SEO prioritization framework · by Magnify
Enter your SEO question. Compass cross-references four frameworks: ICE, RICE, THRICE and TAM-first. One unambiguous recommendation.
The answer is always “it depends”. That isn’t evasion — it is honesty about who holds the data.
SEO is a system of interdependent variables: domain history, competitor budgets, search intent, engineering backlog, the specific update Google happens to be cooking. The right recommendation depends on data that only the operator has.
Here are the four frameworks that do the actual work.
Impact × Confidence × Ease
How it scores: each dimension 1–10. Multiply or average.
→ When it works: fast triage. Good when Confidence is honestly calibrated.
— When it breaks: when teams rate everything a 9 out of social pressure.
(Reach × Impact × Confidence) / Effort
How it scores: Reach as absolute number. Impact in anchored steps (3 massive, 2 high, 1 medium, 0.5 low, 0.25 minimal). Confidence as percentage (100/80/50). Effort in person-months.
→ When it works: product-led orgs where Reach is measurable.
— When it breaks: SEO projects where Reach six months out is a guess.
Time + Headcount + Reach + Impact + Confidence + Effort (sum, max 60)
How it scores: six dimensions, each 1–10, summed. Max 60.
What’s new: Time (how long until results) and Headcount (how much capital you have to spend with engineering). Two dimensions RICE ignores. Both of them dominate what’s actually executable in SEO.
→ When it works: serious SEO prioritization in 2026.
— When it breaks: if the team hasn’t internalized that SEO payoff windows are measured in quarters, not sprints.
Is the prize big enough to matter?
How it works: not a scoring model. A precondition. Before any framework, ask: if this worked perfectly, how big is the outcome? If the TAM is small, the answer was always no — no matter what ICE or RICE says.
→ When it works: every time, at the start.
— When it breaks: when teams skip it and end up ranking #1 for a keyword nobody cares about.
A brief history of “it depends”
On May 14, 2020, Rob Delory asked John Mueller on Twitter how many SEOs it takes to screw in a lightbulb. Mueller answered “it depends”. The meme was born because a site: search on Search Engine Roundtable for the phrase returned hundreds of hits.
In April 2022, Danny Richman built MuellerBot, a GPT-3 script that responded like Mueller. He called it a joke. The answers turned out accurate enough that Mueller himself approved it.
Mueller has been photographed wearing a Google t-shirt that says “It Depends.”
The meme became a meme because it’s true. Compass honours that.
Brand Visibility Audit. For companies done playing SEO bingo.