DIFFERENTIAL DIAGNOSIS DURING SEO AUDITS

PUBCON 2017

11/ 09/ 2017

Introduction

PERFICIENT DIGITAL

• An SEO since 2004

• Former SEO Manager Network Solutions

• Independent Consultant for 6 Years

• Joined Perficient Digital in January 2017Ben Cook - @Skitzzo

@PRFTDigital

PERFICIENT DIGITAL

$487 Million in revenue

1997 Founded

PRFT Listed on NASDAQ

90% Repeat Business Rate

Employees2800+

N. America locations23

Global US, EU, China + India

@PRFTDigital

PERFICIENT DIGITAL

= 350 Strong

STLMKEIRVATLAA CHI

@PRFTDigital

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Disclaimer:I am NOT a Doctor

• I didn’t play one on TV.

• I didn’t stay at a Holiday Inn Express.

• I DID watch a lot of medical TV shows

and will confidently dispense completely

unqualified medical advice based entirely on

what I saw on those shows.

@PRFTDigital

Why Audits Fail

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Best Practices != Solutions

Too many site audits focus on best practices

When you’re in the ER with a broken arm, you don’t need the doctor to tell you about best practices.

@PRFTDigital

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Problem Impact

• Title tags or meta description length

• Image alt text

• Universal redirects for www. vs. non-www

• Low click through rate

• Poor usability, accessibility, or indexation

• Potential confusion

Almost All Audits Mention

@PRFTDigital

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• Checklists are useful to make sure you don’t miss something.

• A checklist does not prioritize or consider context.

• A solution identifies what is causing the problem.

Checklists are Tools, Not Solutions

@PRFTDigital

A Better Approach

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Doctors use a triage decision tree

The most dangerous injuries are

treated first.

Severity of Impact Determines Priority

@PRFTDigital

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Gather Information

from Client

Start by Observing Symptoms

Review Traffic Data

1. 2.

@PRFTDigital

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Ask a LOT of questions

• What problems do you see?

• What changed and when?

• What else was going on at that time?

• How did you discover the problem?

Gather Information from Client

Everybody lies

• Use Wayback Machine to verify

• Review Traffic Data

@PRFTDigital

PERFICIENT DIGITAL

In Google Search Console

• Indexation

• Impressions

• Click Through Rate

In Analytics

• Traffic Changes

• Conversion Changes

• User Satisfaction Metrics

Review Traffic Data

@PRFTDigital

Diagnosing

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Crawl as Multiple Users

• Gbot

• Bing

• Regular User

Use Multiple Rendering Techniques

• Java

• AJAX

On Multiple Devices

• Desktop

• Phone

• Tablet

Diagnosing

@PRFTDigital

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Look for:

• 404 or 500 Errors

• Redirect Chains

• Redirect Loops

• Robots.txt Mistakes

• Nofollow Tags

• Noindex Tags

• Canonical Conflicts

• Cloaking

Diagnosing

@PRFTDigital

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DiagnosingServer Logs

• Screaming Frog

Historical Comparison

• Analytics

• SEMRush

@PRFTDigital

PERFICIENT DIGITAL

Solving Symptoms Leads to Buy In

How do you respond if your doctor tells you

“you could lose some weight”?

How do you respond if your doctor tells you

“being overweight is putting additional strain on

your back, which is causing your severe back

pain”?

@PRFTDigital

PERFICIENT DIGITAL

Focusing on observable symptoms “bakes in” the priority and importance of solution

Solving Symptoms Leads to Buy In

@PRFTDigital

PERFICIENT DIGITAL

Now Use Checklists

& Best PracticesUse your checklist to make sure you

don’t leave a clamp in the patient.

@PRFTDigital

Any Questions?