Linking Your SEO Strategy to Business Goals. Allison Fabella presentation at Search Engine Journal Summit (SEJ) in Chicago.

2. Sebastian Wenzel, Webanalyticsbook
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3. • 12 years enterprise-level, agency experience
• National speaker on SEO & social
• CareerBuilder is the largest career website in the country
• Operate sites in 23 countries, 60 markets
• My team manages the SEO for US, France, UK, Germany, India, Singapore, Vietnam,
Greece and many others
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4. TRUE STORY:
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5. Me Talking To My CEO (then)
Time to First
Byte…
Duplicate
Title Tags…
Malformed
Canonicals…
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6. This is (kind of) what he looked like:
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7. And this is how I felt…
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8. What I Should Have Done
(and eventually did)…
What Do You Consider
The Company’s Key
Metrics?
What Are Our
Company’s
Business Goals?
What Are Our
Biggest Pain
Points?
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9. And Then Done This
(which, of course, I did)…
I should be tracking
these particular
metrics to measure
my success
According to my
research, these SEO
strategies can bring the
most business value
Aha! I can prioritize
my SEO by based on
company’s goals
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10. Me Talking to My CEO (now)
Drove conversions
by XX%
Increased Your
Favorite Metrics
by XX%
Reduced company
pain point by XX
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11. And Now This is (kind of) What He Looks Like:
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12. And This is How I Feel …
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13. HERE ARE THE THINGS I WISH
SOMEONE HAD TOLD ME WHEN I
WAS YOUNGER
(and thinner…)
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14. Your CEO Doesn’t
Care
It Don’t Count
If You Don’t Count it
Don’t Be an SEO
3TAKEAWAYS
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16. ACTUALLY THEY CARE DEEPLY
About you,
about the company,
about world peace…
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17. BUT THEY DON’T CARE…
About your text to code ratio,
your domain authority,
your self referencing canonicals,
or your jacked-up XML sitemaps …
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18. THAT’S WHAT THEY HIRED YOU FOR:
To Handle the Geeky SEO Stuff and
Drive Value to the Company’s Goals
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19. WHEN SPEAKING WITH YOUR CEO
• Ask questions about business goals
• Offer them solutions – not problems
• Speak C-Suite lingo – not SEO geek
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21. YOU GOTTA PLAN …
To ask the tough questions
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22. DOES THIS SEO STRATEGY
LINK TO THE COMPANY’S GOALS?
If not. Is it really a
priority at this time?
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23. WHICH REPORTING TOOL(S)
WILL YOU USE?
(HINT: NOT THIS ONE!)
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24. CAN YOU QUANTIFY IT IN DOLLARS?
$
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25. HOW WILL PROGRESS BE MEASURED
INTERNALLY?
• Which
metrics?
• When?
• How often?
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26. HOW WILL YOU REPORT TO THE C-SUITE?
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• Which
metrics?
• When?
• How often?

27. PLANNING FOR SUCCESS
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28. BUILD METRICS INTO THE PLAN

29. BE SPECIFIC ABOUT YOUR TRACKING

30. SO…WHEN CRAFTING YOUR
SEO STRATEGIES
• Plan your KPI’s in advance
• Know what you are tracking and why
• Know who will receive what reports and
when
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32. DON’T BE THIS GUY!
HE SOLVES SEO PROBLEMS
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33. BE THIS GUY!
HE SOLVES CEOS’ PROBLEMS
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34. SEO DATA
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35. CEO DATA*
*Actual data sent to C-suite (excluding redactions)
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36. …AND ROCK STAR DATA
THAT’S REAL VALUE!
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37. SO…
THIS GUY THIS GUY
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38. A ROCK STAR
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39. 3TAKEAWAYS
Your CEO Cares
About SEO Driving
Business Value
Make a Plan to
Make it Count
Don’t Be an SEO.
Be a Rock Star
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#Searchmetrics
@alli12

40. Twitter @all12
Linkedin /allisonfabella
Thank you!
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@alli12