If you don't know where you're going, don't complain about where you end up. It's the same in life, business and SEO - you need a bigger picture vision, and a clear game plan on how you're going to make it happen.

1. Why you need a strategy first
approach to SEO
@kevgibbo
KEVIN GIBBONS

2. If you don’t know
where you’re
going, don’t
complain about
where you end up!

3. I’ve been doing
SEO since 2003,
every year looking
back & thinking
here’s yet another
new ranking
factor!
“We fixed 983
issues, gained
rankings for 102
keywords and
secured 52 links...
what do you mean
so what?”

4. SEO is an
investment
in business
growth.

5. Don’t just throw
stuff against the
wall and see what
sticks.

6. To grow,
you need
intention

7. Where are
we now?

8. Don’t create before you audit
What’s working well vs what isn’t?
Is there an 80/20 rule
you might be missing?

9. Review competitive
benchmarks
● Who’s winning?
● Why are they
winning?
● What are you going
to do to catch them?
Tip: what velocity are they
moving at? Everything’s a
moving target.

10. Don’t run
before you’re
facing the
right direction

11. Where are
we going?

12. Businessgoals
Strategy
On-site SEO & Content Strategy
Rankings
£
Traffic
Digital PR Coverage
What does success look like?
Create a hierarchy of KPIs on how to measure performance.

13. Understand
the slice of
the market
you want to
take and the
size of the
opportunity.

14. "If I had six hours to
chop down a tree i'd
spend the first four
hours sharpening
the axe."
Abraham Lincoln

15. How are
we going
to get
there?

16. TECHNICAL
SEO
Ensure you have a
solid platform to
improve accessibility
to search engines.
01
Create content to make
sure you’re visible to
your target audience for
popular topics.
02
ON-SITE
CONTENT
REPUTATION
Strengthening your
domain link and brand
reputation vs key
competitors.
03
3ORGANICGROWTH
DRIVERS

17. ● Create a laser focused
plan
● Have a SMART goal
● Assign accountability
● Work in deployment
sprints to test and learn

18. MEASURE WHAT MATTERS,
NOT WHAT’S EASIEST

19. Measure lead and lag indicators
Organic revenue Organic traffic Organic ranking
visibility
Page errors
reduced
New content
published
Links acquired
(quality &
quantity)
Understand which levers you need to pull vs ignore

20. The biggest
wins are often
not the big
spikes, but
those that
improve month
on month on
month...

21. Where are
we now?
Where are we
going?
How are we
going to get
there?

22. Make sure your ideas
have maximum value
towards hitting the goals
that matter most.
Alignment is key

23. What’s the easiest way to hit
your target? Do that.