From diagnosis to the 30/90/180 plan, by impact × effort
The diagnosis tells you what's wrong. The plan tells you in what order to fix it, who does it and how you know it worked. The order that worked at INEMA: foundation and measurement in the first 30 days, content afterward, authority and other languages only when the index responds.
1The impact × effort matrix with the diagnostic findings
2Why foundation and measurement come before content
3A metric and an owner on every line, and targets as hypotheses
4The don't-do list, written into the plan itself
Goal: sort the findings by impact × effort and write a 30/90/180-day plan with a success metric and an owner on each line.
01 · From findings to the plan's three windows
Tap each block.
Click each block in the diagram to see what it does.
Foundation first. What comes next only goes in once the previous step has shown results in the dashboard.
02 · How to write the plan
Tap each step.
1. Matrix
Give each finding an impact score (high, medium, low) and an effort score (hours).
A finding with no impact on what the search engine sees or on non-branded goes to the end, even if it's easy.
2. Critical sequence
In the INEMA roadmap, four initiatives were foundation and came in the first 30 days: measurement turned on, repository links to the site, unlocked profiles, the author's entity.
Content only after that. Other languages and external mentions only once the index has shown results.
At INEMAOn 10/05, 12 of 14 key URLs were indexed; on 10/13, 13 of 14. Only with the index responding does the next window make sense.
3. Metric and owner
Each initiative has who does it (you, the client, the agent) and how you check it (a number in the dashboard, a file, a URL responding).
A numeric target is a hypothesis: write that down and recalibrate on day 30 with the dashboard data.
4. What not to do
Publishing a big batch all at once, a network of sites, a paid indexer, one page per keyword variation, translation without review.
Writing this into the plan protects the client from you when you're in a hurry.
At INEMA283 profiles published in a single commit: of the 6 in the sample, 5 ended up "discovered, not indexed". The first line of INEMA's "don't do" list is not to repeat that.
03 · Plan templates
Copy it and swap out what's in [brackets].
Impact × effort matrix
| # | finding | URL | impact (H/M/L) | effort (h) | window |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | [canonical mixed with and without www] | [/] | H | 2 | 30 d |
| 2 | [Bing Webmaster not verified] | — | H | 0.5 | 30 d |
| 3 | [service pages with little text in the HTML] | [/servicos/] | H | 8 | 30 d |
| 4 | [long title on 28 pages] | [several] | L | 3 | 90 d |
One-page 30/90/180 plan
PLAN — [site] — start [date]
| window | initiative | owner | how to check |
|---|---|---|---|
| 30 d | Search Console and Bing verified; sitemap submitted | client (DNS) + me | property active in both dashboards |
| 30 d | weekly non-branded export set up | me | 2 lines in the weekly file |
| 30 d | single canonical, robots by purpose | me | X-ray with no major finding |
| 90 d | [3] pages with original data, client gate | I write, client approves | indexed in URL Inspection |
| 90 d | new title where there are impressions with no clicks | me | before × after in 2 weeks |
| 180 d | external mentions; [language] version of the winning page | client (relationships) + me | impressions in that language |
Goals are hypotheses; we recalibrate on day 30 with the dashboard.
WE DO NOT DO: a large batch of pages at once, a network of sites, a paid indexer,
a page per keyword variation, translation without review.
04 · Practice: your first client's plan
Use the findings from lesson 2.
E1 · Matrix with 10 findings
30 min
Move the findings from the diagnosis into the matrix, with impact, effort and window.
Done when: the matrix has 10 rows, each with a URL (or "whole site"), impact, hours and window; no content row is in the 30-day window if measurement isn't on yet.
E2 · One-page plan
40 min
Write the 30/90/180 plan with an owner and a "how to check" on each row, plus the "we do not do" block.
Done when: the plan fits on one page, every row has an owner and a check the client can do on their own, and it includes the sentence that goals are hypotheses to recalibrate on day 30.
05 · Test what you learned
The explanation appears after your answer.
Question 1 of 4
The client wants to start with articles. Measurement isn't on yet. What do you propose?skill
Correct
Without a baseline and a weekly export, you don't have the "before." The result of the articles becomes opinion.