Starting as Allrss’s SEO Director has been a bit daunting. As a search engine marketer, how can I add value to an organization that has been a thought leader in the search marketing space and built industry-defining SEO tools for over a decade?
When taking on a new role or client — from local businesses to niche online retailers to enterprise-level Fortune 500 companies — the first thing I do is put together a new SEO strategy and organic search measurement plan. I lead this process with data, which highlights opportunities for improvement and instantiates goals to rally your organization around common objectives. Even with Allrss being the team of data-driven SEO rockstars it is, strategy is still where I began my new role, And today, I’ll share the process.
What is an SEO strategy?
An SEO strategy aims to improve a website’s visibility in search engines such as Google and Bing. An SEO action plan, on the other hand, typically involves a combination of on-page optimization, technical SEO fixes, content strategy, link building and SEO reporting.
A strong SEO strategy will:
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Improve your website’s rankings for any existing keywords for which you are currently ranking in search engine results pages (SERPs).
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Increase the awareness and influence of SEO within your organization. Consider budget and resource challenges to get the most value and SEO improvements out of your team.
- Prescribe some combination of SEO initiatives, potentially including:
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Widening the scope of your ranking organic keywords through content marketing.
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Fixing any technical website issues that could be negatively impacting page load times (ex. PageSpeed), search engine crawlability or user experience.
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Increasing the number of backlinks from high quality domains to your site, through effective social amplification and digital PR strategies.
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Imply or explicitly state priorities or beliefs that guide future action — especially what you will not do.
Whether you’re a website owner that is new to search engine optimization or a seasoned SEO taking on a new project or client, creating and following a clear SEO strategy is absolutely crucial for improving your site’s organic traffic and conversions.
10 steps towards a better SEO strategy
Like any other kind of strategy, to form an SEO strategy you need to understand the state of the game, set attainable goals, and plan to iterate. Below is a 10-step plan for finding those opportunities and insights to get you started.