How Do You Plan for a Search Engine Optimization Campaign?

Most business owners wouldn’t launch a new product, open a new office, or hire a new employee without doing some planning and investigative work. When it comes to search engine optimization, though, many of the entrepreneurs we meet seem anxious to start “doing” things without any strong or firm strategy in place.

That’s understandable. Every day you’re not working on your Google visibility is a day when your competitors are theoretically pulling farther ahead. At the same time, though, it’s difficult to succeed in any aspect of online marketing without the right strategy. Fail to plan enough in putting your SEO campaigns together and you could end up right back where you started – only with less money or patience to show for your effort.

With that in mind, how do you plan for a successful search engine optimization campaign? We are glad you asked, because today we’re going to lay out the basic steps you need to follow…

Know Your Target Market

Good search engine optimization campaigns aren’t really about keywords or links; they are about the customers you want to bring to your website. The more you know about your market, and the motivations of your buyers, the easier it is to find them and appeal to their needs.

Look Into Search Trends

Once you know who your customers are, you have to consider what it is they are searching on Google, Bing, and other web portals. That means assessing recent search activity and trends so you can optimize your pages and content for the right keywords and search strings.

Study the Competition

Unfortunately, you won’t have Google’s attention all to yourself. You have competitors who also want to attract search visits to their websites, too. By working with a web design team who will study the competition, you can get a sense of which terms or buyers to target and how you can make your website stand out.

Audit Your Own Website

Is your website well-constructed to attract search visits? Do you have technical issues (like slow page loading, outdated plug-ins, or duplicate content) that will make your content invisible to search spiders? These are the kinds of answers you get from a comprehensive audit of your website, which is an important step in the SEO process. 

Develop a Sales Funnel

Bringing a potential customer to your website is just the first step. Once they arrive on your pages, you want to make a sale, capture a lead, or convince them to return in the future. To help you accomplish those goals you should have an established sales funnel in place that guides a prospect from their first visit to a completed sale.

Need Help Turning Your SEO Plan Into Real-World Results?

Every good search engine optimization campaign starts with the right plan and preparation. Without that, marketers are just checking items off of to-do lists that may or may not lead to any real revenue growth.

When you’re ready to use SEO profitably effectively – or just to get more from your business website – turn to the experienced team at WebRevelation. In one short consultation, we can help you to see what’s working with your website, where your biggest challenges and opportunities lie, and your best steps forward.

Contact us today! Or, stop back for the next article in our series on generating search-friendly content.