari‫﬚‬

@portentint
Frictionless: In comparison to other
options, requiring almost no eﬀort

@portentint
Clari‫:﬚‬ Easy to understand the action, how to
do it and what it’ll require

@portentint
“Please let us know of upcoming
changes to architecture/server setup.”
“OK, how oﬅen.”
“Daily updates would be great.”
“Our internal process is weekly.”
“That works.”
“Great, we’ll get that set up.”
Frictionless
Clari‫﬚‬
Nirvana

Part 2: In which I share my
retirement plan (and the three
steps to get to why not)

Capybara Kingdom
how could you not love
this face?

Capybara Kingdom
Petting Zoo Season Tickets RecipesEvents
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Come take in the spectacle of the world’s largest rodents as they cavort
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capybara adoptions.
For more informations, please lick here
All capybara, all the
time!!! Season passes
for only $50!!!!
10 things you didn’t
know about capybara
New therapy capybara
program launches
Seriously, if you want to learn about Capybara, try this link Escape rumors
completely false

@portentint
“Start producing good content.”
“You’ll build authori‫﬚‬ & improve engagement.”
“What will that change?”
“You may rank higher.”
“How much higher?”
“I can’t be sure.”
“We’ll need to test that.”

@portentint
visitors
Things to know

@portentint
visitors
revenue
Things to know

@portentint
visitors
revenue
conversion rate
Things to know

@portentint
visitors
revenue
conversion rate
micro conversions
Things to know

@portentint
visitors
revenue
conversion rate
micro conversions
current ad spend(s)
Things to know

@portentint
visitors
revenue
conversion rate
micro conversions
current ad spend(s)
labor costs
Things to know

@portentint
visitors
revenue
visitor value=

Things to know

@portentint
5% conversion rate
no micro-conversions
avg order = $10
Things to know

@portentint
$50k/year on Adwords
1% conversion rate
$2000 in sales
Things to know

@portentint
Something else you need

The goalsHandy-dandy calculator

@portentint
LACK OF CLARITY
SHORTENS ATTENTION SPAN

@portentint
“I think you should produce good content.”
A‫﬙‬ention Span: Your Mom

@portentint
A‫﬙‬ention Span: Your Dad

@portentint
A‫﬙‬ention Span: Your Dog

@portentint
A‫﬙‬ention Span: Yourself

@portentint
A‫﬙‬ention Span: Your Client

@portentint
LACK OF CLARITY
HIDES THE DESIRED OUTCOME

@portentint
LACK OF CLARITY
MAKES RESOURCING IMPOSSIBLE

@portentint
LACK OF CLARITY
FRUSTRATES STAKEHOLDERS

@portentint
Lack of clari‫﬚‬ brings back
the Question Of Doom

@portentint
“Whyshouldweputourcollective
assonthelineforthis!?”

@portentint
Clari‫﬚‬ comes from context

@portentint
we need to add 10,000 visitors
OR double conversion rate
OR do a li‫﬙‬le bit of both

@portentint
Hmmm. Videos get a lot of a‫﬙‬ention. I
wonder if we could add 10,000 visitors that
way? Or do the equivalent?

@portentint
If we could get 12,000 views on our video
channel, and we could get 120 of those to
become season ticket holders, that’ll sure
help us hit our goals.

@portentint
Clari‫﬚‬ = A well-deﬁned action

@portentint
“You should produce good content.”
“Create a weekly, 10-20 second video
recorded using a cell phone, posted to the
Capybara Kingdom YouTube channel”

@portentint
Clari‫﬚‬ = Understandable

@portentint
“Since the Panda update thin content’s
really been a problem. Google’s trying to
incorporate more human factors into content. We
need to build out substantial content to balance the thin stuﬀ…..”

BLANK SHEET OF PAPER TEST
If you showed this to a non-SEO
stranger, would they understand it?

@portentint
“Create a weekly cute capybara video.”

@portentint
Anyone with a cell phone that records
video and relatively steady hands can do it.

@portentint
“We want to modi﬌ the navigation.”
“What do you recommend?”
“Something like this.” [shows example]

@portentint
“We need to speed up your site.”
“What’s slowing it down?”
“These images and this script. I can get you the
faster versions today.”

@portentint
Must-have: Narrative

@portentint
“Let’s get armadillos into the next video.”
“I told you last month: Capybara eat
armadillos.”

Cool tool: PM soﬅware (really)

@portentint
Friction is about perspective

@portentint
“Create a weekly cute capybara video.”
“Why?”
“All of these people ask questions about them.”
“What will that change?”
“You’ll get a‫﬙‬ention and links…”
“Interesting. What will it take?”
“Let me check on that.”
“Go for it.”
doomed

@portentint
“We really need to speed up your site.”
“OK, what do we need to do?”
“I’ll need to ask the development team.”
doomed

@portentint
“Since the escape, we’ve had fewer visits.”
“How many?”
“I’ll check the data when I get back to the oﬃce.”
doomed

@portentint
“We want to modi﬌ the navigation.”
“What do you recommend?”
“Let me talk to the team.”
doomed

@portentint
we’re working on it let me check that i’m not
sure hang on while i look i’ll have that
answer for you in a couple days it’s in your
inbox i don’t know i thought you’d know here
are the 25 ways we could do it i have no
freaking idea heh i know, but it’d be be‫﬙‬er if
you ﬁgured it out for yourself hmmm squirrel!
let me see if fran’s available to answer that

@portentint
we’re working on it let me check that i’m not
sure hang on while i look i’ll have that answer
for you in a couple days it’s in your inbox i don’t
know i thought you’d know
here are the 25 ways we could do it
i have no freaking idea heh i know, but it’d be
be‫﬙‬er if you ﬁgured it out for yourself hmmm
squirrel! let me see if fran’s available

Round trips cause decisions
in a vacuum

@portentint
To reduce round trips, learn the
@#)($* out of everything

GETTING NAKED (NO, NOT THAT WAY)

@portentint
pick one social network. learn to use it as a
marketing tool, top to bo‫﬙‬om. move on.

@portentint
Must have: Knowledge base
(info at your ﬁngertips)

Cool tool: Conﬂuence Questions

@portentint
what is the…?
where are the…?
how do I…?
who do I ask for…?
who is…?
what if…?
can I…?

Get ‘seed’ questions from Quora

@portentint
mistakes ≠ errors

From Hubspot: h‫﬙‬p://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/14-worst-‫﬚‬pos-ever

Every mistake erodes trust
and creates friction

@portentint
Thinking > Testing

@portentint
WHAT HAPPENS IF WE PUT ALL OUR
CONTENT BEHIND A LOGIN WALL?

@portentint
WHAT HAPPENS IF WE HAVE 19,523
DUPLICATE PAGES?

@portentint
Must have: The knowledge

@portentint
CRO: See what’s
already been tested
Cool resource: WhichTestWon

@portentint
Drag race your site
Cool resource: Webpagetest.org

@portentint
Know the relative cost/beneﬁts

@portentint
It’ll require about 1 hour per week.

@portentint
You already have someone training the
animals. Just have them do a 30-second
recording every day.

@portentint
1 video = 1 hour of work
$50/hour
$50/video

@portentint
If the video generates 100 visits
to the site in its lifetime we get
a measurable 1:1 ROI

@portentint
If the video generates 5 orders
to the site in its lifetime we get
a measurable 1:1 ROI

@portentint
Adwords budget = $50,000/year
20,000 clicks
1% conversion rate
200 orders @ $10/order
$2,000
…

@portentint
6-month Cat Fancy ad = $25,000
??? calls
??? conversion rate
…

@portentint
Se‫﬙‬ing up compression
= .5s faster load time
= 4 hours’ work
= $400

@portentint
Se‫﬙‬ing up compression
25% faster load time
40 orders = 1:1 ROI

@portentint
Compare to Adwords…

Relatively low cost/clear
beneﬁt reduces friction

We have clear actions that are
relatively low-cost, high-beneﬁt

This is no longer ambiguous risk.

It’s a set of actions to which we
all say…

@portentint
why not!
why not!
why not!

@portentint
thanks for the
help. ian's happy.
we're happy.
time to return to
our vats for
regeneration.

fix this thing and
we'll do better.
trust me.
HOW YOU LOOK

Strategy only ma‫﬙‬ers
if you execute on it.

Our advice only ma‫﬙‬ers
if $#!! gets done.

You validate a strategy
by implementing it.

SEOs are leaders who aren’t in charge

Create frictionless clari‫﬚‬

@portentint
WE’RE ALL ON THE SAME TEAM

most clients won’t get to why not

that’s ok. we still love them.

Ian Lurie
@portentint
www.portent.com
h‫﬙‬p://portent.co/why-the-heck-not
SMALL, UNMARKED BILLS PLEASE

SEO leadership: Get from 'Why' to 'Why Not'

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