Continuing on with our DMSS series, we discuss a fantastic presentation that we attended at the Digital Marketing Skill Share (DMSS) 2018 conference in Bali: ‘Developing actionable SEO audits that maximise growth’ by Aleyda Solis.
Who is Aleyda Solis
Aleyda is an SEO consultant who has over 10 years’ experience. The founder of Orianti Consultancy, Aleyda specialises in international, mobile, technical and strategical SEO processes audits, advice and training.
The Workshop Details
The presentation covered what an actionable SEO audit should incorporate, and the tactics involved. The presentation covered 4 characteristics of an actionable SEO audit:
- Strategic Intent
- Prioritisation
- Actionability
- Continuity
Providing a non-actionable SEO audit
Aleyda started the presentation by identifying an array of scenarios where SEO audits are neglected. She stated that this negligence is the responsibility of SEO experts to avoid them; SEO experts are responsible for coordinating and managing the SEO process and it all begins with the SEO audit.
Characteristic #1 Strategic Intent
Aleyda explained that the process SEO experts typically use when conducting an SEO audit (running a website crawl through software such as Screaming Frog and identifying technical SEO issues) is unnecessarily time consuming. She walked us through her process of conducting an effective analysis which included considering 3 factors:
- Identifying your clients’ current organic search performance
- Identifying your clients’ current competitor organic search performance
- Identifying current audiences’ search behaviour and SERP characteristics with the highest potential.
She explained that these 3 factors should guide your activities to highlight relevance in your analysis and focus on areas that require more attention.
Characteristics #2 Prioritisation
The next characteristic Aleyda discussed was prioritising those findings from the analysis in levels of importance. Putting this analysis into context is fundamental for the clients’ growth; Aleyda emphasised that this process require talking to your client. This discussion should ultimately produce a list of activities that highlight relevance and clear indicators to the level of priority for each activity.
Characteristics #3 Actionability
Aleyda continued to discuss that the purpose behind the SEO audit is not only to identify issues but to find solutions for these issues that are feasible to implement. She recommended providing a descriptive document that structures these findings to further elaborate its importance in SEO.
She further explained that this process should cover the required resources to implement the solutions, the appropriate method of implementing, the content and technical support and even the emotional support. This process requires negotiating with the client and should serve as a tracking system that clarifies when specific actions should be implemented based on level of importance.
Characteristics #4 Continuity
The final characteristic Aleyda stressed is the continuity of the SEO process. She explained that the SEO audit does not end with providing recommendations to your clients, but rather this process is ongoing as your client continues to offer new products and services.
It was recommended that the website is to be crawled every month. Numerous software is available to assist with the crawling of the site. An example is www.littlewarden.com, as shown below:
In addition, she suggested using integrating tools such as Zapier to further facilitate the monitoring process. These tools will update you and your client of any changes in the existing SEO process in an efficient manner, and thus help re-evaluate any current activities that may be affected. Aleyda concluded by incorporating these tools, your SEO activities will have clear connectivity and ultimately provide clients with a clear understanding of the impact SEO audits can deliver.
What can we take from this presentation?
From this presentation we can take away an applicable guide on how to construct an effective SEO audit for clients. Aleyda has provided us with 4 characteristics to implement in our current SEO audits that will facilitate actionable SEO activities in a timely and efficient manner for clients that produce results.
