SEO

7 Tips For Getting The Most Of Your Enterprise SEO Freelancers

Published

2 years ago

February 10, 2022

7 Tips For Getting The Most Of Your Enterprise SEO Freelancers

Whether this is the first time you’ve outsourced your SEO or you have years of experience working with freelancers, going into the process with a well-structured plan will help you to get the best out of your support team.

At the enterprise level, it’s even more crucial that you have high levels of communication and accountability for any SEO project.

With so many pages to manage, there’s an increased potential for costly mistakes or errors.

It’s your job to prevent those as much as possible.

So what can you do to build a successful team of enterprise SEO freelancers?

These seven tips can help.

1. Provide Them With Thorough Briefs

No matter how big your site is, you will always know more about the business and its goals than the freelancers that you hire.

But that’s also why it’s up to you to educate your freelancers appropriately and give them the inside knowledge that they need to do their work effectively.

With sites that are hundreds or even thousands of pages, it can be incredibly easy for a freelancer to get lost when it comes to the structure of the site and why things are set up the way they are.

Providing them with a detailed brief ahead of the project start date will allow them time to review, follow up, and clarify anything that could make their work more difficult or less successful.

Your brief should include some information on the objective of the work you want the freelancer to complete, along with everything that’s expected from them in terms of deliverables.

You should also clearly outline any deadlines for each aspect of the project, along with agreed-upon processes like standing meetings or check-ins.

2. Establish Concrete Deliverables

While having goals like “increase organic traffic to the site by 10% this quarter” are great to aim for, your freelancers need to have concrete deliverables laid out that make it clear when the work is done.

If you’re not sure where to start with these, it’s important to remember that deliverables are about controllable outcomes.

You should be able to look at them and ask “was this task completed or not?”

Yes, you’re hiring freelancers to make a difference in your business growth.

But their role is to complete the necessary tasks to get you to those goals, not guarantee that those goals will be achieved.

Ultimately, it’s out of both your and your freelancer’s hands as to the results of growth or performance goals, no matter how hard you work.

Setting clear, definable deliverables is one of the best ways to keep everyone on-task and ensure a successful working relationship with your freelancers.

3. Outline Success Metrics Upfront

Before you launch any new digital marketing project, you need to know how you plan to measure its success.

Key performance indicators (KPIs) will vary from business to business, and even from project to project at enterprise-level companies.

Take the necessary time that you need to map out your measures before handing over work to your freelancers.

Common SEO KPIs that you might want to consider are traffic or rankings. Are you seeing an increase in performance in both of these as a result of the work that your freelancers are doing?

But your success metrics don’t always have to be hard data like this.

When internal teams are overstretched and being pulled in too many different directions, mistakes happen more often.

Seeing a reduction in errors or less time being spent on corrections is a valid success metric that you can use with your SEO freelancers.

It might not be as flashy a metric as traffic or rankings, but it can make just as much difference to the bottom line of the business long term.

4. Give Them Access To Necessary Docs And Tools, But Respect Their Process, Too

When you hire freelancers, you need to create an onboarding process as if they were a new member of your internal team.

This means giving them access to any documents or tools that they’ll need in order to complete the work that you’ve outlined for them.

Internal documents can be buried deep in computer files and internal systems, so be sure to clearly lay out instructions for where these files can be found and how the freelancer can access them.

If you’re working in a project management system, set them up as a new user and schedule a call to walk them through where everything is and how your internal team uses the system.

The same goes for your website.

Give your freelancers the access that they’ll need to do their work and take some time to show them where key pages are or any problem areas that you specifically want to bring to their attention.

However, many companies make the mistake of expecting their freelancers to use all of their tools, apps, and internal communications channels.

It’s important for freelancers to stay connected to the project, but they may request you not add them to your Slack, not give them additional email addresses, or that you ping them directly if they are added into internal comms systems on the channel they use the most (generally their own email).

This is to ensure updates are not missed, projects stay on task, and they can manage the number of places they need to check for feedback across clients.

5. Have A Process For Ownership And Check-Ins

When you’re working at an enterprise business, you probably have hundreds of tasks on your plate every day.

After all, that’s why you hired freelancers, to help lighten the load!

But while those freelancers are responsible for the work they’re doing, you are ultimately the point of contact and person in charge of the project.

It’s vital that you schedule a time to check in with your freelancers, either at set stages of the project or on a weekly/biweekly basis to see how things are going.

Set up an internal process for these check-ins that increase efficiency for both you and your freelance team, particularly if you’re working with multiple freelancers across different parts of the project.

It’s your responsibility to stay on top of everything, to make sure that deadlines are being met, and that work is up to the standard that you’re expecting.

Keeping in touch on a regular basis, without micromanaging your external team, is the best way to stay on track.

6. Set Up Standing Meetings To Keep The Project Moving

While weekly or biweekly check-ins are helpful, be sure to schedule standing meetings and calls to keep the project moving along.

Most teams find that these standing meetings are most useful around key deadlines, like wrapping up an SEO audit or ahead of a project launch.

Check-ins are often more informal and by email, whereas these standing meetings should take place in person or over a video call and be structured more like a formal meeting.

Put together an agenda and email this over to your internal team and all of your freelancers at least several days ahead of the planned meeting time.

This gives everyone a chance to look over it and add any additional comments or suggestions.

During your standing meetings, review what has been completed so far and how this has gone.

You should then set aside some time to discuss any changes that may have happened internally that might impact the work that your freelancers are doing and to talk about upcoming deadlines ahead of the next meeting.

Standing meetings can certainly take up time in your schedule, but they’re an important part of managing an outsourced team.

Knowing that you have a set appointment to discuss the project will keep the momentum going and go a long way towards making your freelancers more successful.

7. Have A Quality Assurance Process Before Go-Lives

Just as you’re responsible for making sure that work gets completed, it’s also your responsibility to ensure that work is of the highest possible standard before it goes live.

Yes, everyone makes mistakes.

But it’s vital that you catch these before they’re launched to the wider world.

Building a quality assurance process into your project launch schedule can help you to keep the appropriate checks and balances in-house.

This might mean having several sets of eyes look over a piece of the project before it’s put on the website or asking a senior member of the team for final sign-off before sending feedback to your freelancer.

Be firm with maintaining and adhering to your process once it’s in place.

Thinking that you can skip a step or two is a sure way to set yourself up for something to slip through the cracks.

It may take longer to work through each item on the checklist, but it can save you embarrassment or, worse, losing money when your project goes live.

Conclusion

Enterprise SEO is a unique and challenging beast, but it’s also incredibly rewarding when you see your hard work paying off.

Working with freelancers is one of the best ways to bring specialized expertise into your team and plug gaps that need filling in order to launch a successful project.

With the right systems and processes in place, you can help your freelancers to deliver their best work for you and build a lasting working relationship that your enterprise business can benefit from for years to come.

More resources:

Featured Image: 4 PM production/Shutterstock

Related Topics:Enterprise Freelancers seo tips

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SEO

How To Write ChatGPT Prompts To Get The Best Results

Published

9 hours ago

April 24, 2024

Max

How To Write ChatGPT Prompts To Get The Best Results

ChatGPT is a game changer in the field of SEO. This powerful language model can generate human-like content, making it an invaluable tool for SEO professionals.

However, the prompts you provide largely determine the quality of the output.

To unlock the full potential of ChatGPT and create content that resonates with your audience and search engines, writing effective prompts is crucial.

In this comprehensive guide, we’ll explore the art of writing prompts for ChatGPT, covering everything from basic techniques to advanced strategies for layering prompts and generating high-quality, SEO-friendly content.

Writing Prompts For ChatGPT

What Is A ChatGPT Prompt?

A ChatGPT prompt is an instruction or discussion topic a user provides for the ChatGPT AI model to respond to.

The prompt can be a question, statement, or any other stimulus to spark creativity, reflection, or engagement.

Users can use the prompt to generate ideas, share their thoughts, or start a conversation.

ChatGPT prompts are designed to be open-ended and can be customized based on the user’s preferences and interests.

How To Write Prompts For ChatGPT

Start by giving ChatGPT a writing prompt, such as, “Write a short story about a person who discovers they have a superpower.”

ChatGPT will then generate a response based on your prompt. Depending on the prompt’s complexity and the level of detail you requested, the answer may be a few sentences or several paragraphs long.

Use the ChatGPT-generated response as a starting point for your writing. You can take the ideas and concepts presented in the answer and expand upon them, adding your own unique spin to the story.

If you want to generate additional ideas, try asking ChatGPT follow-up questions related to your original prompt.

For example, you could ask, “What challenges might the person face in exploring their newfound superpower?” Or, “How might the person’s relationships with others be affected by their superpower?”

Remember that ChatGPT’s answers are generated by artificial intelligence and may not always be perfect or exactly what you want.

However, they can still be a great source of inspiration and help you start writing.

Must-Have GPTs Assistant

I recommend installing the WebBrowser Assistant created by the OpenAI Team. This tool allows you to add relevant Bing results to your ChatGPT prompts.

This assistant adds the first web results to your ChatGPT prompts for more accurate and up-to-date conversations.

It is very easy to install in only two clicks. (Click on Start Chat.)

Screenshot from ChatGPT, April 2024

For example, if I ask, “Who is Vincent Terrasi?,” ChatGPT has no answer.

With WebBrower Assistant, the assistant creates a new prompt with the first Bing results, and now ChatGPT knows who Vincent Terrasi is.

Screenshot from ChatGPT, March 2023

You can test other GPT assistants available in the GPTs search engine if you want to use Google results.

Master Reverse Prompt Engineering

ChatGPT can be an excellent tool for reverse engineering prompts because it generates natural and engaging responses to any given input.

By analyzing the prompts generated by ChatGPT, it is possible to gain insight into the model’s underlying thought processes and decision-making strategies.

One key benefit of using ChatGPT to reverse engineer prompts is that the model is highly transparent in its decision-making.

This means that the reasoning and logic behind each response can be traced, making it easier to understand how the model arrives at its conclusions.

Once you’ve done this a few times for different types of content, you’ll gain insight into crafting more effective prompts.

Prepare Your ChatGPT For Generating Prompts

First, activate the reverse prompt engineering.

Type the following prompt: “Enable Reverse Prompt Engineering? By Reverse Prompt Engineering I mean creating a prompt from a given text.”

Screenshot from ChatGPT, March 2023

ChatGPT is now ready to generate your prompt. You can test the product description in a new chatbot session and evaluate the generated prompt.

Type: “Create a very technical reverse prompt engineering template for a product description about iPhone 11.”

Reverse Prompt engineering via WebChatGPT

Screenshot from ChatGPT, March 2023

The result is amazing. You can test with a full text that you want to reproduce. Here is an example of a prompt for selling a Kindle on Amazon.

Type: “Reverse Prompt engineer the following {product), capture the writing style and the length of the text :
product =”

Reverse prompt engineering: Amazon product

Screenshot from ChatGPT, March 2023

I tested it on an SEJ blog post. Enjoy the analysis – it is excellent.

Type: “Reverse Prompt engineer the following {text}, capture the tone and writing style of the {text} to include in the prompt :
text = all text coming from https://www.searchenginejournal.com/google-bard-training-data/478941/”

Reverse prompt engineering an SEJ blog post

Screenshot from ChatGPT, March 2023

But be careful not to use ChatGPT to generate your texts. It is just a personal assistant.

Go Deeper

Prompts and examples for SEO:

Keyword research and content ideas prompt: “Provide a list of 20 long-tail keyword ideas related to ‘local SEO strategies’ along with brief content topic descriptions for each keyword.”
Optimizing content for featured snippets prompt: “Write a 40-50 word paragraph optimized for the query ‘what is the featured snippet in Google search’ that could potentially earn the featured snippet.”
Creating meta descriptions prompt: “Draft a compelling meta description for the following blog post title: ’10 Technical SEO Factors You Can’t Ignore in 2024′.”

Important Considerations:

Always Fact-Check: While ChatGPT can be a helpful tool, it’s crucial to remember that it may generate inaccurate or fabricated information. Always verify any facts, statistics, or quotes generated by ChatGPT before incorporating them into your content.
Maintain Control and Creativity: Use ChatGPT as a tool to assist your writing, not replace it. Don’t rely on it to do your thinking or create content from scratch. Your unique perspective and creativity are essential for producing high-quality, engaging content.
Iteration is Key: Refine and revise the outputs generated by ChatGPT to ensure they align with your voice, style, and intended message.

Additional Prompts for Rewording and SEO:
– Rewrite this sentence to be more concise and impactful.
– Suggest alternative phrasing for this section to improve clarity.
– Identify opportunities to incorporate relevant internal and external links.
– Analyze the keyword density and suggest improvements for better SEO.

Remember, while ChatGPT can be a valuable tool, it’s essential to use it responsibly and maintain control over your content creation process.

Experiment And Refine Your Prompting Techniques

Writing effective prompts for ChatGPT is an essential skill for any SEO professional who wants to harness the power of AI-generated content.

Hopefully, the insights and examples shared in this article can inspire you and help guide you to crafting stronger prompts that yield high-quality content.

Remember to experiment with layering prompts, iterating on the output, and continually refining your prompting techniques.

This will help you stay ahead of the curve in the ever-changing world of SEO.

More resources:

Featured Image: Tapati Rinchumrus/Shutterstock

SEO

Measuring Content Impact Across The Customer Journey

Published

1 day ago

April 23, 2024

Max

Measuring Content Impact Across The Customer Journey

Understanding the impact of your content at every touchpoint of the customer journey is essential – but that’s easier said than done. From attracting potential leads to nurturing them into loyal customers, there are many touchpoints to look into.

So how do you identify and take advantage of these opportunities for growth?

Watch this on-demand webinar and learn a comprehensive approach for measuring the value of your content initiatives, so you can optimize resource allocation for maximum impact.

You’ll learn:

Fresh methods for measuring your content’s impact.
Fascinating insights using first-touch attribution, and how it differs from the usual last-touch perspective.
Ways to persuade decision-makers to invest in more content by showcasing its value convincingly.

With Bill Franklin and Oliver Tani of DAC Group, we unravel the nuances of attribution modeling, emphasizing the significance of layering first-touch and last-touch attribution within your measurement strategy.

Check out these insights to help you craft compelling content tailored to each stage, using an approach rooted in first-hand experience to ensure your content resonates.

Whether you’re a seasoned marketer or new to content measurement, this webinar promises valuable insights and actionable tactics to elevate your SEO game and optimize your content initiatives for success.

View the slides below or check out the full webinar for all the details.

SEO

How to Find and Use Competitor Keywords

Published

1 day ago

April 23, 2024

Entireweb News Bot

Competitor keywords are the keywords your rivals rank for in Google’s search results. They may rank organically or pay for Google Ads to rank in the paid results.

Knowing your competitors’ keywords is the easiest form of keyword research. If your competitors rank for or target particular keywords, it might be worth it for you to target them, too.

There is no way to see your competitors’ keywords without a tool like Ahrefs, which has a database of keywords and the sites that rank for them. As far as we know, Ahrefs has the biggest database of these keywords.

How to find all the keywords your competitor ranks for

Go to Ahrefs’ Site Explorer
Enter your competitor’s domain
Go to the Organic keywords report

The report is sorted by traffic to show you the keywords sending your competitor the most visits. For example, Mailchimp gets most of its organic traffic from the keyword “mailchimp.”

Since you’re unlikely to rank for your competitor’s brand, you might want to exclude branded keywords from the report. You can do this by adding a Keyword > Doesn’t contain filter. In this example, we’ll filter out keywords containing “mailchimp” or any potential misspellings:

Filtering out branded keywords in Organic keywords report

If you’re a new brand competing with one that’s established, you might also want to look for popular low-difficulty keywords. You can do this by setting the Volume filter to a minimum of 500 and the KD filter to a maximum of 10.

Finding popular, low-difficulty keywords in Organic keywords

How to find keywords your competitor ranks for, but you don’t

Go to Competitive Analysis
Enter your domain in the This target doesn’t rank for section
Enter your competitor’s domain in the But these competitors do section

Hit “Show keyword opportunities,” and you’ll see all the keywords your competitor ranks for, but you don’t.

You can also add a Volume and KD filter to find popular, low-difficulty keywords in this report.

How to find keywords multiple competitors rank for, but you don’t

Go to Competitive Analysis
Enter your domain in the This target doesn’t rank for section
Enter the domains of multiple competitors in the But these competitors do section

Competitive analysis report with multiple competitors

You’ll see all the keywords that at least one of these competitors ranks for, but you don’t.

Content gap report with multiple competitors

You can also narrow the list down to keywords that all competitors rank for. Click on the Competitors’ positions filter and choose All 3 competitors:

Selecting all 3 competitors to see keywords all 3 competitors rank for

Go to Ahrefs’ Site Explorer
Enter your competitor’s domain
Go to the Paid keywords report

This report shows you the keywords your competitors are targeting via Google Ads.

Since your competitor is paying for traffic from these keywords, it may indicate that they’re profitable for them—and could be for you, too.

You know what keywords your competitors are ranking for or bidding on. But what do you do with them? There are basically three options.

1. Create pages to target these keywords

You can only rank for keywords if you have content about them. So, the most straightforward thing you can do for competitors’ keywords you want to rank for is to create pages to target them.

However, before you do this, it’s worth clustering your competitor’s keywords by Parent Topic. This will group keywords that mean the same or similar things so you can target them all with one page.

Here’s how to do that:

Export your competitor’s keywords, either from the Organic Keywords or Content Gap report

Paste them into Keywords Explorer
Click the “Clusters by Parent Topic” tab

For example, MailChimp ranks for keywords like “what is digital marketing” and “digital marketing definition.” These and many others get clustered under the Parent Topic of “digital marketing” because people searching for them are all looking for the same thing: a definition of digital marketing. You only need to create one page to potentially rank for all these keywords.

Keywords under the cluster of "digital marketing"

2. Optimize existing content by filling subtopics

You don’t always need to create new content to rank for competitors’ keywords. Sometimes, you can optimize the content you already have to rank for them.

How do you know which keywords you can do this for? Try this:

Export your competitor’s keywords

Paste them into Keywords Explorer
Click the “Clusters by Parent Topic” tab
Look for Parent Topics you already have content about

For example, if we analyze our competitor, we can see that seven keywords they rank for fall under the Parent Topic of “press release template.”

Our competitor ranks for seven keywords that fall under the "press release template" cluster

If we search our site, we see that we already have a page about this topic.

Site search finds that we already have a blog post on press release templates

If we click the caret and check the keywords in the cluster, we see keywords like “press release example” and “press release format.”

Keywords under the cluster of "press release template"

To rank for the keywords in the cluster, we can probably optimize the page we already have by adding sections about the subtopics of “press release examples” and “press release format.”