There is a lot to SEO when looked from a professional perspective. Plenty of web-owners think that creating content and commenting here and there is enough. Well, the best way to get links is to create compelling content, but that is just one part of the job. Process of SEO implementation is huge, but there are several top level processes that need to be accomplished in order to create a successful SEO campaign.
Initial Website Analysis
The first step is to analyze the website you are working on. Performing the technical analysis of the website is crucial as you need to determine if there are any problems, if new content needs to be created and of course what would the best landing pages be. Landing pages can already be there just need to be worked on, so for starters looking at the positions in the SERP is essential to get a clue of what needs to be done. Of course in the initial stage there is also the competitor research. Finding true competitors is essential for forming the right strategy.
Setting Your Goals
After you have completed the initial SEO analysis you need to set your goals. If you are working for a client it is very important to get their input, their wishes, their vision of success in order to create a working SEO strategy. In this part we set targets and our goals. After this the hard work begins.
Keyword Research
An existing website already has ranking keywords, but that doesn’t mean that they are the right keywords to go for. It is an SEO’s job to do proper research and compile a list of the best keywords to try and rank for with the appropriate pages. Once you have created your final list of keywords to work on you need to modify the content in order to have the maximum relevancy between keywords and your landing pages, this is an important part before you start the link building process.
Onsite Correction
The last part before you start with promotion and link building is making all the onsite factors function properly. This is for most the toughest part, even experienced SEO’s have a trouble with large sites as there can simply be too many errors or problems, which is why it is very important to focus on implementing everything right, from the navigation and URL structure to titles, redirects and proper inner linking.
Link Building
In some terms link building is the most important part of SEO, but without the previous steps even the most quality link building won’t have the desired effect. Link building is a special story; it can be divided into many subcategories. But the most important part is to know which key phrases you are targeting and for which pages. After that you can identify the right linking opportunities and engage them via email, social networks, or using slow approach like commenting on their blog and gaining their attention. But don’t forget to do link consolidation of your existing backlinks. You will be surprised how effective link consolidation can be for your rankings.
Reassessment
After a few months or a given period you need to reassess your work and your results. In the beginning everything may look simple and you think you can achieve a certain rank with ease, or believe impossible to do something in a short amount of time. But after a few months you will have a clearer picture of where you stand and your goals can be scaled to be more realistic. This will also give you input on which parts to focus more and how to proceed.
Following standard process of SEO implementation is crucial for any website’s success. Not a single part should be skipped if you want to maximize your results and achieve the goals you have set for your website.
Author bio:
Alex Petrovic, Advanced SEO strategist – Dejan SEO
Personal twitter account: http://twitter.com/Alex_DejanSEO
Company twitter account: http://twitter.com/dejanseo