5
Components in the finished document
Algorithm Update Impact Analysis
An assessment of whether a named update explains the site's movement, and what the update appears to have rewarded.
Where This Sits
1
Measured directly, not asserted
4
Pieces that carry my judgment
This is a Diagnostics deliverable, which means it establishes what is true about the site now. It is the unit of scope: it can be commissioned on its own, priced on its own, and accepted on its own, whether or not anything else is bought alongside it.
It is not a package and not a retainer. It is one document with 5 components, and the list below is the whole of it.
What Is Inside It
Every component is listed with the one sentence that says what it is. They are grouped by how each one is produced, because the difference between a number a tool gave me and a number I decided matters more than most reports admit.
Measured
Pulled straight from tools and logs. No interpretation, so you can re-run any of it yourself and get the same numbers.
- Competitor comparison table
- The same measurements taken across named competitors, so the gap is quantified rather than described.
Judged
My reading of the evidence. This is the part you are actually paying for, and the part you are entitled to argue with.
- Algorithm update overlay
- Known update dates plotted against the site's own performance curve.
- Historical timeline
- Traffic and ranking history annotated with site changes, algorithm updates and market events.
- Traffic loss attribution
- The share of a decline assigned to each candidate cause, with the evidence for each.
- Prioritised recommendation list
- Every recommendation in the order it should be acted on, with the reason for that order.