Ranking higher on search engine results pages (SERPs) isn’t just a vanity metric—it’s your ticket to increased visibility and higher traffic for your website.
In this piece, I’ll give you an actionable 7-step SEO process to help you climb the SERP ladder.
Let's get into it.
What you’ll learn
- What is involved in the SEO process.
- Why you shouldn’t neglect your search engine rankings.
- How to get the most from your SEO efforts.
- How to build a streamlined approach to the SEO process.
- Strategies for building and maintaining your success.
What does the SEO process entail?
The SEO process involves optimizing a website to improve its visibility in search engines by targeting relevant keywords, publishing high-quality content, and ensuring technical and user experience standards are met.
There are four areas of focus:
- On-page SEO: Optimizing elements like keywords and meta tags and descriptions on your web pages.
- Off-page SEO: Building backlinks with other sites, leveraging social and other activities that don’t occur on your website that can impact SEO.
- Local SEO: Getting your site to rank higher in location-based search results.
- Technical SEO: Optimizing your website's speed, structure, and backend elements to ensure search engines can efficiently crawl and index your site while enhancing usability for visitors.
All these elements build on each other and contribute to your overall SEO efforts.
If you’re not an SEO expert (yet), this can sound intimidating, but with a clear process in place, it doesn't have to be.
SEO process breakdown – 7 steps to follow
The SEO process requires a clear strategy and regular attention for the best results.
Keep reading for a seven-step streamlined SEO roadmap you can start implementing right away to climb SERP ranks, improve the visibility of your pages, and maximize organic traffic.
1. Identify the keywords you’ll target
The single most important part of SEO is using the right words. Google and other search engines want to find the best answer to what people search for, and that starts with keyword research.
Once you know what kind of information your audience seeks, you can create quality content to address it.
You’ll probably already have some good keyword ideas but don’t fall into the trap of believing you have them all. Instead, put technology to work to help you find gaps in your coverage.
There are a number of free keyword research tools – some of which you’ve probably already used as a searcher. These include:
Google autocomplete – As you type in the Google search bar, it will automatically suggest possible searches related to what you have already entered.
The purpose of this is to add convenience for searchers, but it’s also an excellent resource for keyword research.
People also ask – Located further down SERPs, the “People also ask” section uses a question-and-answer format for quick information on related keywords and topics to the initial query.
Google related searches – Located at the bottom of SERPs, this provides similar or related queries people have previously searched for.
You also need to understand how to prioritize keywords, so you spend the most time optimizing for the ones that are most likely to show the best returns.
There are three factors you need to evaluate:
- Monthly search volume: This is the average number of searches performed per month for a certain word or phrase.
- Competition: This indicates how difficult it will be to rank for a specific keyword. Generally, words with higher search volume will have more traffic but are more difficult to rank for
- Traffic potential: This is how much organic traffic a page can expect to receive from SERPs, on average, per month.
You can see these inside Surfer's Keyword Research. For instance, the keyword "brand awareness" has a considerable amount of monthly searches, it can bring decent traffic, and is relatively easy to rank for - making it an appealing keyword.
Prioritize keywords with a good search volume and low-to-moderate difficulty before jumping into more competitive ones.
And of course, above all, the keywords you target should be relevant to your business. Otherwise it makes no sense to cover them.
2. Plan your content strategy and calendar
You got the keywords you want to rank for. Now it's time to build your SEO content marketing plan.
A great way to plan your content is using topic clusters. Topic clusters are a content strategy that involves organizing related content around a central theme or "pillar" page, which links to and from various supporting articles.
This approach helps establish topical authority by signaling to search engines that your site is a comprehensive resource on the subject.
You can do this manually or use Surfer's Topical Map to build your topical clusters.
You can start with your main topic or connect your domain.
If you already have some content on your site, you can see your cluster coverage on Topical Map, under the Map tab.
Under the All topics tab, you can see a list of clusters on the left-hand side and the keywords that fall under each cluster on the right.
You can also see each cluster's average search volume and keyword difficulty. Use these metrics to prioritize which clusters you tackle first.
It's recommended you cover one cluster before moving on to the next.
Once you have your cluster strategy in place, it's time to put it into a content calendar that includes the following information:
- Keywords you’ll target
- Topics that correspond with those keywords
- Production timelines that establish deadlines and indicate who is responsible for writing, editing, posting, etc.
3. Write SEO-friendly content
Each time there’s an update to search engine algorithms, it’s with the idea of providing better, more relevant search results for each query.
To communicate relevance, your content should be properly optimized for search engines.
Some SEO best practices for this include:
Meet search intent: Most web searchers fall into one of four search categories: informational, navigational, commercial, or transactional. Make sure your content is specifically tailored to address the needs of your target audience. That is, give them what they’re looking for.
Include keywords in the right places: Your URL, meta title, meta description and headings should all use your target keyword whenever it makes sense. It’s particularly important to include your keyword in the H1 header and within the first 200 words of the body copy.
Interlink your content logically: Internal linking helps search engines understand the structure of your website and the relationship between different pages. Ensure you're linking related content, especially within a cluster.
Inside the Surfer's Content Editor, you can see how well-optimized your content is for your target keyword and in relation to your competitors.
Following the Editor's Guidelines, you can then optimize your content by including relevant terms and proper structure.
You can add these terms manually throughout your content to boost the score or use the Auto-Optimize feature. Auto-Optimize will include relevant terms in the form of new sentences and, if enabled, create new sections to fill content gaps.
You can also rely on the Insert internal links feature inside the Editor. It will scan your published content and link to relevant pages.
Remember: your aim is not a 100 Content Score!
Above all, your content should be helpful and provide a good reader experience.
Google ranks people-first content. But that doesn't mean you can't use AI tools in your process.
Google does not care how your content is created as long as it provides value for users.
So you can leverage a content writing tool like Surfer AI to speed up the content creation process. Surfer AI will create an SEO-friendly article draft for you in less than 20 minutes.
You can then apply the above best practices, such as adding personal insights to boost the content's E-E-A-T score.
4. Optimize for local searches
According to a 2023 survey, 21% of Americans use the Internet to find local businesses daily.
If you have a physical location or serve a geographic area, appearing in local searches is essential.
Local SEO works by helping Google understand where your business is and helps you show up for location-based searches.
Luckily, much of your local SEO work can be done through Google Business Profile (GBP) optimization. If you haven’t already, you should create a GBP right away.
Here's how to optimize your GBP:
- Fill out all the necessary information, including NAP (name, address, and phone number).
- Add compelling images and videos.
- Add a Q&A section that addresses common customer questions.
- Allow and respond to customer reviews, both positive and negative.
- Include a detailed description of your offerings that includes relevant keywords.
By implementing the above tips you can show up in Google Maps, Businesses, and the top of search results for local searches.
5. Build links to your pages
Link building is an important part of SEO. Links from other websites tell Google and other search engines that another site finds your content valuable enough to direct its readers to it.
This, in turn, signals your authority, with incoming links from high-authority sites transferring more “juice,” which then helps your site rank higher.
Good quality content will naturally attract inbound links over time, as others cite it or use it as an example, but this can be a slow process.
To speed up the link building process, there are several approaches you can employ, including:
Guest posting: A content collaboration between two sites in which you offer your services as a guest writer to another site, and they link back to you.
Broken link building: This means finding dead links on other websites and emailing the website with an offer to replace them with new, working links directed at your site.
Finding unlinked mentions: If another site mentions your business or offering but doesn’t directly link to it, you can reach out and ask the webmaster for a link.
You can monitor your inbound links using Google Search Console (GSC): Links > Top linked pages externally. There, you see your most linked pages and where those links come from.
Warning: Not all links are created equal.
Links from low-quality, spammy sites may do more harm than good. So, keep a close eye on your inbound links to maintain a healthy backlink profile.
6. Sort out your technical SEO
Technical search engine optimization is the process of ensuring your site is easy for search engines to follow, crawl, and index and for human visitors to use.
Key technical SEO factors are interconnected and crucial to website performance. Fast website speed boosts user satisfaction and engagement.
Mobile responsiveness ensures a seamless experience across devices, while managing duplicate content avoids penalties and prioritizes quality in rankings.
A clear site structure, XML sitemap, and intuitive navigation make your site easy to crawl and index. So make sure to submit your sitemap to Google Search Console.
To assess your site's technical performance, you can use tools such as the Google Page Indexing report and PageSpeed Insights.
You should regularly monitor both to identify and address technical SEO issues that could hurt your SERP rankings.
7. Monitor and improve your SEO strategy
The SEO process is continuous. Once you reach the top, someone is striving to knock you off, so regular monitoring and reporting are vital.
If you notice a page has fallen off or is otherwise underperforming, look at the data to try and figure out why.
Some important SEO metrics to consider include:
- Organic traffic
- Clickthrough rate
- Keyword rankings
- Organic conversions
- Website health
You can use free tools like Google Analytics and Search Console to track and measure your progress.
You can also combine these with a third-party tool, such as Surfer's Content Audit, which provides actionable insights and next steps.
There you can see at a glance how your content is performing and which pages need updating.
You can then follow the Content Editor guidelines to update the content.
Key takeaways
- A streamlined SEO process is essential for achieving high search engine rankings and maximizing organic traffic.
- Conduct comprehensive keyword research using keyword research tools to identify target keywords with high search volume and low competition.
- Optimize your web pages through on-page SEO techniques, including strategically placing keywords in page titles, meta descriptions, and URL structures.
- Develop a content strategy focused on creating high-quality content that meets search intent and enhances user experience.
- Build links through effective link-building strategies to increase your website's authority and improve search engine rankings.
- Ensure technical SEO is in place, including site speed optimization, mobile responsiveness, and a clear site structure for efficient search engine crawling and indexing.
- Monitor SEO metrics such as organic traffic, keyword rankings, and clickthrough rates regularly to refine your strategy and maintain strong search engine performance.
- Local SEO efforts are crucial for businesses with physical locations, helping them appear in local search results and on Google Maps.
- SEO is an ongoing process that requires continuous attention and adaptation to stay ahead in search engine results pages.
Streamline your SEO process with Surfer
For novices, SEO can seem daunting and time-consuming. But with the right process, it’s actually quite manageable and well worth the effort.
By following the steps outlined here, you can put your site on the path to the front page of search results, shoot up the rankings, and claim a larger share of traffic.
From keyword research to content strategy, performance tracking, and optimizing, Surfer has your back. Try Surfer and build a streamlined SEO process that brings results.
