SEO Product Unveiled - Rank and Rethink

Shipping product changes without a risk framework is how “small” decisions turn into big traffic, revenue, legal, or technical incidents. In this episode, we break down practical risk management for product-led SEO and platform work: how to define risk categories (market, financial, technical, legal, management), build a lightweight risk register, score impact and blast radius, set leading indicators, and always have rollback plans ready. You’ll also hear a real migration-style example: communicating risk to stakeholders, avoiding “big bang” launches, and rolling out in controlled phases so you can move fast and stay safe.

Chapters
00:00 Intro: why risk management belongs in product-led SEO

01:40 What “risk” actually means: market vs financial vs technical vs legal

05:10 Setting up a simple risk assessment process (incl. content/legal examples)

07:30 Impact, probability & “blast radius”: how to score what matters

10:10 Leading indicators + time-to-recovery: what stakeholders need to know

13:30 Rollback plans and safety nets: the non-negotiables for migrations

14:45 Case study: platform/URL changes, board comms, and short-term traffic dips

18:00 Avoiding the “big bang”: phased rollout (5% → 20% → more)

23:10 The hidden root cause: dysfunctional teams + “features on top of features”

29:30 Operating rhythm: weekly risk register, R/Y/G status, and escalation

32:40 Incidents & post-mortems: learning loops that build resilient systems

37:10 Wrap-up: key takeaways and how to start tomorrow

In this episode of SEO Product Unveiled, Björn and Vanda welcome Gus Pelogia, Senior SEO Product Manager at Indeed, to unpack one of the most misunderstood yet critical product ceremonies: Sprint Planning.
They discuss how SEOs can collaborate effectively with engineering and product teams, what makes a good sprint-ready ticket, and why understanding technical complexity is essential to avoid frustration and misaligned expectations. Gus shares insights from his unique journey from journalism to tech SEO and then into product management.
The conversation explores prioritization frameworks like ICE, how to set meaningful Sprint Goals, why "Big Bets" per quarter improve execution, and how SEOs can bridge the gap between strategic vision and engineering constraints. The trio also reflects on documentation quality, success criteria, capacity planning, and the importance of bringing data, hypotheses, and impact estimates into sprint conversations.
A valuable episode for anyone working at the intersection of SEO, Product, and Engineering — whether embedded in a product org or influencing from the outside.

Main Takeaways
Sprint Planning = Choosing what will realistically be delivered in the next 1–4 weeks, based on ready tickets and team capacity.

SEOs must understand technical complexity — simple SEO changes can require deep engineering work.

Good tickets matter: clear user story, acceptance criteria, examples, mockups, and impact estimation.

Impact frameworks (like ICE) help product teams prioritize SEO requests fairly.

Big Bets per quarter improve focus and prevent overloaded roadmaps.

SEO must communicate in product/engineering language — not just SEO jargon.

Being present in Sprint Planning helps SEOs avoid missed timelines, misinterpretations, and seasonal “dead zones” like release freezes.

Impact validation is key: share results back with engineering to build trust and momentum.

Listen to engineers: better solutions often emerge from collaboration.
Document everything thoroughly — unclear tickets are a major cause of delays.

⏱️ Chapter Marks

0:00 — Introduction & reconnecting
0:40 — Who is Gus Pelogia? Background & SEO/Product journey
2:00 — From journalism to tech SEO to product
4:20 — Why Sprint Planning matters for SEOs
5:10 — Why simple ideas often require complex engineering
6:40 — What Sprint Planning actually is
8:00 — The importance of “ready” tickets
9:05 — Sprint Goals: Why they matter
10:00 — Capacity, ad-hoc issues & prioritization challenges
11:20 — When SEOs feel blocked by engineering constraints
13:10 — Prioritization frameworks (e.g., ICE) for SEO requests
14:25 — How engineers allocate story points
16:30 — Why SEOs need impact hypotheses
18:55 — Using impact scores in product discussions
19:35 — How Gus structures quarterly Big Bets
21:00 — Understanding complexity & trade-offs
22:32 — Overloaded roadmaps & realistic planning
24:20 — SEOs working across multiple product teams
26:23 — Should SEOs attend Sprint Planning?
28:20 — Holiday freeze example & timeline risks
29:30 — Importance of clarifying tickets early
31:20 — What makes a good, sprint-ready SEO ticket
33:35 — Mockups, visual examples & acceptance criteria
35:35 — How to deal with success criteria
38:16 — Why impact validation is hard but necessary
40:33 — Setting expectations with ROI timelines
41:17 — What SEOs and PMs can learn from each other
42:20 — Using initiatives instead of isolated tasks
44:13 — Lessons SEOs can borrow from product thinking
47:00 — Listening to engineers & iterating together
49:25 — Final tips for SEOs and PMs
50:53 — Closing thoughts & outro

In this episode, Björn Darko and Vanda Pokecz delve into the real business applications of AI beyond the Chat-GPT hype. They discuss concrete use cases that create efficiency and new value, highlighting how companies leverage AI to generate genuine business impact. From automating product descriptions to integrating AI into SEO strategies, this episode offers valuable insights for anyone looking to harness the transformative power of AI in their business.

🎧 Episode Summary
In this episode, Vanda Pokecz and Björn Darko explore the critical role of KPIs in SEO. They break down the KPI Pyramid, covering strategic, product-level, and operational metrics. With real-world examples—like how internal linking can significantly boost organic traffic—they provide insights into how to align SEO with business goals. The conversation also highlights common pitfalls in KPI implementation and interpretation, finishing with actionable takeaways for SEO and product teams alike.

💡 Key Takeaways
The KPI Pyramid consists of strategic, product-focused, and operational KPIs.

Strategic KPIs align SEO efforts with broader company goals.

Product KPIs help assess the success of specific SEO features or components.

Operational KPIs track day-to-day SEO performance.

There's often a mismatch between keyword rankings and actual traffic—context matters.

KPIs should be clear, measurable, and understandable across stakeholders.

Effective internal linking can drive significant organic traffic growth.

Misinterpreting KPIs can lead to flawed decision-making.

KPIs should be revisited and adjusted regularly.

A good KPI is actionable, relevant, and tied to meaningful outcomes.

⏱️ Chapters
00:00 – Introduction: Why SEO KPIs matter
02:17 – The KPI Pyramid: Strategic, Product, and Operational levels
10:56 – SEO use cases: Implementing internal linking with measurable impact
16:06 – Common pitfalls when using KPIs in SEO
19:04 – Final takeaways for choosing the right metrics

🧠 Episode Summary
In this episode of SEO Product Unveiled, hosts Björn Darko and Vanda Pokecz dive deep into the complex world of SEO impact estimation and prioritisation frameworks. From ICE and RICE to hybrid approaches, they explore why forecasting SEO outcomes is so difficult, how to deal with uncertainty, and how to keep stakeholders aligned through transparency and structured communication. This episode is a must-listen for SEO professionals and product teams looking to bring clarity to their roadmap decisions.
SEO is hard. Estimating its impact? Even harder. In this episode, Björn and Vanda unpack why SEO impact estimation is so challenging, walk through frameworks like ICE and RICE, and advocate for hybrid models that combine top-down projections with bottom-up evidence. They emphasize the role of clear assumptions, risk management, and stakeholder inclusion in making SEO strategies more predictable and aligned with business priorities.

✅ Key Takeaways
No impact model is perfect – and that’s okay.

Top-down thinking is useful, but bottom-up data is essential.

Transparency in assumptions is your superpower.

Hybrid models help bridge the gap between ambition and realism.

Stakeholder buy-in starts with education and expectation management.

Risk and mitigation must be part of the estimation narrative.

SEO deserves a place in strategic planning — not just execution.

Prioritization frameworks help, but only when fed with realistic inputs.

⏱️ Chapters

00:00 – Introduction to SEO Impact Estimation
04:36 – Why SEO Impact Is So Hard to Calculate
07:26 – Three Levels of SEO Impact Estimation (Basic → Advanced)
14:20 – Hybrid Approaches: Combining Top-Down and Bottom-Up
21:36 – Communicating SEO Impact to Stakeholders
30:51 – Final Thoughts and Key Lessons