In the previous email, we agreed on this:

The results of your work depend on your SEO recommendations being implemented by devs.

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That’s why SEO + Devs should 🤝

These 4 steps will help you collaborate with developers much more effectively by speaking the same language with them.

Let’s go 🙌

Step 1: Create clear dev tickets in the form of user stories

An SEO user story is a small recommendation that has a clear action and outcome and helps to break down big SEO strategies into smaller steps. Writing really good and actionable user stories requires deep technical SEO expertise.

User stories are great for your SEO recommendations because they are

• Concise.
• Actionable.
• Clear and straightforward.
• Easy to follow.
• Account for user testing.

That’s why user stories help to bridge the gap between you and the devs - they use dev’s language and logic.

Any user story consists of three parts:

1. A user type (“As a {user}”)
2. An action (“I want, {action}”)
3. An outcome (“so that {an outcome}”)

Each user story needs to be prioritized.

Step 2: Tie your recommendations to business goals

Usually, less experienced SEO professionals start with SEO in mind.

That’s what it looks like:

❌ SEO/GEO -> Google/LLMs -> Numbers -> Business

But you’re not a beginner SEO.

That’s why I want you to stop thinking about SEO first and start thinking about business first. And SEO as a tool to solve business problems.

Here’s what it looks like:

✅ Business goal -> Target -> SEO/GEO​

When you speak about SEO in terms of business goals, people are listening to you. Especially managers who are responsible for achieving these targets.

And you need them to listen to you because they have decision-making power (more about this below).

Step 3: Get clear on the main team players

It doesn't matter if you're working with clients on the agency side, as a freelancer/consultant, or if you're working in-house, the truth is:

You’re always part of a team.

That’s why it’s crucial to understand this team's structure and where you are standing.

Great questions to ask:

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​👉 Do you have direct access to the dev team?

If you do, that’s great. If you don’t, then:

👉 Who is your link to the dev team?

Do you communicate through a product manager? Through a dev team leader? Or through your main point of contact if you’re a freelancer.

👉 Who has the last say in the development priorities?

Let’s say your SEO recommendations are added in the next dev sprint. But then, a dev team leader reorganizes the sprint and removes all your tickets.

It means he or she has the decision-making power that can influence the execution of your part. So you need to be aware of it and be in close contact with them as well.

When you mapped out the team structure, you’re ready to move to the next step 👇

Step 4: Find an advocate in the team

You want to have someone with decision-making power on your side to advocate for you.

Here’s how to find this person:

Create your internal list of everyone who is involved in the decision-making process, including the marketing and development departments.

Then, rate their decision-making power and prioritize winning over those with the most power.

Coming next:

In the next email, I'll share with you psychology-based principles of influence and persuasion that will help you negotiate in any scenario (use with caution!).