Post of the Week
How data visualizations enhance Executive decision making
So this isn't something I'd normally include as my Post of the Week but I think we're all guilty of staying within the confines of our own industry, and not looking outwards - you often learn a hell of a lot more from experts in other fields. This post is very detailed, and isn't something you can skim read easily, so grab a brew and get stuck in.
The author explains why data visualisations are the most powerful way for humans to compute complex information, and illustrates how data visualisations can enhance the executive decision-making-process. He also summarises the post with a real-world example, showing how to breakdown a complex problem and answer it succinctly for executives.
In my experience, the main issues that crop up in client relationships are usually as a result of ineffective communication. A good chunk of that is not proving your worth; what have you delivered for the client and can you prove it? This post should help you on your way to combating this issue.
Content
Programmatic SEO (Pt 3): Creating Landing Pages at Scale
I've already linked to the first part of this series before, so i feel like I'm skipping ahead somewhat. Anyyywayys, I thought the most interesting and actionable part of this post were the multitude of strategies for filling out landing pages at scale. This includes business strategies such as online communities, two-sided marketplaces, and curation websites (like this one).
Tech
Does the number of .htaccess rules impact performance and scalability?
I found this post by Simon so interesting! I don't want to give the game away here by revealing the answer, so check the post out. Simon analyses the impact of the number of .haccess rules on Time to First Byte (TTBF), CPU Usage, and more.
Misusing the Chrome User Experience Report
This is an impressive post from Oliver Mason who shows how to truly measure site speed performance using the CrUX report. This kinda ties in with my Post of the Week, on visualising data when consulting, as it helps prove a point and provide direction. Oliver also uses what he's called 'Top Tips for Waving Hands' to describe to client's what the data means, and why to use it.
Outreach
How to Pitch to Journalists - the do's and don'ts
There's been a lot of chatter in the industry lately on the relationship between SEOs, PRs and Journalists. First, I saw a great presentation at SearchLove by Rebecca Brown on the lack of understanding and collaboration of SEOs and PRs, and then I came across a huge debate on Twitter on requesting brand mentions be turned into links.
This post from Distilled describes the do's and don'ts when pitching to journalists. Listen up, as it could help better your relationship with journalists, and improve the perception of SEOs generally in the PR industry. We're not all bad, guys.
I started this whole thing up a couple of month's back as there just wasn't many people curating high-quality content within our industry. It also helped me keep up to date with interesting new ways of doing things, and learn a trick or two. In that time, I've refrained from being overly self-promotional but today I'm hopefully not going to annoy too many people by using the platform to launch something exciting Matt and I have been working on 😄
I've been experimenting with machine learning and string matching algorithms lately to develop a more efficient process for building redirect maps. After a hundred or so scripts later, we finally came up with Redirect Ranger an ML-powered redirect manager, that aims to save the industry from migration misery. Our redirect maps are also quality reviewed by humans 👁️ to make sure they're all relevant. If you're interesting in hearing some more, get in touch at hello@redirectranger.com.
Now, onto the links...
Andrew Charlton