Creating a six month SEO plan for your business
Hey you! You are here because you want to nail your SEO strategy and attract warm leads already looking for you on Google.
I get it and I’m here to help. In this blog post, we will cover how to create an effective SEO plan that doesn’t just do the above but also is here to stay and allows you to be consistent with your SEO actions.
Let’s do it!
Is SEO dead?
I get asked this question regularly and you are here because you want to believe in your SEO but let’s quickly touch on why SEO is more alive now than ever.
Here are some 2023 SEO stats you want to understand (I took these from this Ahrefs blog https://ahrefs.com/blog/seo-statistics/):
68% of online experiences begin with a search engine.
0.63% of Google searchers click on results from the second page.
53.3% of all website traffic comes from organic search.
92.96% of global traffic comes from Google Search, Google Images, and Google Maps.
SEO drives 1,000%+ more traffic than organic social media.
60% of marketers say that inbound (SEO, blog content, etc.) is their highest quality source of leads.
SEO leads have a 14.6% close rate.
These numbers back up the facts that SEO is a strong marketing force that can not just lead to sales and leads but is a long-term investment that can create stability in your business.
Why blogging?
Maybe the word “blogging” trips you up and you aren’t sure if this is something you can commit to in the longer run.
If that’s the case, don’t worry. You don’t have to blog - this is about creating helpful content on a website. That’s it! You can call it anything you want.
If you don’t want to have a section of your website called blog, you can call it:
Articles
resources
guides
Musing
This will need to match your content and your overall branding, but you get the idea.
Now that we have those two things out let’s create your incredible 6-month SEO plan!
How does SEO fit in with the rest of your marketing?
The first step to ensuring success in your SEO plan is to look at how it fits in with the rest of your marketing.
If your SEO is like an island, disconnected from other parts of your marketing strategy, it will be very hard to see progress. It is ideal when it’s all connected and working in tandem with your other marketing efforts.
This is holistic marketing - or having the different parts of your marketing fit together.
For example: let’s say you love writing for LinkedIn. Every time you publish a great piece of content on LinkedIn, you can also go ahead and share that with your email list. You can also take that content and elaborate on it or create a blog sequel and share it. The workflow can look like this:
Write + Publish content on LinkedIn >> Share with email list >> Take parts of email/LinkedIn post and create a blog >> Share again with email list.
See how it’s all connected? The key is for each part of your marketing to work in tandem and be clear on your priorities and goals.
Connecting your sales goals with SEO
For many of my clients and students, it feels like they “should” be blogging, but they aren’t sure why.
What if you knew exactly how your SEO would sell your course and online offerings? This would change the game, am I right?
So how do you connect your SEO efforts with your sales goals?
The first step is to understand what you are focused on selling in the next 3 - 6 months. It doesn’t have to be exact but make a list of all the things you’d like to sell including:
Online courses
Trainings
1:1 Sessions
Packages
Products
Try and get as specific as possible - how much would you like to make from each one?
You may already have this information saved somewhere else - great! Now is the time to pull it out and refresh your memory.
Next, you want to think about the website pages connected to these offerings, like:
Sales pages
These pages on your website directly sell the offer already and that someone can buy.
Case studies/testimonials
Do you showcase your client's results and have people shouting your offer from the rooftops? Then you want to share this with the world.
Blog posts
What common objections or questions come up around your offers? Do you have any blog posts that speak to these? A specific blog that speaks to your potential client's questions and doubts can be a game changer and a space to sell your services.
These are some ideas you can get started with around creating profitable pages on your website.
Remember that these can be pages that have already been created or new ones you want to create - either way, make a list and start to identify the areas of your website connected with these offerings.
You want to identify this for each of your offers and also line them up in order of priority so you know what you want to work on each month.
Lastly, you’ll want to do some keyword research around these pages to determine which keywords get more searches for you to go after.
This guide doesn’t cover keyword research but this webinar series does 90 day seo plan. I also have a keyword guide here.
Understanding these keywords and using them in your content isn’t about being spammy - it is about connecting with exactly how people are searching for the things you want to talk about and having a profitable SEO plan - your time is precious. We want to make sure that the content you create is generating sales.
Your SEO Commitment
If you’ve had your business for long enough, you’ll realize there is always something you could be working on. But your time is precious and I feel that most of you want to spend less time in front of the screen, not more. So this is where we look at your SEO commitment.
Please answer these questions:
How many blogs/pages do you want to publish for SEO per month and quarter?
How much free time do you have approximately each month for SEO marketing?
What days/times do you have open to work on your SEO?
Getting clear on this initial commitment will make a big difference and give you an initial container to work around since we know our tasks expand based on the time we give them.
Set these intentions for 90 days and check in at the end of that time frame, so you can adjust as needed.
You can always do more if you want and have the time - it’s about finding a routine you can stay consistent with. This isn’t necessarily about doing more because if the quality of the work isn’t good, then you won’t be able to rank.
My questions are about how many QUALITY blogs you can create in a certain time frame.
Remember, SEO is a long game and creating good quality that is valuable to our audiences from the beginning will make the biggest difference.
Here are some sample times to consider:
Keyword research for a blog: 1-hour
Writing a blog outline: 15 minutes
Writing a 1000-word blog post: 1 hour
Uploading and formatting a 1000-word blog post: 30-min
Finding and adding internal links to a blog post: 20-min
Sharing the blog post with your email list and social media: 15-min
Does this help? Let’s continue with a sample SEO routine for 90 days:
Research keywords for a new course I’m selling. One keyword per month will take me about 1-hour.
One blog per month, approximately 1000 words
Writing and marketing the blog will take me about 3-hour in total, including adding marketing content around this blog to share
At the end of each month, I will review results in the Search Console, which will take me around 30 min.
Total time commitment monthly: 4 - 5 hours
Writing this out like this creates simplicity and removes the overwhelm from your SEO routine.
Creating your 6-month SEO plan
Now that you have the different elements of your SEO routine let’s define your 6-month SEO plan.
Step 1) Confirm what offers you want to focus on selling in the next 3 - 6 months connected with your SEO.
Looking at your sales goals, I want you to choose one thing you will focus on selling through your SEO.
Step 2) Review your keywords and pages connected with this offer.
I review this more thoroughly, but you want to ensure your chosen keywords are tied to actual searches and the offer you are selling.
Step 3) Decide your SEO commitment, defining specific dates and hours you will work on your SEO tasks.
This is your initial intention to work on, and clarify when you will work on your SEO. You can always work more or less on this.
Step 4) Map out and block in your calendar month by month.
This is an extra step for more clarity; pull out your calendar and define exactly when you are working on everything each month, including reviewing SEO results at the end of the month.
Step 5) Block out time to research tasks that you aren’t sure about
If you need more time around keyword research, then make sure to block out extra time to research this task. Remember not to get lost in the rabbit hole (unless you want to): set a specific time and then work with what you’ve got. You can always go back and implement new strategies.
The point is to spend most of your time creating content - don’t worry about the rest since you can update content as you go.
Final thoughts
I know SEO can feel overwhelming and confusing, so I’m here! Part of taking out the complexity is taking small baby steps and getting some momentum in place.
The content you create today can serve you for years, so that you can view it as a long-term investment.
Looking for extra support and accountability around your SEO tasks? Check out the SEO Seasons Society - this is my community of other online entrepreneurs who want to build a solid SEO routine that attracts sales and results.
Full details here: https://courses.digitalbloomiq.com/seo-seasons-society
Also, share all your SEO happening in the comment section below - can’t wait to hear about it all!