Dana DiTomaso is the creator and president of Kick Point, a Canadian-based digital marketing company. She is popular for her innovative and ingenious presentations on tracking and analytics, as well as other growth marketing strategies. She exists at SMX, Regional Browse Summit, and Engage, and we’re thrilled to welcome her back to this year’s MozCon Virtual where she’ll talk about modern-day web development that puts SEO first. Check out what she needs to share ahead of this year’s program!
Concern: 2020 was quite the year, what were you up to this previous year? Any surprises or favorite jobs you dealt with?
Dana: Like many people I actually ended up moving! I now reside on Vancouver Island and I can almost see the USA from my home– not that I’ve been able to check out. I also finished my very first course, ideally of many, for LinkedIn Learning on the topic of technical SEO. My next course is already in development and will be covering how to transition from Google Analytics Universal to GA4, which ought to be out in the fall.
At Kick Point, we grew over the past year and we’re now a group of 12! Like a great deal of agencies, we did see some good come out of an otherwise pretty terrible time for lots of, we’re really lucky.
Q: What is the greatest shift you’ve seen in the SEO industry over the past year? How does that effect your work at Kick Point, if at all?
D: The most significant modification this year was the rollout of Core Web Vitals, which as I compose this, is only simply happening now. I am exceptionally curious to see how it impacts SEO over the remainder of 2021. I don’t wish to state excessive more in case it ages severely!
Q: Last year, you discussed how to use a discovery process to turn red flags to green lights. Will we see any of the very same themes come through in your presentation this year? How so?
D: Absolutely! This year is really a companion piece to last year. Last year I covered discovery for marketing projects, and this year I’m covering discovery for website tasks. These discovery procedures have made such incredible changes at Kick Point in terms of how we work with brand-new customers– it’s truly been remarkable. I hope that people who listen to my talk are able to remove a few of the lessons that we have actually discovered and apply them to their own processes.
Q: In your MozCon talk, you’ll be discussing how to build a site with a search-first state of mind. What inspired you to discuss this topic at MozCon 2021?
D: I believe it’s a topic that isn’t covered enough. We unfortunately typically still see a real divide in between the developer and SEO worlds and I’m hoping that we can work towards bridging that. Particularly with the arrival of Core Web Vitals, these two groups require to collaborate more than ever in the past.
In addition, this talk is based on a lot of our own learnings in regards to better methods to run site jobs. Since we have adopted this procedure, website tasks are simply more enjoyable– less tension, on time, on spending plan, all those things that all of us desire in a site project however seem impossible to attain. I’m not stating this will magically fix whatever but it’ll definitely put you on a happier path.
Q: What are a few of the difficulties SEOs face in the web advancement process?
D: Being taken seriously! I have actually been working in this field for 21 years now and I can’t even tell you the number of times that I’ve been on a call with a designer or development group discussing SEO suggestions and just being completely dismissed– that these recommendations aren’t necessary, that we’re wrong, or that the developer understands better. And it’s an incredibly aggravating location to be in. I make certain other SEOs reading this have had comparable experiences.
Q: Why is it essential for SEO to be at the forefront when it pertains to site development? How has the relationship changed over the years?
D: Due to the fact that it’s so much simpler and less expensive to get SEO suggestions added in at the starting instead of attempting to push things in later on after the site is done. I think that developers are more aware of SEO now however there is still a great deal of skepticism. I think it is very important to set the tone that you aren’t there to throw the designer under the bus– they aren’t an SEO expert, and shouldn’t be anticipated to learn all this particular SEO stuff. Showing that you exist to help right from the start can actually assist that relationship thrive.
Q: What’s your # 1 idea for making sure that SEO gets a seat at the table in a website rebrand?
D: You need to start with education. Either the management team that you’re dealing with doesn’t comprehend the power of SEO or they may have a really out-of-date understanding of what SEO is and what it can do. Tom Critchlow has an exceptional post that he just recently released on how to encourage executives to appreciate SEO and I ‘d state that is required reading.
Q: What are the essential takeaways you desire the audience to walk away with?
D: I want individuals to understand that there is a space in between waterfall and nimble when it pertains to website advancement procedures. I hope that individuals will enjoy our blueprint process and it’ll help them make better site strategies. Lastly, I’m actually excited to display the keyword research presentation idea that I received from Rebekah Baggs and Chris Corak– it’s so good!
Q: Who in the MozCon lineup are you most delighted to enjoy this year? Anything else you are eagerly anticipating?
D: The talks by Dr. Pete, Areej AbuAli, and Britney Muller all look fantastic! And naturally I’ll be enjoying Brie Anderson’s talk considering that GA4 is really close to my heart. I’m also actually looking forward to hopefully having an in-person MozCon next year! There is truly nothing that can change the experience of talking to a live audience.
A big thank you to Dana for her time! To find out more about Dana’s upcoming discussion, see details on our other speakers, and to acquire your ticket, ensure you click the link below!