In this episode, we chat through structuring SEO retainers and how to sell them effectively. The main talking points include:

• Importance of having a clear, structured framework for SEO services that outlines what the agency delivers and how they operate, with potential scalability.
• The risks of not having a structured offer and how clients can influence the services' scope without a clear framework.
• Broader application of these principles beyond SEO, including web design and other services.
• Challenges in defining monthly recurring services, especially in SEO, compared to project-based services like website development.
• How an onboarding or discovery phase helps you properly set up clients, understand their needs, and build an effective strategy.
• Emphasis on setting clear expectations from the start to prevent misunderstandings about deliverables and to maintain client satisfaction.

• Book a Strategy Session

In this episode, we explore the various aspects of choosing the right keywords for SEO and the implications they have for a content strategy and, ultimately, the target business.

1. The importance of keywords in SEO
2. Choosing the Right Keywords
3. Keyword Research and Strategy
4. Understanding Traffic and Relevance
5. Balancing Keyword Difficulty and Search Volume
6. Expectations and Misconceptions

Mike Michalowicz – https://mikemichalowicz.com/

In this episode, Pete and Jeff discuss Google's March 2024 algorithm update. This update focuses on Google's efforts to combat spam, particularly by addressing low-quality, unoriginal, and AI-generated content.

This update isn't just about algorithm changes, however, but also introduces new spam policies, specifically targeting expired domain abuse, scaled content abuse, and site reputation abuse.

• The update aims to reduce spammy and unoriginal content by about 40%, enhancing the quality of search results.
• The importance of content authenticity and value to users is underscored, noting that AI-generated content, if used, should not dominate a site's content strategy.
• Google's update is a move towards cleaning up the internet ecosystem, making it more user-centric and reducing the effectiveness of manipulative SEO tactics.

Pete and Jeff also discuss the broader implications for SEOs and website owners, encouraging them to focus on creating valuable, original content rather than relying on AI-generated or manipulative content strategies.

• https://blog.google/products/search/google-search-update-march-2024/
• https://developers.google.com/search/blog/2024/03/core-update-spam-policies
• https://developers.google.com/search/docs/essentials/spam-policies#site-reputation

In this episode, Pete and Jeff take a step back and look at how agencies should approach SEO for each client, and demonstrate that there is no "one-size-fits-all" approach – it all needs to be contextual to the competition.

The conversation revolves around how SEO is a game of displacement, so as a web professional, it is your job to review the competition and put a suitable plan in place for each client. That will inform your tech stack, your content structure, and maybe even the platform you choose to build the site on – everything.

The hosts also touch on surrounding themes of Keyword Research (and understanding a website's current level of operation through their Keyword Baseline), and how important speed and performance issues are in the grand scheme of things.

• SEOHive Strategy Sessions
• How to Understand Our Keyword Research

This show sees our first ever guest to The WP SEO Show - Matt Lasky.

Pete and Matt discuss the importance of a well-structured web design brief for both clients and agencies. Matt, drawing from his career experience and his book "How to Take a Web Design Brief," emphasizes how a solid brief underpins successful project outcomes, effective communication, and ultimately, client satisfaction.

• The transformative effect of clear communication and understanding client goals.
• The role of a comprehensive brief in guiding project direction and fostering creative solutions.
• Strategies for agencies to navigate client feedback and maintain a collaborative relationship.
• The significance of aligning project objectives with user needs to improve conversion rates and achieve client objectives.

This discussion highlights how a detailed, thoughtful brief is not just administrative paperwork but a foundational tool for project success and client-agency collaboration.

• "How to take a Web Design Brief" on Amazon
• Matt's LinkedIn Profile

Our 5-minute SEO Assessment of any client website!

Disclaimer: This isn't a process for running a full SEO Audit on a website. Instead, this is the process I go through when a lead comes in to talk about SEO. Before any project has been confirmed, or any money has exchanged hands, this is the process I go through before the initial call to give me context.

• Website structure
• User experience
• Current Rankings
• Competitor Websites & Rankings
• Website Speed / Core Webs Vitals

This leads to two gated products...

• SEO Health Check
• Keyword Research & Mapping

... and from here I can present a retained proposal.

• Wondering how SEOHive can help your business? Book an Intro Call
• Need to get under the hood with something? Book a Strategy Session
• Want to know the stats behind a website? Buy some Scout Reports

Following on from a comment made by Google's John Mueller on X, formerly known as Twitter, Pete and Jeff have an honest discussion about whether you can ever guarantee SEO Results?

• Why you can never guarantee SEO results
• How to talk to clients about SEO results and how to tie them into commercial metrics
• The risks of relying too much on a single platform for business
• The ethical aspects of selling SEO services, focusing on the importance of honesty and value in client interactions

In this episode, Pete and Jeff explore a real example of a content AI checker, and how a client interpreted the results.

Needless to say, the outcome wasn’t exactly “easy” to understand, so they chat through the results, the pitfalls and how these checkers are placed in the market at the moment.