SEO Snack: Week of February 4th
Quick Week Summary
What I worked on this past week
This past week was mainly working on finishing up the website revamp that I mentioned a few weeks back (a large project of redoing all the content and clearing up the message of what the client offers), getting started testing out a few new analytic software programs for collecting all client analytics from different data sources, and also continuing to work through the new clients “confusing” website to have more page organization.
Week Insights
What I struggled with
SEO & Web Design Collaboration
The connection between what I see in my head (from an SEO and design perspective), to what can actually be built out on a website is something I continue to struggle with. At times I can make a project harder and confusing because I have what I believe it should be but the reality is that it’s not always possible or worth the time it’d be to build it out.
What was a bigger headache than it needed to be
Showcasing Analytics Easily
I know I’ve mentioned this before but working to find that analytic software that has all we need has been a bigger headache this year so far. What I’m realizing though is that there likely won’t be one solution that’s perfect but instead I should find one that has a solid foundation and work from there.
What went well
New Teammates!
We’ve had a few new folks join the team as of recently and it’s been amazing so far. The amount they all have been able to take on already and how quickly they’ve picked up our internal/external processes has been insane (in a good way of course). If y’all are reading this, appreciate ya!
What to look out for or tune into
Google Search Update (or at least changes)
As of writing this, there hasn’t been an official announcement but Google (in my opinion) has to be pulling some levers and making some edits on the Search side of things. I know I briefly brought this up earlier this year but the volatility and chatter about an update has me thinking we’re about to see one soon. Based on our clients “numbers”, I wouldn’t say anything dramatic has happened yet but there have been a few things pointing to at least some changes in Search recently.
What weird things happened
Lack of SEO Understanding
Nothing too weird this past week (mainly just long projects that are a bit tougher than expected…) but one thing I do in my “free time” is just look at websites from friends or family work places to see how they’re “performing” from a SEO perspective.
It just continues to surprise me how many well known (in Wisconsin or a specific section of Wisconsin) don’t know how they’re performing our that their website isn’t operating like they might think. I always come back to, you don’t know what you don’t know, and if you would’ve asked me a few years back, I wouldn’t have known either.
Key Takeaways
1. SEO & Web Team Communication/Collaboration
Having great communication and collaboration between SEO and web design is important (not the same as what I hit on last time). Coming from someone who can picture how something “should” be and thinking that’s how it will come out, being able to have good conversations and working time with out web team has been a great learning piece for me. There needs to be balance between SEO and user experience, and in a perfect world, they work together seamlessly.
2. Communicating What You’re Doing & WHY
Going back to the “you don’t know what you don’t know” part, the longer I’m working in SEO and doing so daily, I realized the importance of slowing down a bit to make sure everyone understands WHY we should/could make certain changes. To folks in this space, it’s easy to just know and push for it but if you can’t explain WHY, you’re going to confuse and lose people.
3. Stick To What You Believe (in SEO)
Tying a bit into number 2 of key takeaways, this last one is that it’s easy to feel like you’re always “behind” in SEO. There are always “new” things, competitors with “better” statistics, and “updates/new technology” coming to screw up what you’re currently doing.
It can be a lot at times but what I’ve found is there is nothing wrong with (and you probably should) stick with what you’re bullish on until numbers tell you otherwise. Jumping ship to ship too often will hurt you in the long run.
Resources To Look At
1. PPC Specialist Job Opening
I’m still going to plug this because we’re still taking applications!
2. AgencyAnalytics
This isn’t a full plug yet but from my initial call and testing of this platform, it looks solid and I’m sure a lot of other people could utilize it even if we don’t decide to.
3. Omnisend
A pretty good email app that we use for a client on Shopify and I’ve always been a fan of it but if you use it, make sure you’re going in to verify a few things since they “tightened” up security/privacy recently.
