SEO is a huge task, and the list of jobs that fall into its category only seems to be growing. From optimizing meta tags and link building, to keyword analysis and content writing; the SEO process is a long and ongoing one, and if not properly managed can quickly become overwhelming.
However, with a bit of perseverance and planning, SEO will more than repay the time and effort you invest in it. So let’s go ahead and take a look at some of the ways you can streamline your SEO efforts.
Align Each Task Toward Wider goals
One of the first things you will want to do, if you haven’t already, is create a spreadsheet containing all your SEO tasks—no matter how small or ill-defined. Now, figure out what their estimated 1, 3, 6, and 12 month value is. You can do this by calculating what would be a low, medium, and high estimated outcome—how much traffic you can expect, how it is going to impact conversion rates, etc—as a direct result of completing the task.
A task may only last a month, but if through its completion you can expect to yield 10,000 new visitors, then it’s clear to see where it will sit on your list of priorities.
Know the Team
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Whether you are working as part of a large organisation, an agency, or as an external consultant, you will want to know who is going to complete the tasks laid out, and get an estimate of how much time is needed.
How will you liaise with them to monitor and capture metrics, measure the success rate, and ID any potential problems early? It’s not uncommon to see problems arise from mistakes that were made in the planning or implementation phase, so it’s important to keep a close eye on the progress of each task.
Have the Right Tools
If you’re not making use of some of the great tools out there, then you’re giving yourself a hard time. SEO is just like any project, and it needs to be managed well. Here’s a peek at some of the tools we use to keep on top of SEO:
- Toggl to track time.
- Trello for project management
- Google Docs to share documents.
- Dropbox to share files.
- Slack for collaborating with teams.
- Google Calendar to keep up with dates.
Focus not Only on Quick Wins, but Long Term Pay Offs
When implementing a SEO strategy, what often comes first is a chunk of smaller tasks which provide the biggest benefits. Say you fix a few problems with the indexing of the site and are praised heavily for the result: this is of course great but not a sustainable approach in the long run.
Making your client–and yourself–aware of this before starting your SEO strategy is paramount. SEO is a project with diminishing returns, which only begin to pick up after months, or even years of sustained effort. The most value may come in the first month or so, so be prepared to keep a map of how the project has progressed, not just from the last task, but from the day you started out.
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