We want to share with you the key insights and learnings we gathered from SEO business leaders like Tina Judic & Hannah Thorpe (Found), Radu Marcusu (Upswing), Kevin Gibbons (Re:signal), Aleyda Solis (Orainti), Tim Grice (connective3) or Arianne Donoghue (tempest Marketing) during the pandemic and how we tackled them together:

• What can SEO agencies do when marketing investments suddenly shrink? More communication and more feedback. Rehashing client communication processes had its perks since day 1 of the pandemic. Daily check-ins and proactive video calls worked to get all the business messages across and have everyone aligned while making business decisions almost overnight.

• Staying closely connected to clients and the health of their business became a priority. Having real-time data in an SEO agency KPIs dashboard to intervene fast on campaigns, conversions etc. and cater to the short-term business needs meant better client retention. And more stability for the agency.

• SEO agencies were asked to both identify strategic problems and solve them. Understanding search trends and how demand shifted was vital for clients. It still is. It’s an ongoing process of deep-diving into data, while providing more value, as this conversation with the Found team highlights: supporting businesses be digital-first, pivot their products and services, and discover new market segments.

• Agencies turned to a more consultative role: acting as an advisor, answering all concerns and identifying the proper fast tactics for the client’s business and industry. So we wondered: What is an Agency 2.0 in a post-pandemic world? It’s possibly a mix of these elements: the relevant insights to be a management consultant partner for your clients, the agility to create new processes and the empathy to generate new business in a consistent manner for the current context

• Agencies show the value of their SEO performance as reporting becomes even more relevant. They explain what works and what doesn’t, explain the data and come up with realistic solutions. That’s how you play the long game, as Kevin Gibbons puts it in this talk.