SEO in Turbulent Times - BrightonSEO San Diego 2023 - Will Critchlow, SearchPilot

Having been in the SEO industry since 2005, Will has seen his fair share of downturns. In today's tough economic times, with inflation biting, layoffs and budget cuts hitting, and SEO under more pressure than ever to deliver results, Will brings actionable tips and ideas for doing more with less and proving the worth of your work.

Built from insights gleaned from dozens of conversations with marketing leaders, SEO specialists, and senior executives, this presentation will outline the skills you need to keep your CFO happy and protect and defend your SEO budget even under pressure.

1. SEO in Turbulent
Times
Will Critchlow
SEARCHPILOT
slideshare.net/willcritchlow
@willcritchlow

2. Source: https://yhoo.it/44kiejN

3. Source: https://yhoo.it/44kiejN
Left college

4. Source: https://yhoo.it/44kiejN
Left college
Ran our
first
conference

5. Source: https://yhoo.it/44kiejN
Left college
Ran our
first
conference
Launched
SearchPilot

6. Source: https://yhoo.it/3P6bSiL

7. Source: https://yhoo.it/3P6bSiL

8. Source: https://yhoo.it/3P6bSiL
Bought
platinum
wedding
rings

9. Source: https://yhoo.it/44kiejN
Left college
Ran our
first
conference
Launched
SearchPilot

10. As a result, this is your CFO.

11. …and if youʼre not careful.

12. Source: https://www.statista.com/chart/12136/worldwide-digital-and-tv-ad-spending/
Whatʼs happening now is most like what we saw in 2008/2009 - delaying and pausing.

13. There are certain
themes that Iʼm
hearing again and
again

14. “Engineering resources
allocated to SEO have
been reduced recently”

15. “Weʼre being asked to
do more with less”

16. Letʼs start by talking
about budgets in this
environment

17. Mistake
1.
Thinking large
spends are
impossible to
justify

18. Poker players train
themselves to think in
odds rather than $$$

20. Remember the scale of company budgets

21. Mistake
2.
Thinking that
vague
justifications are
sufficient

22. Itʼs critical to tie your arguments to real business goals

23. Tip: look at what your CEO is saying on earnings calls

24. Connect to the overall channel size and / or opportunity
Source: https://www.similarweb.com/website/nike.com/#traffic-sources

25. Certainty of outcome
> Size of outcome

26. But itʼs not all about
budgets. You also
need to perform:

27. Move fast
and prove
your worth

28. Move fast
and prove
your worth
Tips for
driving the
efficiencies
CFOs want

29. Move fast
and prove
your worth
Tips for
driving the
efficiencies
CFOs want
Loss
aversion is
more
important
than ever

30. Iʼm coming from a background heavily in SEO testing:

31. For the purposes of this talk, the cool part is dashboards:

33. Many of you may already be running SEO tests. I hope
this is useful to you either way!
1. Securing budgets for testing 2. Protecting budgets with testing

34. Move fast
and prove
your worth
Tips for
driving the
efficiencies
CFOs want
Loss
aversion is
more
important
than ever

35. Move fast and
prove your worth1.

36. FASTER
MORE CERTAIN

37. CERTAIN

38. FAST

39. Cheap change
Strong
hypothesis
Weak
hypothesis
Expensive change
Link

40. Cheap change
Strong
hypothesis
Require high
confidence of large
enough uplift for
cost

WAIT until ruled out
Weak
hypothesis
Expensive change
Link

41. Cheap change
Strong
hypothesis
Consider deploying
if moderate
confidence of any
uplift
Require high
confidence of large
enough uplift for
cost

WAIT until ruled out
Require moderate
confidence of large
enough uplift for
cost

WAIT until ruled out
Weak
hypothesis
Expensive change
Link

42. Cheap change
Strong
hypothesis
Consider deploying
as long as not
trending negative
[>50% chance +ve]
Consider deploying
if moderate
confidence of any
uplift
Require high
confidence of large
enough uplift for
cost

WAIT until ruled out
Require moderate
confidence of large
enough uplift for
cost

WAIT until ruled out
Weak
hypothesis
Expensive change
Link

43. Cheap change
Strong
hypothesis
Weak
hypothesis
Expensive change

44. Cheap change
Strong
hypothesis
Require moderate
confidence of large
enough uplift for
cost
Weak
hypothesis
Expensive change

45. Consider deploying
as long as not
trending negative
Cheap change
Strong
hypothesis
Consider deploying
as long as not
trending negative
Require moderate
confidence of large
enough uplift for
cost
Weak
hypothesis
Expensive change

46. Consider deploying
as long as not
trending negative
Cheap change
Strong
hypothesis
Just SHIP
Consider deploying
as long as not
trending negative
Require moderate
confidence of large
enough uplift for
cost
Weak
hypothesis
Expensive change

47. 2.
Tips for driving
the efficiencies
CFOs want

48. Without testing

49. Without testing
With testing

50. Avoid losers
Without testing

51. Avoid ineffective
Without testing

52. All the wins!
Without testing

53. Without testing
Same result, less
engineering!

54. 3.
LOSS AVERSION is
more important
than ever right
now

55. Consider deploying
as long as not
trending negative
Cheap change
Strong
hypothesis
Just SHIP
Consider deploying
as long as not
trending negative
Require moderate
confidence of large
enough uplift for
cost
Weak
hypothesis
Expensive change

56. Big drops are immediately career-limiting
Small drops are compounding problems

57. Move fast
and prove
your worth
Tips for
driving the
efficiencies
CFOs want
Loss
aversion is
more
important
than ever

58. Thanks!
Subscribe here:
https://www.searchpilot.com/resources/newsletter
If you have follow-ups, email me: [email protected]

59. Image credits
●Armadillo - Dennis Church
●Armadillo ball - Nathan Rupert
●Clouds - Tom Barrett
●Lightning - Johannes Plenio
●Castle - Tim Schmidbauer
●Armor - Natasa Grabovac
●Dollar - Kenny Eliason
●Poker chips - Apolo Photographer