SEO training

The interview with participants and the assessment of their knowledge level ensure that the training addresses the team’s specific roles, tasks and problems. In the interview I ask about the participants’ duties, typical activities and difficulties such as drops, keyword cannibalisation, indexing or content issues. I also gather information about implementation constraints that may affect which recommendations can be carried out later. These findings are the basis for choosing the working mode and how “workshop-like” the sessions will be.

The knowledge level is assessed with a short survey or entry test, and its purpose is to identify the gaps and the priority areas to cover in the training. The results help match the level and profile of the training and establish whether the greater emphasis should be on content, technical issues, e-commerce, local SEO or reporting. On this basis it is also possible to determine how much time to devote to exercises and joint interpretation of results versus the lecture part. So that the training does not remain purely theoretical, the participants need to engage in the exercises and provide materials such as a list of pages, topics and a description of the problems.

Preparing the programme and training materials means building the agenda around the agreed level and the chosen cases and priorities. The programme is built in the order the work is carried out: from diagnosis and intent, through on-page and technical work, to content and monitoring. On this basis, exercises are created that make it possible to turn the issues discussed into specific decisions and working standards. In parallel, templates for use after the training are prepared, so that the team can come back to what was agreed during implementation.

At this stage the participants receive a set of materials that support their work during and after the training. It includes documents describing the modules, goals and exercises, as well as operational materials with procedures, examples of SEO decisions, typical mistakes and acceptance criteria for changes. Exercise cards are also prepared for tasks such as intent mapping, page assessment, proposals for titles and headings, and a draft content plan. In addition, checklists and templates are provided for content publication, technical basics, internal linking, page updates and the review of changes.

• Training agenda: modules, goals of the blocks, list of exercises and preparation requirements.
• Presentation and script: slides and operational notes (procedures, examples of decisions, typical mistakes, acceptance criteria).
• Workbook / exercise cards: tasks to complete during the training (including intent mapping, page assessment, proposals for titles/headings, a content plan).
• Checklists and templates: content publication, technical basics, internal linking, page updates, review of changes.

The summary and the plan for implementing the SEO recommendations close the training in the form of a list of actions, priorities and assigned task owners. In practice, I turn what was agreed in the training into a backlog of actions described by tasks, rationale, impact and dependencies on the content and development side. The plan also specifies the order of the work and which changes can be implemented faster and which require system-level work. As a result, the team has a shared reference point for running implementations and verifying progress.

Along with the plan, the agreed working standards and quality criteria are handed over; they organise the way URLs, meta tags, headings, linking and briefs are prepared, as well as the way implementations are signed off. After the training the participants receive a package of materials: the agenda, presentation, workbook, checklists and templates, and a recording of the training can be shared if this was agreed in advance. The training does not replace implementation — implementing the changes requires separate content and development work. If the cooperation is to continue, optional post-training support is available in the form of a Q&A session or an implementation review, covering an assessment of the changes against the standards and clarification of the next steps.

• List of recommendations and priorities: a backlog of SEO actions with rationale, impact and dependencies (content/dev).
• Working standards and quality criteria: rules for creating URLs, meta tags, headings, linking, briefs and for signing off implementations.
• Post-training materials: agenda, presentation, workbook, checklists and templates; possibly a recording of the training (if agreed).