SEO Process vs. Promised Outcomes

Sometimes SEO can 'win' and yet the business can still lose. From an SEO perspective, this would be considered a comfortable victory. But unfortunately, in real-world terms, it isn't. This for me is a living example of why focusing solely on SEO KPIs is dangerous and rarely effective. I'd go as far as to say that agencies and specialists that do this aren't integrated at all - no matter how much they claim to be. For context, this is SEO traffic progression for a household brand that I've began working with. Traffic is up, significantly compared to 6/12 months prior. However sales, unfortunately haven't bestowed the same growth. The business (up until this point) has been determined to focus aggressively on organic growth even though it's continually neglected and underfunded UX and CRO improvements. Sound familiar? The outcome? Well... traffic is clearly up, sales are not. Historically they've spent many £1000's on various SEO agencies and they're left with little to show for their investment outside of a progressive traffic graph. I firmly believe that solely increasing traffic isn't a silver bullet to driving ecommerce growth. 15+ years in and I'm yet to see that as a winning strategy. Traffic must be combined with initiatives to boost conversion and optimise UX in order to maximise returns and drive true growth. Yes, from an SEO perspective, this is a win. But in business terms and for me as an ecommerce consultant that's obsessed with sales growth, this is a fail. Having a long queue at your food stall isn't going to turn into sales if your food isn't great or customers need the exact change to buy from you. The same principle applies to ecommerce sites. The message here is if you're seriously planning on investing in digital growth - particularly SEO, I strongly advise investing in UX and conversion rate optimisation first or at least as the same time in order to achieve the best results. The all eggs in SEO approach doesn't work, and even if does, it doesn't maximise returns on your investments if you've neglected user experience. SEO + CRO really is a winning combo.

I spoke with a D2C brand that had skyrocketed its organic traffic yet their daily orders were still flat. They came to me expecting a quick SEO fix. But as I dug deeper, I realized what they needed was a strategic framework —an integrated set of choices that would drive not just visitors, but profitable orders. Initial Situation: ➜ 10x increase in daily clicks (from almost nothing to 2,000/day) ➜ Average Order Value (AOV) surprisingly low ➜ Order volume: virtually unchanged despite the traffic surge Problem Identification: Why wasn’t all that new traffic turning into sales? The brand had invested in SEO, yes—but without aligning content strategy with top-selling SKUs, profit margins, demographics, and their unique value proposition. ❌ They chased visibility, not viability. Process (Our Discovery Call): I asked questions like: ➜ Top-selling SKUs? ➜ High-margin categories? ➜ Core audience and demographics? ➜ Product Differentiators vs. competition? ➜ Customer repeat purchase cycles? By understanding these, I identified where intent-rich opportunities matched their strongest business levers. What We Did Next (The Proposal): I presented a tailored SEO program that went beyond “just more traffic.” It focused on: a) Where we choose to play: Pinpointing search opportunities that have a short time to value of results. b) How we choose to win: Mapping keywords to product categories with favourable Search Volume, Keyword Difficulty (KD), and Average Order Value. I presented them a scatter chart of commercial-intent keywords plotted by: ➜ Search Volume ➜ Keyword Difficulty ➜ Potential AOV Impact This instantly clarified the path forward. Instead of random traffic, we were going after the right traffic. The prospect’s reaction? He said no previous proposal had offered this level of strategic clarity. It’s easy to chase vanity metrics (traffic, rankings, clicks), but without aligning your SEO strategy to business goals, you’ll never see the revenue catch up. Stop treating SEO as a game of traffic. ➡️ Treat it as a strategic tool that positions you in front of high-intent audiences. ➡️ It’s not about playing everywhere—it’s about winning in the right places. If you’re looking to make strategic choices—on Google, Bing, or next-gen platforms like ChatGPT, Perplexity, Claude —and you want to translate visibility into growth, let’s talk. I’d be excited to help you map your SEO opportunities to real business outcomes.

SEO Isn’t a Magic Bullet And Any Agency Saying Otherwise Is Lying SEO works. But if an agency promises instant results, they’re selling you a fantasy. Does that mean SEO is all “long game” with no quick wins? No. Some businesses can see early traction with the right adjustments; especially if technical issues or poor targeting have held them back. But real, sustainable SEO growth isn’t about flipping a switch. It’s about building authority, trust, and visibility the right way. Here’s what most agencies won’t tell you: 1️⃣Quick Wins Exist But They’re Not the Whole Picture ✔️Fixing technical issues (indexing, speed, mobile friendliness) can unlock fast improvements. ✔️Updating content to better match intent can boost rankings quickly. ✔️Brand authority matters...Google rewards businesses people trust and recognize. ✅ The Right Approach: ✔️ Go after low hanging fruit first, technical fixes, on-page optimizations, and targeting the right keywords. ✔️ Don’t ignore brand perception, sites with strong branding and trust signals often outperform competitors. 2️⃣Google Updates Happen But You Shouldn’t Be at Their Mercy ✔️Google’s algorithm is always changing but strong brands and quality content hold steady. ✔️Sites relying on spammy tactics or thin content are the ones that get hit. Agencies that chase loopholes will leave you vulnerable. ✅ The Right Approach: ✔️ Focus on real authority: brand mentions, expertise driven content, and trust signals. ✔️ Build a search presence that lasts, not one that collapses after the next update. 3️⃣ SEO Doesn’t Work in a Silo ✔️SEO alone can drive massive business growth, but it works better when your brand presence is strong. ✔️If people don’t recognize your brand, they’re less likely to click, trust, or convert. ✔️Agencies that ignore CRO, branding, and UX leave results on the table. ✅ The Right Approach: ✔️ Align SEO with brand positioning—people click what they know and trust. ✔️ Optimize for both rankings and conversions—traffic means nothing if visitors don’t take action.

Hiring an SEO agency doesn’t mean you’ve “checked the box” on growth. Too often, we see brands assume that bringing in SEO support guarantees a full-funnel impact, like non-branded traffic, conversions, and revenue. But here’s the reality… SEO isn’t a plug-and-play service. It’s a collaborative function. And like any collaborative effort, its success is directly tied to the resources, workflows, and internal alignment on the brand side. Most awesome SEO agencies can handle the full suite: strategy, content, technical audits, off-page, on-page, and the works. But what often gets missed? When parts of the strategy are removed due to bandwidth, dev queues, content gaps, or shifting priorities, the expected outcome must also change. And if those limitations aren’t acknowledged and aligned on, the collaboration suffers. If your team isn’t executing content updates for 6 months, you can’t expect organic performance to climb. If key technical fixes are deprioritized, certain pages won’t move, no matter how well the strategy was crafted. This doesn’t mean SEO won’t work. But it does mean outcomes need to be revisited, and accountabilities need to adjust based on what’s in play. SEO isn’t one lever. It’s an ecosystem. And partial execution delivers partial results. So here’s the move: Work 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 your agency. Be transparent about your team’s capabilities, timelines, and constraints. Let them reframe the roadmap based on what’s actually possible. The right agency will meet you where you are and help you get as far as possible based on what’s real. Just don’t ask for outcomes that your current inputs can’t support.

As an SEO Content Writer, promising your clients to help them "Rank" articles is misleading. Here’s why: ➊ SEO is complex It involves on-page optimization, off-page, technical SEO, user experience, & more. While high-quality content is important, it’s just one piece of the puzzle. Factors like domain authority, backlinks & Google’s algorithm contribute to rankings. None of which are under your control as a content writer. ➋ Algorithm changes Google and other search engines update their algorithms. What works today might not work tomorrow. Promising clients that an article will rank ignores that search engines are unpredictable. Your content needs to be adaptable, updated regularly & refined over time. ➌ Content alone isn’t enough SEO is a collaborative process. Even with perfectly optimized content, rankings can be affected by site speed, mobile-friendliness & other technical aspects. Without these elements, even the best content may struggle to rank. They are important for the content to reach its full potential in search engine rankings. Instead of offering guarantees, tell your clients about how SEO works. Promise them the process instead of the exact results. Signing off. Happy Monday!

Most marketers can't justify SEO budgets to C-level without losing them in the first 10 minutes. But getting C-level buy-in is critical. The problem isn't their expertise, it's what they choose to talk about. I was in a call a while ago with a startup's Head of SEO and C-level. The Head of SEO was brilliant. Deep technical knowledge. Years of experience. Clear passion for the work. But within minutes, he was talking about translation workflows, regular expressions for tracking high-intent keywords, and hreflang config. The CEO's body language shifted. You could see the disconnect happening in real time. Not because the work wasn't valuable. But because it wasn't framed in a language management understands. Here's what most SEO people talk about in these conversations: → Technical implementations and site migrations → Tool configurations and tracking setups → Keyword ranking and visibility metrics → Content production workflows → Link building tactics → Domain authority Here's what C-level actually wants to hear: → How to measure success vs company goals → Which 10% of actions deliver 90% of impact → What business outcomes we drive toward → How it connects to pipeline and revenue → What the ROI looks like in their terms This isn't the fault of SEO professionals. The industry taught us to measure technical execution. To prove our value through rankings, traffic, and visibility scores. But management doesn't get promoted for traffic growth. They get promoted for revenue impact. We redirected the call with four simple questions: 1) "What's the key business goal here - is it qualified leads, pipeline, or non-brand revenue?" 2) "If we achieve visibility on high-volume terms that don't convert, does that still create value for you?" 3) "How do you currently distinguish between brand and non-brand performance?" 4) "What would success look like in six months that would make you say 'this is working'?" The conversation shifted from operational details to strategic outcomes. The best SEO professionals I know do amazing technical work. But the ones who consistently win budget and C-suite buy-in have learned to speak a different language: 1) They start with business outcomes and reverse engineer the work. 2) They identify the 10% of initiatives that connect to 90% of impact. 3) They translate technical excellence into revenue terms. The technical execution matters. Obviously. But if you can't connect it to what management cares about, your amazing work stays invisible at the decision-making level. What's been your experience presenting SEO work to C-level? PS. If you want to work with a team that has gotten buy-in for 6-figure yearly SEO budgets multiple times, let's talk → https://lnkd.in/ekh6Zxbi

🚨 Buying an SEO Package? That Might Be the Reason Your SEO Never Worked. Fixed pricing. Fixed deliverables. “Guaranteed results.” Sounds simple. But if SEO were plug-and-play, every business would be ranking by now. Here is the truth most agencies will not tell you:  SEO packages do not fail because SEO does not work     they fail because your business is not a template. Read this before you buy another package 👇 A Real Conversation I Have All the Time A business owner once said:   “We paid for a 6-month SEO package. Blogs were posted, backlinks were built but nothing changed.” When I looked deeper, the issue was obvious: ❌ Same strategy used for every client ❌ No understanding of the business model ❌ No analysis of competition gaps ❌ No focus on revenue-driving pages The agency delivered the package. But the strategy never fit the business. SEO was treated like a checklist not a growth system. Why SEO Packages Do not Work SEO is not a product. It is a process. Fixed packages ignore: Different competition levels Different technical issues Different search intent Different conversion goals Two businesses in the same niche can need completely different SEO strategies. That is why “10 blogs + 50 backlinks” rarely moves the needle. The Solution: Custom SEO Strategy (What Actually Works) Real SEO starts with clarity, not packages: 1️⃣ Understand the Business First      Goals, margins, services, and how the business makes money. 2️⃣ Identify the Real Bottleneck     Technical issues? Content gaps? Authority problem? Conversion issue? 3️⃣ Build a Strategy Around Impact     Not tasks.     Not deliverables.     Outcomes. That is how SEO becomes predictable and scalable. Final Thought If an agency sells you the same SEO package they sell everyone else  they are selling convenience, not results. 👉 Comment “STRATEGY” if you want to see what a custom SEO roadmap actually looks like. This is the difference between doing SEO and building organic growth that lasts. #SEO #SEOStrategy #DigitalMarketing #MarketingStrategy  #BusinessGrowth #OnlineVisibility #OrganicGrowth #SEOExpert

Most SEO services are “effort-driven” rather than results-driven. Here's how to spot the difference: 👍 𝗥𝗲𝘀𝘂𝗹𝘁𝘀-𝗱𝗿𝗶𝘃𝗲𝗻 𝗦𝗘𝗢: ▶ Asks most of the questions ▶ Goals: KPIs (leads, sales, revenue, return) ▶ Tangible deliverables are a means to KPIs ▶ It sounds like science 👨🔬 👎 𝗘𝗳𝗳𝗼𝗿𝘁-𝗱𝗿𝗶𝘃𝗲𝗻 𝗦𝗘𝗢: ▶ Client asks most of the questions ▶ Goals: Metrics (rankings, visibility, traffic) ▶ Tangible deliverables are a means to metrics ▶ It sounds like magic 🪄 What does magic sound like? They “got it” - they’re wizards! Thanks to their SEO crystal ball, they already know your business's nuance, goals, ideal customer, and optimal value proposition to maximize SEO return. No client assistance required! 🧙♂️ When you ask questions, they confidently shoot back: 😎 “Because content is king” 😎 “SEO optimize your content” 😎 “Holistic strategy”  😎 “We’re optimizing your keywords” 😎 “Best practice” 😎 “Because Google Ads and SEO work together” 😎 “To build your domain authority” 😎 “We’re going to do work on the backend” Or maybe just a word salad of technical jargon you don’t understand. What are their deliverables? ✅ X # of Blogs ✅ X # of links  ✅ X # of words  ✅ X # of hours  ✅ Fancy Dashboard It certainly feels looks like stuff is happening. They talk like they know what they are doing. But trust your gut... Were you really looking to just buy some crap for the sake of it? Or were you hoping to invest in measurable return? ➡ Despite ROI being the expected outcome, time and again I see business owners walk into SEO agreements based on anything BUT a return. I don’t blame them though. I blame an industry obsessively focused on ranking, visibility, and other metrics as the end goal. Here’s the cold truth: If you haven’t discussed bankable KPIs, it’s safe to assume it’s not on the menu. What you see is what you get. But hey, at least you can count on that blog every week 🙈 𝗦𝗘𝗢 𝗶𝘀 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗺𝗮𝗴𝗶𝗰. It may be foreign to you (that’s why you're hiring someone). But here’s my view: with MY investments, no matter how foreign they are to me, I still expect to know the dollar-for-dollar P&L on every single one. There’s only one “deliverable” I care about. And when I check my portfolio, there is no line for "effort.” Why is SEO different? So what are some signs of a results-driven agency? Aside from the KPIs, they usually say things like this: ⭐ “Do you have an ideal customer profile (ICP)?” ⭐ “What’s your value proposition? Have you tested it?” ⭐ “We did some market research and found…” ⭐ “Here’s how we improved conversion rate” ⭐ “What’s your net promoter score? Let's multiply impact.” ⭐ “Let’s define some benchmarks” ⭐ "Do you record calls?" That's what impact-driven SEO sounds like. ✍ Rant Takeaway: Rankings are just one side of the coin. You might be able to produce some rankings behind a curtain, but maximum return requires a lot more client collaboration and research. #seotips #localseo

I’ve spoken with over 250+ businesses about SEO in the past 12 months. From startups to Fortune 500 companies. Different industries, different budgets, different goals. But when the conversation starts, I usually hear the same few things: 🔴 "We worked with an agency before… it didn’t work." There’s a lot of distrust in the industry. Business owners have been promised the world and left with confusing reports, no tangible results, and a lighter wallet. The issue? Many agencies focus on deliverables, not outcomes. And many underdeliver at that, too. Monthly reports, blog posts, and backlinks mean nothing if they don’t move the needle on revenue. 🔴 "We want to rank position 1 for [insert keyword]." Keyword obsession is still alive and well. Likely as a result of many agencies still pitching this as the way to do things. But ranking first doesn’t mean more sales. The real question is: what keywords are driving our target audience to the website, and is this turning into leads and revenue? 🔴 “I just need someone to optimize the website.” I hear this a lot. And I get it… SEO is about rankings, traffic, and technical fixes, right? Not exactly. SEO isn’t just about tweaking a website. It’s about aligning your business with how people search, think, and buy. And to do that, I need to understand more than just your website: ✅ Who your best customers are (Are we attracting the right people?) ✅ What drives their decisions (Price? Trust? Urgency?) ✅ How they find and engage with your brand (Do they research for months or buy instantly?) ✅ Your top-performing markets (Is your real opportunity in a different city or country?) ✅ Your business goals (Do you want more leads, higher-value clients, or better retention?) If an agency jumps straight to optimizing without asking these questions, they’re just guessing. And guessing doesn’t drive revenue.

One of the toughest lessons in SEO is this: Output ≠ Outcome. Think of it this way: Traffic ≠ Revenue. In any business activity—SEO included—the easiest thing to measure is input. ➞ Keyword research. ➞ Number of backlinks. ➞ Optimizing site speed. ➞ Number of content pieces. These are all within your control, but they don't guarantee success. So, you look at the output: ➞ Rankings for specific keywords. ➞ Indexation metrics. ➞ Traffic growth. ➞ CTRs. But even that doesn’t mean you’re in the clear. What is the real job of an SEO specialist? Delivering an outcome: Revenue. You can drive massive traffic and still see zero impact on revenue. This is why many businesses feel let down by agencies and SEOs. That’s why I always insist: ⤷ Start with business goals and work backwards. You simply CAN'T iterate your way to a business outcome. As an SEO specialist, it’s a question you MUST ask your clients: ⤷ How can we impact revenue? That’s your North Star. Remember, we’re in the business of delivering outcomes, not just outputs. So, what’s the NUMBER you’re most proud of? (Let me know in the comments below) Happy Monday, by the way! 🙋♀️ - - - P.S. Follow me, Anna, for more content like this. P.P.S. Join my Newsletter here: https://lnkd.in/edMVFtje It's FREE! - - - #SEO #DigitalMarketing #MarketingTips #TrafficToRevenue