No, SEO is not 'just copywriting': this is how you draw step-by-step a complete one SEO strategy

I would bet money that SEO experts have heard the following sentence: “SEO, isn't that just copywriting with some technical fixes?” And I'd bet even more money that those same SEO experts fell into a long monologue about how SEO is more than that, much more . This article conveniently summarizes such a monologue for you.

So here you will find an SEO crash course in which you will learn how to set up an SEO strategy. Although SEO is not an exact science and every expert approaches it in their own way, it is a useful guideline to get started yourself. Fancy? Then be sure to read on!

Step 1: Determine your goals and KPIs
Step 2: Lay a solid technical foundation
Step 3: Create content that touches and convinces
Step 4: Build your name with off-page SEO
Step 5: Measure, know and adjust

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Step 1: Determine your goals and KPIs

Before you start, it is really crucial to know what you want to achieve. Do you want to attract more visitors to your website? Want to boost sales figures? Or perhaps increase your visibility in specific markets? In any case, think about it carefully first and actively have conversations with your customer about their objectives and their target audience. Who and what do they have in mind when they choose SEO?

Once you know where you want to go, it's time to translate this into concrete, measurable goals - the so-called Key Performance Indicators (KPIs). These are for example:

Organic traffic : How many visitors already arrive at your website via search engines?
Conversion rate : What percentage of those visitors perform a desired action, such as subscribing to your newsletter or purchasing a product?
Bounce rate : How many visitors leave your site without any interaction?

You can get these valuable insights from tools such as Google Analytics and Google Search Console . Make sure the tools are properly registered and that you have access.

By setting your goals and KPIs clearly, you know exactly what you are working towards. This makes it easier to adjust your strategy later where necessary. Open a document or spreadsheet to write down and structure these goals .

Step 2: Lay a solid technical foundation

SEO includes a technical part to optimize your website for search engines and your visitors. Don't panic, even if you're not a coding whiz, you can make great strides here. Technical SEO is all about allowing search engines to crawl and index your website without any problems. But they also ensure that your visitor ends up on a stable and pleasant website.

In addition to crawability and indexability, there are a few other important points of attention:

Mobile-Friendliness : With the growing number of people conducting searches via smartphones, a mobile-friendly site is an absolute must.
Speed : Nobody likes slow websites. Certainly not your potential customers and search engines. So make sure the loading time is fast enough.
Security : An HTTPS connection is not only safer for your visitors, but is also seen as a positive signal by Google and other search engines.

Invest time in your technical audit and ensure that the optimizations are implemented properly. An important tip? Become friends with development . Make it easy for them by drawing up a technical workbook with things you would like to see implemented for SEO. Stay in touch with them and monitor the optimizations.

Step 3: Create content that touches and convinces

In your on-page SEO audit you mainly focus on what you find directly on your website: content. But before you start writing enthusiastically, it is smart to first take stock. Take a critical look at the content you already have . What does it do well? What can be done better? And more importantly: which topics are you still missing?

You want to work on those topics. But how do you know which topics are important to your audience? Simple: by doing topic research . Dive into SEO tools like SEMrush, Ahrefs, Mangools, Google Keyword Planner… to discover:

Which search terms are often used
What the intention behind those searches is
What questions your target group has about your expertise

With those insights in your pocket, you can create content that not only performs well with search engines, but also offers real value to your readers. That is the focus of every SEO strategy: working in a people-oriented way . You always put your visitor first.

Step 4: Build your name with off-page SEO

Good content is the basis, but it is of course also useful if people link to it . That is why off-page SEO - also called digital PR - is important. With off-page SEO you strengthen your online authority and credibility through backlinks and other external signals.

How do you handle that? Including by:

Link building : Try to get quality links from respected websites in your field. Do this honestly and avoid websites that sell questionable link packages in bulk.
Social media : Being active on social platforms can not only drive direct traffic to your website, but also give your online visibility and authority a significant boost.

Focus on quality over quantity when it comes to off-page SEO. One link from a reputable site is worth more than ten links from obscure sources.

Step 5: Measure, know and adjust

You have set goals, got your technical SEO in order, created good content and worked on your online authority. Done, right? No, not quite yet. Because SEO is dynamic : it is a continuous process of measuring, analyzing and adjusting.

Create dashboards that show how you are doing against your KPIs. Keep an eye on the following:

Traffic : How does your organic traffic develop over time?
Ranking improvements : For which key search terms does your website rise in the results? How can you adjust them?
Conversion performance : Are your SEO efforts actually leading to more conversions?

Make sure your reports are understandable to everyone on your team, from the tech to the marketing manager. Only by working together and continuously improving will you get the most out of your SEO strategy.

Ready to set up your own SEO strategy?

That was an SEO strategy in a nutshell. You now know how to go about it and how to design a strategy that not only improves your visibility in search engines, but also really contributes to your business goals .

Are you inspired? Or would you rather hire a marketing consultant to take care of your SEO strategy? Please feel free to contact us and we will help you further.

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