So you’ve won a new SEO client – hooray!
Before you officially start your partnership, there’s a long way to go to help set the stage for success and make a great first impression.
As SEOs know, every website has two areas that need focused analysis before launching an SEO program: content and back-end setup.
This article will address five initiatives my team takes right after signing the contract to find and address these critical solutions and ensure we are setting our client up for success. They are:
Audit existing content for update opportunities. Evaluate the website to prioritize technical optimizations. Provide a keyword research list, well in advance of the start. Assign keywords to pages on your site. Set up a tracker that works for both parties.
We analyze each initiative.
1. Audit existing content for update opportunities
How many times have you had a client eager to jump into creating new content without thinking about optimizing what’s already on their website? (In my experience, it’s quite common.)
You can add immediate value by encouraging new customers to allocate equal resources to updating their old content in addition to creating clean, new material.
Of course, the optimal frequency of content updates depends on the topic. The top three considerations when evaluating topic-related updates:
Is the theme perennial? If the answer is a resounding yes – let’s say it’s an article about tax regulations that haven’t changed since the 1990s – the information can stay relevant for a long time. You should still schedule optimizations for evergreen pages, but they won’t be as intensive or frequent.
Does the query ask for very fresh content? The more dynamic the theme, the more regularly you should check and update it. For example, content related to social and political events must be updated regularly to appear in the SERPs.
Google Considers Your Money or Your Life (YMYL)? Google treats YMYL topics (think: financial or medical advice) in its Search Quality Evaluator guidelines and holds web pages that contain them to a higher standard. These will need extra attention to ensure they convey real, up-to-date value to the reader.
Use a simple matrix of potential search volume (high, medium, low) and effort required to update content (high, medium, low) to provide your customer with a prioritized list of opportunities to gain traction by reviewing what they already is in its place.
2. Evaluate the website to prioritize technical optimizations
Marketers should have a keen eye for reputable visuals. Websites that look like they were built 10 years ago and don’t take the user on any thought-out journey should do extra critical analysis.
These are the basics to get before you pour effort into your content.
Some factors to consider after signing the contract:
Code that flows with spiders: If search engine spiders struggle to crawl your code, you’re already limiting your growth. Make sure your coding is clear and organized.
XML Sitemaps: Sitemaps are table stakes for SEOs; they distribute pages, images, and videos in a way that helps search engines navigate a site’s content.
Maintenance service: Server diagnostic reports are great sources of information about high-priority errors that need attention.
The content management system: Make sure you know the answers to the top CMS questions: Can you update content easily? Are there any errors or red flags? Are the plugins current and supported?
mobile usability: Websites in every vertical, even B2B, attract a large dose of mobile traffic. Responsiveness for both desktop and mobile devices is a must.
Robots.txt: This is one of our favorite features. Robots.txt tells spiders where not to crawl, which conserves service resources and indirectly points bots to the content they care about.
Site Speed: Slow loading websites lead to poor user experiences and high bounce rates, and are a major factor in Google’s algorithm. What does Google Search Console say are the areas with the most opportunities for improvement?
301 redirects: 301s prevent error pages by redirecting old or invalid pages to newer, more relevant content. This can improve the user experience.
Full URLs: URL shortcuts can cause crawl errors. Be sure to use the full URL, including internal links.
Canonical Tags: These tags provide protection against duplicate content searches. They direct search engines to the URL you want to appear in the SERPs.
The design: Just as marketers can spot old or outdated site designs, users are conditioned to keep up with web trends and may be pre-conditioned to bounce if you haven’t shown your site much design love.
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3. Submit a keyword research list at least two weeks before the start
The keyword research list is the single most important document in an entire account, as it sets the framework for targeting and helps align goals with the client. This living document must be updated consistently throughout the customer engagement.
The sheet is simple. Add headings for:
Keyword. volume Keyword category. Current rating Current ranking page. strategy
This gives you and the client a real performance base and a tool to connect and align our campaigns.
Send it to the client well in advance of launch and ask for quick feedback.
The goal should be to incorporate the feedback and create a longer list, with ideas on how to rank them, to discuss during the launch.
4. Create a website keyword mapping document
Content and keywords need good strategic direction to reach their potential.
As you develop your target keyword list, map those keywords to your current pages for optimization.
This helps you stay organized on important initial projects like title tags and meta description optimization. It also ensures that you are aligned with each page’s SEO goals, including the queries they aim to address.
5. Set up project tracking that works for both parties
Whether it’s Asana, Trello, Monday, or a Google Sheet, it’s good practice to establish a central reference for tracking all projects, including deadlines, priorities, owners, and contributors.
Core functions should include:
The ability to grant different permissions (eg edit, view, etc.) 24/7 access for all parties. The ability to add comments and notes for each task. Zoom and zoom capabilities to track progress at scale and on initiative.
Before you start, make sure you know the client’s platform preference and have a list of contributors so you can build a skeleton to present as a starting point.
Working towards a successful SEO engagement
This may seem like a lot of work to commit to before the customer has paid a dollar for the commitment. The reality is that it’s a job your team will have to do anyway.
Addressing it proactively gives you a springboard to effective engagement and will give the customer a clear signal that you’re ready and willing to move the needle for their business.
The opinions expressed in this article are those of the guest author and not necessarily Search Engine Land. Staff authors are listed here.
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