Connect with your audience by covering the topics they care about the most.
Plan out a network of interlinked blogs that answer related questions and help each
other rank.
Write and publish content that helps people, and watch your rankings go up!
Find topics and outlines catered to your business.
Are you tired of feeling like your website is the wallflower at the SERP prom? You’ll be happy to know that achieving higher search engine page rankings is not a far-fetched fantasy, but a feasible reality—with the right SEO strategy.
Of course, you'll have to battle fierce competition, navigate the ever-changing algorithms, and know exactly what your audience is searching for. But fear not, because with the right SEO tools and tactics, you'll be pulling in conversions faster than even the most well-executed email campaign.
So, let’s learn what it takes to climb search engine rankings in less than six months. First, we’ll review the four main components of an SEO business plan, and then we’ll jump into how to create an SEO strategy. By following this SEO strategy in your digital marketing efforts, you’ll pull your website from wallflower status to belle of the ball in no time.
Before diving into our curated 6-month SEO strategy template, you must first understand the four components of SEO—on-page, off-page, technical, and local. If you’re already familiar with these four pieces of the SEO puzzle, skip ahead to the next section!
On-page SEO is like the prom queen, as it's the central focus for most SEO experts. Just as prom royalty needs to carefully select their outfit, accessories, and hairstyle to impress their peers, on-page SEO requires careful attention to keywords, titles, meta descriptions, headings, images, internal links, and other elements. All these are essential to make your website attractive to both search engines and users.
On-page SEO also emphasizes the importance of content quality. A website with well-crafted, informative, and interesting content will rank higher on search engines compared to a site with low-quality or irrelevant content. For those wanting an SEO plan template for a new website, specifically, content creation is the first place you should start, as a barebones website will definitely not rank.
We’ll show you how to create and enhance your website content using an SEO strategy platform like DemandJump in our monthly SEO plan down below.
To build your online authority, you have to build relationships and establish a reputation beyond the walls of your website. Enter off-page SEO: the social butterfly who knows how to work the room and make connections. Similar to this kind of networking, you want to:
Remember, it's not about collecting as many contacts as possible, but about building meaningful relationships with the right people.
Think of technical SEO as the party planner who makes sure everything runs smoothly behind the scenes, allowing guests to have a great time without any hiccups. To be a true backend SEO expert, you need to be proficient with technical jargon, like HTML, CSS, and JavaScript, to ensure speedy loading times and easy navigation. You'll also need to troubleshoot errors like 404 pages, broken links, redirect chains, slow loading times, and so much more.
And of course, don’t forget schema markup. Schema markup is a coding language that search engines use to comprehend the content on your website and serve it up to users in the best possible way. For instance, if you manage an eCommerce website, schema markup can inform search engines about your products’ names, prices, ratings, images, and other relevant data. By implementing schema markup, your eCommerce products can appear on the coveted Shopping tab of Google, complete with all the crucial details that will entice potential buyers to click that "add to cart" button.
Although technical SEO is an essential aspect of a successful website, not everyone has the necessary skills or resources to handle it independently. Just like planning a big event, sometimes you need outside help to make sure everything goes smoothly. Hiring a technical SEO expert or agency can help you navigate the complex world of backend optimization and ensure your website is running at peak performance.
Local SEO is like the chaperone at a prom who ensures everyone is in the right place at the right time. Just as the chaperone helps guide students to the dance floor or the refreshments table, local SEO practices help guide potential customers to your business's physical location. If you run a brick-and-mortar store or provide services to a specific area, then you need local SEO.
The foundation of local SEO is updating your website and Google Business Profile with relevant information like your phone number, address, hours of operation, and customer reviews. This data will help your business show up in local search results, making it straightforward for customers to find you and navigate to your location.
Put on your SEO hat and grab your favorite caffeinated beverage because we’re diving head-first into our 6-month SEO plan. PDF it for your own internal use, if you’d like!
To kick off any basic SEO strategy, start with gauging the current state of your website. Follow this checklist for a thorough site audit and analysis:
By the end of the first month, you'll have a better understanding of your website's strengths and weaknesses and a clear plan for fixing any technical issues that may hinder your ranking.
Once you have a website free of technical issues, it's time to identify the keywords you want to rank for and use Pillar-Based Marketing (PBM) best practices. Think of month two as the preliminary setup for content creation, which will really start taking off in month three. To prepare for content creation, you should:
Now that you have your keywords and Pillar strategy, it's time to create or enhance your content. Here’s how to get started:
You should have a solid amount of content ready to go by month four, but you're not done yet. As you publish your content, make sure your pages are refined for both search engines and users by following these steps:
Once your website is full of good content and running smoothly, it’s time to focus on off-page SEO. Here are a few ways you can build relationships, gain backlinks, and boost your website's authority:
Remember, off-page optimization isn't a one-and-done deal—keep working at it to see the best results!
As you wrap up this short-term SEO plan, it's essential to measure and track your progress. Here are some action items to assist you with monitoring your website's success:
Congratulations! Now you’re a seasoned SEO pro. Moving forward, you must continue to evolve your strategy and adapt to new trends to stay ahead of the game.
If you’re still looking for some SEO inspiration, check out this example of a company that blew everyone else out of the water with their results.
Planhat is a platform that thousands of software companies use to solve customer experience challenges. When they came to DemandJump with their SEO goals, we knew Pillar-Based Marketing was the solution. Together, we identified "Customer Success Analytics" and "Net Revenue Retention" as the two critical topics to rank for, which align perfectly with Planhat's offerings and what their customers are searching for.
The DemandJump team analyzed the search volume potential for these topics and noticed a gap between the keywords Planhat was ranking for and the entire network of relevant keywords available. To bridge that gap, DemandJump developed a comprehensive 16-piece pillar strategy for Planhat that contained the typical PBM content of a Pillar page, Sub-Pillars, and Supporting Blogs.
Planhat saw significant results after publishing this content. They went from having 37 to 283 rankings for the top 100 keywords related to "Net Revenue Retention" and boosted their first-page rankings from one to a peak of 38.
If you’ve been stuck on questions like “Why is my website not getting traffic?” or “Why does SEO take so long to work?” then you need DemandJump. SEO is far from easy, especially when you don't have the time or resources to invest in such an intensive project. But with DemandJump in your corner, you'll see more SEO rankings without all the blood, sweat, and tears (well, maybe just a little sweat if we're honest, but the results are worth the effort).
To get started, try our platform out for free so you can see how it all works. Explore topics that your audience is searching for, map networks of content, and become a topical authority in months—maybe even weeks!
