In case you missed it, here’s a curated summary of Twitter’s weekly #SEOchat. These tweets are packed with information, yet they come and go so quickly that you could miss them. Here is my best attempt at gathering all of those responses and questions. This week’s focus is on strategic planning across several clients?
Kavi Kardos is an advocate for SEO and a proud Moz alumnus. Tweets about baseball, ADHD, internet culture, and search marketing.

A1. Are we planning for a completely new brand or an existing brand that has a good online presence? The goal, available resources, client budget, tech support, these are a few areas to check for the planning stage. #SEOChat

Amal Ghosh

A1: Our plans are categorized by high-level topics. I’m not super confident in our strategy. I’m not super confident it is a strategy. #SEOChat

Pam Portland

The overall approach or philosophy stays the same, but obviously adjust the particulars of that as needed. #seochat

Mordy Oberstein

I approach most sites with an impact/effort matrix — prioritize high-impact/low-effort ideas to move the needle right away, schedule and ticket high-impact/high-effort ideas, reevaluate anything that’s low-impact/high-effort, and deprioritize low-impact/low-effort stuff. #SEOchat

Kavi Kardos

A2. Quarterly. Based on what was our goal when we started? Where are we after 3 months? How much closer were we to the target? What were the missing points? Can we improve from here to meet the target for next quarter? #SeoChat

Amal Ghosh

A2. If it’s a large project, you can measure the impacts of individual deliverables as they’re rolled out, providing updates on a regular basis. In general, improvements will either be immediate or so incremental that you won’t see the big picture until after the engagement. #SEOChat

Doug R Thomas, Esq

We’ve been using the same strategy for 12 months, with a new topic every quarter. So far, *shrug*. #SEOChat

Pam Portland

I like the OKR system because it forces you to reevaluate your plan of action at least once a quarter. If last quarter’s tactics didn’t get you closer to the goals you set at the beginning of the year, it’s time to rethink either the tactics or the goals themselves. #SEOchat

Kavi Kardos

#a3 #seochat The difference is the strategic aim of the tasks. If you’re just maintaining, that’s day to day. If you are moving with purpose and prioritizing your work accordingly for a long-term aim, that’s strategic.

Crystal Carter (she/her)

#A3 #seochat We attempt to work through the G.O.S.T. Process (G)oals: What we’re trying to achieve (O)bjectives: Measurable effects (S)trategies: Possibly multiple to reach objectives (T)actics: Within each strategy: sprint-based efforts

Erin Sparks

Personally, it comes down to having a more conceptual approach to SEO—understanding things like where things are headed directionally, how the algo is changing, etc. #seochat

Mordy Oberstein 

A3. We can say the strategy is the basic foundation if it goes wrong then we will rarely get expected growth, at the same time having an unskilled person for doing the day to day activities can also negatively impact. So both have to give their best for better outcome. #SEOChat

Amal Ghosh

A3: Our strategy is to generate lots of new content that is optimized for SEO to increase our EAT #SEOChat

Pam Portland

A3. This isn’t terribly cut-and-dried, but I was talking with a business owner about why it’s important to me to think in projects, not retainers. Retainers lead to that “just some tactics” thinking, where you fight to fill the hours every month. 1/2 #SEOChat

Doug R Thomas, Esq.

A4. The biggest change for me has been my change in thought about how SEO should be structured. A monthly retainer typically doesn’t make sense for most businesses — it incentivizes all sorts of strange things. Strict, clear deliverables! #SEOChat

Doug R Thomas, Esq.

I know I focus way more on user experience these days. Site architecture, ease of navigation, readability, and accessibility — as search engines prioritize UX more and more, we have to keep up #SEOchat

Kavi Kardos

Been way more focused on content nuances and overall site identity since the Medic update back in 2018 #seochat

Mordy Oberstein 

A4: We made a strategic shift last year to prep for a big launch that has morphed and been postponed. Our strategy has remained the same, tho, so no coordinated support alongside content. Results as expected. #SEOChat

Pam Portland

A4. The complexities and the number of stakeholders have increased. Activity online has become more of the main business activity for more businesses. This means you have to make a case for your approach that satisfies multiple perspectives.

Crystal Carter (she/her)

I really do hope the summary was helpful. If you missed the #SEOchat from the prior week, you can find it here.


Jeremy Rivera

Jeremy Rivera started in SEO in 2007, working at Advanced Access a hosting company for Realtors. He came up from the support department, where people kept asking "How do I rank in Google" and found in the process of answering that question an entire career. He became SEO product manager of Homes.com, went "in-house" at Raven Tools in Nashville in 2013. He then worked at several agencies like Caddis, 2 The Top Design as an SEO manager and then launched a 5 year freelance SEO career. During that time he consulted for large enterprise sites like Smile Direct Club, Dr. Axe, HCA, Logan's Roadhouse and Captain D's while also helping literally hundreds of small business owners get found in search results. He has authored blog posts at Authority Labs, Raven Tools, Wix, Search Engine Land. He has been a speaker at many SEO conferences like Craft Content and been interviewed in numerous SEO focused podcasts.