How To: SEO On-Site Optimization (Copy)

This SOP is a work in progress. If you notice anything that is out of date, could be more clear, or could be more efficient please update the SOP or add a comment to start a conversation.

Purpose:

The purpose of this document is to learn how to create quality SEO content for the search results page (SRP) optimization portion of your monthly tasks. You will learn how to find the monthly focus, successfully complete the work, and check to ensure it adheres to best practices, then record that it has been completed.

SRPs are often referred to by others at LeadVenture as “Inventory List Pages” or “ILPs”.

Inputs:

  • Complete SRP on-site work for an assigned client that is 3+ months into their SEO campaign.

  • Record work and ensure the Client Sheet is up-to-date.

  • Record work and ensure the Monthly Sheet is up-to-date.

This guide is NOT for clients in the first or second month of an SEO campaign.

 

In this step, you will pick a client whose on-site work for the month has not been completed yet.

  • Navigate to your section of the Monthly Sheet.

  • Start at the top of your section and work your way down to find a dealer that is 3+ months into their campaign.

    • You can see what month they are in Column I () or Column J ().

  • Look for a client with a blank cell in Column K () or Column N ().

  • Open the client’s website.

    • The client websites are hyperlinked in Column B on both Monthly Sheets.

  • Open the client sheet.

    • The URLs for Client Sheets are linked in Column C on both Monthly Sheets.


*This is the Monthly Sheet.

The Monthly Sheet looks the same, the only difference is the columns are not aligned with this DS example.

(*Click on the photo to enlarge and see all notes.)

In this step, you will learn where to find the on-site focus for the month.

  • In the Client Sheet: Navigate to the tab labeled “Work Done Import”.

This tab will commonly be referred to by reps and other teams as the “WDI Tab”.

  • Find the row(s) for the current month.

  • Depending on what package the client is, there are usually multiple rows for each month. Your on-site focus should be in a row with the Content-Type (column H) labeled as “Inventory - Header” or “Audit”.

  • After you’ve found the monthly focus, check the cells in column K (AM Call Notes) and column L (To-Do) for any notes.

    • There might be notes from the Account Managers to update the campaign plans, and if so, input those changes.

    • There might be URLs or other notes in the “To-Do” column left by previous reps regarding work that needs to be completed in that month.

  • Check the “Client Info” tab for information regarding target locations, seasonality, and key manufacturers/brands.


Work Done Import Tab:

(*Click on the photo to enlarge and see all notes.)

Client Info Tab:

(*Click on photos to enlarge and see all notes.)

In this step, you will find out how to check if the page you’re going to work on already exists on the site.

  • First, check the homepage.

    • Are there any buttons leading to inventory types or specific manufacturers? (Example below.) If there are and one of them matches your focus, click to see if it goes to an SRP or the showroom. If it takes you to an SRP, then your page exists. If it takes you to the showroom or pops out into a new tab, then your page does not exist.

  • Second, check the navigation bar. Most sites have a button in the navigation bar labeled “Inventory” that drops down.

  • Once you’ve expanded the navigation bar, look to see if any of the buttons match your focus for the month. If so, again click on it to see if it takes you to an SRP, the showroom, or pops into a new window. If you land on an SRP, then your page exists. If you end up anywhere else, then it does not exist.

  • Third, check the top-level inventory pages.

    • If your focus does not specify being used or pre-owned, then look on the “All Inventory” and “New Inventory” pages. Some sites might have both or just one of those two options. If your focus is specific to used or pre-owned, look on the “Used Inventory / Pre-Owned Inventory” page.

    • Along the top of the SRP (and sometimes the bottom for only), there will be buttons. This is our internal link structure. You will see either vehicle categories/types or manufacturers/brands. Navigate through these buttons to see if a page for your focus exists. If a button takes you to the inventory you’re looking for, then your page exists. If you do not find a page that matches your focus, then your page does not exist.

Here, you will learn how to use Google Search Console (GSC) to determine if a page already exists on the site or not.

In order to check to see if a page already exists on a website, navigate to Google Search Console in one of the shared SEO Google Chrome Profiles.

  1. In Google Search Console, look up the client's domain in the search bar.

  2. Next, select Performance* in the left-side menu. This will direct you to Clicks, Impressions, and CTR performance within the given timeframe of the client.

  3. On this page, scroll down to the section with the top menu that lists Queries, Pages, Countries, Devices, Search Appearance, and Dates.

  4. Select the Pages option.

  5. While in this view, select the Filter Rows option (represented by the three bars on the right side of the window) to open up a menu for how you want to organize the data.

  6. Select Top Pages.

  7. After you filter for Top Pages, a search bar will generate at the top of the list. It will say Contains, followed by the search bar.

  8. Within this search bar, pick a specific element of the URL you wish to locate (e.g., typing in "atvs" will generate a list with all the pages on the client's website that contain the keyword "atvs" in the URL).


To demonstrate, the below screenshots lay out each step to locate if a page for “Triton Trailers” exists within a client's website.

 

Here, you will learn how to create a new SRP for the site.

Dealer Spike:

  • On the client’s site, navigate to the top-level inventory page.

  • All / New Inventory, if not specified.

  • Pre-Owned / Used Inventory, if the focus is specified to be used or pre-owned.

  • Using the filters along the top of the page for a V6 site or along the lefthand side of the page for a V7 site, apply filters to bring up the inventory you’re looking for.

    • Make, Vehicle Type, and Category are the three main areas you’ll use to filter.

    • If a filter does not exist for your topic, then you can type the word into the “Search” bar and hit “Enter”.

  • Once you’ve applied filters and checked that the inventory showing up matched your focus, you’ll need to clean up the URL.

  • After the URL has been cleaned up, you’ll need to delete any content that has bled down from the top-level SRP.


ARI:

  • On the client’s site, navigate to the top-level inventory page.

  • All / New Inventory, if not specified.

  • Pre-Owned Inventory, if the focus is specified to be used or pre-owned.

  • Using the filters along the left-hand side of the page, apply filters to bring up the inventory you’re looking for.

    • Make, Vehicle Type, and Category are the three main areas you’ll use to filter.

    • If a filter does not exist for your topic, then you can type the word into the “Search” bar.

  • Once you’ve found the SRP you will work on or created the page, you must check that that link is the canonical. Use the ARI Canonical Go Forward Process to verify that.

On-Site SEO Checklist:

-ONLY: SRP link was verified as the canonical.
You read through the SEO QA Guide.
Keyword Focus and Keyword Variants were used in all snippets.
Dealership Name and Locations (Primary & Secondary) are all checked for correct spelling and accuracy.
ALL written content was run through Grammarly.
ALL written content character limits were checked with Spotibo.
ALL manufacturers and brands were checked in the Trademark Guide.
ALL snippets (Title Tag, Meta Description, H1) & (FeaturedBanner and Pagefooter – if relevant) on the page have been optimized.
You have SAVED and REFRESHED the SRP. (Double-check that all changes are live.)
Work completed was recorded in the WDI Tab of the Client Sheet.
Work completed was recorded in the On-Site Optimization column of the Monthly Sheet.
Focus Keyword Group is set for reporting in SEOmonitor.

Outputs:

  • You have successfully completed and recorded the monthly on-site work for your clients 3+ months into their SEO campaigns.


What’s Next?
After you’ve completed the on-site work and recorded it complete in all the appropriate places, the QA team will check your work. If it passes QA, you will have no corrections to make. If it does not pass, then you will receive a notification with directions to fix any outstanding issues on the client’s site.

If you do get a QA kickback, a due date for the corrections will be assigned and you must complete the corrections by the assigned date.

SEO Work & QA Board

SEO Work & QA Board

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