How To Set Proper Goals?
User: OK, I am a SEO specialist and I need to create SEO plan for a new client. The task is
pretty straightforward, but there are so many options! What do I need to do firstly? And what operations don't matter?
Yes, there are too many options and it can be very hard to set primary goals that will get your SEO project to the top of search results. SEO experts are likely already provided you with recommendations that contradict with each other.
- Disregard the SEO stuff. Content is king!
- Content doesn't matter. Page Rank does!
- You need more backlinks. We will create them for you. Sign In here for $1500.00
Sounds familiar?
Things don't need to be so complicated. It's seems to be evident that you are not the first person who faced this issue and, thus, your SEO plan is not required to be a something the world have never seen.
You need to simply review sites already created by your competitors and perform the same operations they did in the past
Step #1: Investigate the Competition
Let's say you have a site that sells hats. The users find your site by entering 'buy hat' in Google. You know that your goal is to be at the first place in the search results each time the users enter 'buy hat' keywords.
What operations do you need to perform to be at the first place? Let's see how your competitors managed to do this:
- Open Google and enter 'buy hat'.
- Open the page that appears at the first position in search results.
- Write down the PR of the page you entered.
NOTE: Google Toolbar is required to get information on the PR. If you don't have Google Toolbar installed, follow the URL: toolbar.google.com. - Get information on the competitors' backlinks by entering the following query in Google:
"CompetitorSite.com" -site:CompetitorSite.com and write down the value
- Does the competitor has keywords in Title?
- Does the competitor has keywords in URL?
Step #2: Process The Results
As a result of operations above you should have a list with neat goals. It is clear that in order to be at the first position in the search results you need to
- Obtain PR 5.
- Get 47,400 links to your site (gosh!).
- Create the pages with words 'buy' and 'head' in title and in the URL.
Follow the recommendations above, get your site to the top and be happy!
PS By the way, our new tool Google SEO Recommendations performs the operations listed above automatically. It also provides you with SEO-recommendations.
Gushchin Dmitry is the creator of Easy SEO Tracking service. The service allows users to track the SEO parameters of theirs sites.
Guest posts do not necessarily reflect SEP's professional opinion