When Content creation isn't an option...

[Resolute]

I currently work as an SEO/SEO in training. Oftentimes I get projects that require me to look at well established websites of big brands, the kind one would assume put a lot of effort into their sites, and make SEO changes. Additionally they want "actionable" changes that can be made on the fly so content creation, and most linkbuilding, is usually out of the question. Does this limit me to just changing meta titles and descriptions? What if all that seems alright too?

[PatrickDelehanty]

Hi there

No content creation or link building at all? Do they want to do any brand building or community nurturing? What's their social like?

I would be interested to hear some ideas from the group here. If you are SEO and limited in what you are able to do, at that point I would say, check the following:

• Crawl issues
• PageSpeed
• Metas & tagging
• Backlink audit
• Internal & external link checks
• Search Console issues
• Mobility issues
• Authority metrics

I would just keep tabs and make sure that nothing falls apart - if you're limited to that, you're limited to that. But I would also make sure, to get buy in, that you provide them benchmarks and information about how if they DID create content and did natural link building, that their SEO efforts would be so much more fruitful. Like a chat to show "If we did do content creation and proper distribution for ________ keywords/queries" and "If we did not do content creation and proper distribution for ________ keywords/queries".

Usually showing competitive analysis in that case and their performance will help sell the idea quicker.

Hope this helps! Good luck!

[Linda-Vassily]

You describe yourself as an SEO/SEO in training. So perhaps either SEO is something your organization is just starting to look into, or perhaps you are just being given the more basic assignments. That is perfectly OK. In fact good on-page SEO is one of the main building blocks for everything more advanced.

Moz has lots of articles on basic SEO (like this one on easy wins), so read some of those (even if you know a lot, this can help fill in any gaps) and go through your site making sure all the basics are covered (are canonicals being correctly implemented?). Moz's page grader can help with this.

Looking at successful sites is a good way to get ideas, but keep in mind they may be doing things that may work for them, but might not be a good fit for you. Don't go making large-scale changes till you have tested them.

As you go along, keep track of what else you would change if you could and why, and keep others informed. As your SEO efforts start to pay off, people will be more willing to listen.

[PatrickDelehanty]

^ This! Great stuff Linda, as always!