Skratch SEO Vol. 11

You wouldn’t pack everything all at once for a flight right? I mean, that’s like grabbing your entire closet and throwing it at the suitcase…

You just don’t do that!

Well, I took my first flight a couple weeks ago (and no, it wasn’t for another PGA Tour event…Unfortunately). I did, however, get to see J Cole and that was pretty fucking spectacular.

Back to the flight… Let’s just say it was eventful. After a four-hour delay, we finally made it onto the CRJ200.

And if you know planes, you already know where this is going. That thing is TINY.

Well after what felt like 34 hourssssss, we finally got to take the celeb walk to our plane to board.

But, then we sat. And sat some more.

Eventually we were cleared for takeoff and, literally about 30 minutes later, we were in Chicago.

And I learned something very surprising: I don’t actually hate flying.

The flying part was fine.

It’s everything surrounding the flying that I hate. Like…

🫠 Packing, but not just packing my things, no I have to have very specific bottles, bags, and God-forbid I try to bring gel-deodorant.

✈️Parking, security, waiting, delays, finding the gate, waiting again, wondering if your bag is too big, sitting around with absolutely no idea when something is going to happen, more waiting.

And, honestly, I think that’s how a lot of people feel about SEO too! Myself included!.

The actual work isn’t always the worst part, It’s figuring out where the hell to start.

HERE’S THE THING

SEO gets overwhelming because we talk about it like it’s one GIANT task.

“Work on SEO.” Like, wow, that’s so insightful… So here’s how I like breaking it up:

• Technical SEO: the backend setup and settings that help your site function & get understood.
• On-page SEO: your copy, headings, keywords, images, alt text, titles, metas, & page structure.
• Off-page SEO: backlinks, citations, your Google Business Profile, social profiles, & signals happening away from your site.

That’s also generally the order I look at things when troubleshooting because great copy can only do so much if something technical underneath it is broken.

Once the foundation is solid, then we move outward.

HERE’S WHAT TO DO

Make yourself a simple SEO packing list with three sections: Technical, On-page, and Off-page. Every time you notice something that needs attention, put it under the right heading instead of throwing it onto one giant terrifying “SEO” to-do list.

Then work from the top down. Check the technical stuff first, move into your pages and content, and then worry about off-page pieces at a later time.

You do not need to fix every item before touching the next category; this is just a way to see what deserves your attention first.

And most importantly, stop treating “SEO” like one task in its own little silo. Pick one item from one section and handle that. The whole point of the list is to make the work smaller.

When you approach SEO like this, suddenly “I need to work on my SEO” becomes:

👀 “I need to check this setting.” 
👀 “I need to clean up this page.”
👀 “I need to ask for a review.”

So if your SEO list currently feels like airport security at 6 a.m., break it into buckets.

Figure out what actually needs your attention TODAY, THIS WEEK, THIS MONTH.

Turns out the flight is usually easier than everything we make ourselves do before takeoff.

Hit reply if you want help figuring out which bucket one of your SEO tasks belongs in.

I will also happily accept plane opinions, golf opinions, or confirmation that the CRJ200 is, in fact, basically a flying hallway.