What Should Be the First Step of a Structured SEO Plan?

While some SEO gurus might tell you the first step of a structured SEO plan is keyword research, that's not necessarily the truth. As with all things SEO, "it depends."

But what does it depend on?

I first consider whether it's a new or established website. If it's established, how long has it been around, and has any SEO already been done on-site?

If the site has been around for a while and has had some SEO work done on-site, it's best to conduct an audit. The depth of that audit will vary; the more established the website, the deeper we should delve into the site to uncover potential issues and prepare it for our SEO activities.

Anyway, before even considering keyword research, the first step to creating a structured SEO plan is to perform an audit on the site. Keep reading to learn more about why and how I audit websites in preparation for creating a structured SEO plan.

What is an SEO plan?

An SEO plan is an outline of the SEO activities that will be completed to encourage better optimization on- and off-site. This should involve ensuring your technical SEO, content, and off-page SEO efforts are hyper-focused on increasing your rankings in Google search (and other search engines, of course).

Your digital marketing strategy should also take into account content marketing and UX opimization. Focusing on these aspects of your SEO plan will prove fruitful as your website appeals to both humans and search engines rather than search engines alone.

Basically, SEO success demands daily effort compounded over time. And an SEO plan is the road map that will get you where you want to go.

Minimally speaking, we're planning 3 months ahead. Because if you're not planning for success in 3 months, when are you planning for it?

Benefits of an SEO Plan

Search engine optimization enhances your online presence. As you optimize your website, you'll experience benefits including but not limited to driving targeted traffic.

Your SEO plan should focus on improving targeted traffic. This improved organic visibility and attracts your ideal customers, whether directly through keywords related to buyer intent or indirectly by providing some sort of value that showcases your business as an authority in the space.

Speaking of your business, brand awareness rises as your website ranks higher for competitive keywords. Your brand's visibility is at a peak when your website is shown on page 1 of the organic search results, and this encourages trust and credibility.

Long-term, SEO is the fuel that keeps your brand relevant. You can make some short-term progress with paid advertising, but SEO is a long-term strategy that encourages higher click-through rates organically.

Inner Workings of an SEO Audit

As much as I'd love to take the credit for these insights in regards to performing an SEO audit, I can't; my good friend and mentor, Kyle Roof, taught me about the key things to look for on behalf of my clients.

I can't thank him enough for encouraging me to focus on what matters most when auditing websites.

Here's a generalized list of what I'm looking for and why while conducting SEO audits:

Ensuring Search Engines Find Your Website

The first things I'm checking for while conducting audits is to see if search engines can find your website. If search engines cannot find your website, neither can people. With this in mind, this negatively impacts website traffic, visibility, and rankings.

We want to ensure your website can be found easily by search engines; we don't want them working too hard to find your content.

With this in mind, if your site can easily be found, that's the first step in ensuring your website is visible and brand awareness can grow organically through our SEO activities.

Ensuring Search Engines Can Crawl Your Website

Search engines are constantly crawling the internet, updating the SERPs and finding new content to rank. This is how new content is indexed and placed in the search results.

Think about it this way; if your website can't be crawled, it can't be indexed. And if it can't be indexed, it doesn't matter if you're publishing the most authoritative, helpful content on the internet - because no one is going to see it!

Ensuring Search Engines Can Index Your Website

Speaking of indexing, part of my audit includes checking to ensure search engines can actually index your website. Indexing ensures your content is visible to users, which drives traffic and ultimately, your success.

Ensuring Search Engines Can Rank Your Website

Ok, so Google and other search engines can find, crawl, and index your website. But what about ranking it?

The question here is, "Is your website authoritative enough to rank?"

Most of the time, if you haven't implemented SEO on-site, you're going to need to improve your site's authority. However, this all depends on off-page optimizations and topical coverage on-site.

I check your Google Business Profile, social media profiles, and content to determine what should be done to ensure your website is as authoritative as possible. Then, I conduct an in-depth competition analysis to see what others in your space have done to rank their websites.

In total, these audits take a minimum of 10 hours to perform, especially if you're operating a large website. However, without these insights, it's impossible to determine what your website needs to outrank the competition for juicy rankings.

FAQ About Structured SEO Plans

How do I create an SEO plan?

Keyword research is typically the first step and pivotal to any SEO plan. However, I first recommend having an audit completed to determine any areas of SEO that should be improved upon before implementing actions. From there, we can find keywords your target customers are looking for using Google Suggest.

What is the structure of SEO strategy?

Your SEO strategy should focus on providing value and helping people overcome a problem with your business. This means finding the right market fit for your products or services and determining keywords you can target and rank for within the space to attract and help your target customers.

What is an SEO activity plan?

An SEO activity plan is the workflow defined by a set of actions over a certain period of time. Minimally speaking, I recommend committing to and implementing a 3-month SEO plan. This is usually enough time to show progress and identify what's working.

What is a 12 month SEO plan?

A 12-month SEO plan takes into account the SEO activities that you'll need to experience the most progress over a 12-month time span. These activities typically include landing page creation and optimization, content silo building, optimizing website internal structure, checking for errors that could be holding your site back from rankings, and monitoring improvements through Google Analytics, Google Search Console, Ahrefs, and other tools.

Make Search Work for You With a Comprehensive Audit

As we've explored, the foundation of a robust SEO strategy begins with a thorough audit of your website. Whether you're nurturing an established website or launching a new digital presence, understanding the current state of your site is crucial for laying down a foundation for success.

At No Strings Content, we emphasize the importance of an initial audit to identify and rectify any underlying issues that may hinder your website's performance. By focusing on critical aspects like search engine accessibility, crawlability, indexation, and ranking potential, we ensure that your site isn't just visible but poised for success in the SERPs.

SEO is not a one-off task but an ongoing journey. Our tailored approach considers the unique aspects of your business and market, offering personalized solutions that align with your goals.

With our expertise, you'll see tangible benefits: improved targeted traffic, heightened brand awareness, and long-term organic growth that outlasts short-term paid advertising strategies.