Impactful SEO is rarely executed by a lone wolf. You need resources. You need buy-in from higher-ups – a CMO, head of product, or even CEO. But here’s the thing: those lengthy SEO documents outlining objectives, audiences, competitors, keywords, and that six-month Gantt chart vaguely detailing optimization projects – they’re not getting read. On the contrary, it is a roadblock to you getting a green light for resources. An executive can quickly scan one short email containing a clear request and sign off. However, they need to set aside dedicated time to read a strategy document in depth – and time is not something executives have a lot of. And even if they sign off today, the reality is business priorities shift. Competitive landscapes change. Algorithms are updated. SEO is executed in a constant state of flux. It demands flexibility on a monthly, even weekly basis. So, let’s ditch the long documents and prioritize actions over proposals with agile SEO.
Agile SEO involves incremental iteration. Break complex, overarching projects down into small, frequent changes. Enable continual progress. Forget the pursuit of SEO perfection. The key is to launch a minimum viable product (MVP) and monitor the impact on metrics. Once you are armed with performance data, you can move on. The key performance indicator (KPI) impact will get you buy-in for the resources you need. Say your overarching goal is to completely overhaul the website architecture of an e-commerce site – all the URL routes, page titles, meta descriptions, and H1s for the homepage, category pages, and product pages.
The traditional approach involves pitching the entire SEO project at once. Your argument is that it’s good for SEO. The site will rank higher and significantly impact the organic sessions. Which is true. However, the document communicating all the reasons and requirements is complicated to review. The project will seem too large. It will likely not make it onto your development team’s roadmap, as they will likely feel your request will overload their development cycle. Instead of pitching the entire project, request approval for a small but impactful change. For example, optimizing the title tag and meta description of the homepage. The documentation for this will be less than one page. The change request is equivalent to snackable content. Because it’s easy to implement, it’s much easier to incorporate it into a development sprint.
So now we know to stop writing long SEO strategy documents and instead start creating agile, “snackable” tactics. But we still need to understand what has been completed in the past, is being worked on now, is coming up next, and all the ideas are. This information must be easy to digest, centrally accessible, and flexible. An “SEO calendar” document can be a solution for this. It includes elements such as a date column, backlog, change column, tactic brief, sign off, and outcome. The benefit of a calendar layout is it is fully flexible but time-relevant. Changing priorities is as simple as moving the de-prioritized item to the backlog. It can act as a website change log for SEO. Everyone can know the timetable of changes, both past and planned upcoming.
Tactics briefs have five sections: overview, SMART goal, specifications, results, and learnings & action items. These briefs provide a clear record of what was changed, the impact on KPIs, what was learned, and what the next steps are. An agile SEO system provides flexibility and visibility. At any time, you can understand what actions are underway and what has shifted KPIs. Forget the fantasy of the perfect SEO strategy, and focus your energy on getting things done.