SEO Planning

Start with an audit of your current search performance

Before you plan, you need to know where your site stands. An audit reveals what is working and what is broken. Use Google Search Console to check index coverage, crawl errors and search traffic.

List what you find. This baseline helps you set priorities and measure progress later. For example, if you discover that your product pages have low index coverage, that becomes a priority. If blog posts drive most traffic but have high bounce rates, you might focus on improving content quality or internal linking. An audit also highlights technical issues like slow page speed or broken links that hurt user experience and rankings.

• rankings for key terms
• organic traffic trends
• crawl errors
• index status
• content gaps

Align SEO goals with business objectives

SEO work should support your business, not just rankings. Define what success looks like: more leads, sales or brand awareness. This is part of your broader SEO Strategy.

Set measurable KPIs that tie to business outcomes. For example, increase organic traffic to product pages by 20% in six months. If your business goal is to grow email signups, you might target a 15% increase in organic traffic to your newsletter landing page. Aligning SEO with business objectives ensures that resources are spent on what matters most, such as prioritising high-intent keywords over vanity metrics.

• increase organic traffic to product pages by 20%
• improve conversion rate from organic visitors
• reduce bounce rate on blog posts

Research keywords and search intent

Keyword research identifies what people search for. But you must also understand intent: informational, navigational or transactional. Use keyword planning to find opportunities.

Group keywords by intent and map them to your content. This ensures you create pages that match what users want. For example, a search like 'how to plan a wedding' is informational, so a blog post works well. 'Wedding planner near me' is transactional and should lead to a service page. You can also use google trends to spot rising topics and seasonal demand, helping you prioritise timely content.

• brainstorm seed keywords
• use keyword research tools
• analyse SERP features
• group by intent

Plan technical and on-page changes

Technical basics ensure your pages can be found and indexed. Check crawlability, indexability, sitemaps and robots.txt. On-page elements like titles, headings and internal links help search engines understand your content.

This is where seo content planning comes in. Plan content that covers topics thoroughly and links related pages together. For instance, if you run a travel site, you might create a cluster of pages about 'budget travel tips' that link to each other. Technical fixes like fixing duplicate content or adding structured data can also improve how your pages appear in search results.

• ensure pages are crawlable
• use XML sitemaps
• fix duplicate content
• implement structured data
• write unique title tags
• descriptive meta descriptions
• use heading hierarchy

Measure, review and adjust your plan

SEO planning is not a one-time task. Use Google Search Console and analytics to track performance. Compare results against your baseline and KPIs.

Adjust priorities based on data. For example, if a page is not ranking, revisit its content or internal links. This iterative process is part of your SEO Workflow.

Different niches require different approaches. For instance, seo for wedding planners focuses on local search and service pages.

• organic traffic
• keyword rankings
• click-through rates
• conversion rates