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 If you notice anything that is out of date, could be more clear or could be more efficient please update the SOP or add a comment to start a conversation.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

Having a 7-month plan is valuable for several reasons, both from a client’s perspective and the SEO rep’s.

The 7-month plan lets us be transparent with our clients about what they can expect at the beginning of their SEO campaign. It allows them to see each month laid out which allows us to have a conversation with them to ensure our proposed focuses align with their marketing goals, consumer trends, and business needs. 

As an SEO rep, having each month’s focus already selected allows you to spend more time each month performing more detailed research and maintenance to ensure that the SEO campaign you create is structured in a way that best serves the client. 

Procedure

To choose a focus for months 3-7 we will utilize intake call notes from the account manager, look at the inventory the dealer carries, research search trends, and look at search volume in the dealer’s target areas. Creating a strong initial keyword list is important so we have valuable keywords to show for each month. Use tools like Google Trends and the Keyword Planner Tool (open in SEO Chrome) to help find high-value keywords for each of your proposed focuses.

Things to keep in mind when selecting each month’s focus:

  • Seasonality:  What are people searching for now? What will they search for 6 months from now? Seasonal topics should be optimized 3 months prior to their peak search season to give Google enough time to start ranking them higher before people start searching for them.

  • Industry competition: How competitive is their region for their industry? Do they have a lot of competing dealers near them or are they the only business in the area?

  • Demographics: Who is their target audience? What would be their motivation to visit a site?

  • Local Vernacular: How do people search for things in their area? Do they call it a UTV or Four Wheeler? Are they searching for Vancouver, Canada or Greater Vancouver Area?

  • What potential roadblocks are there? Perhaps on their intake the dealer said they’re going to carry a new brand, but they’re not sure when they’ll get inventory uploaded to the site.

  • Website Structure: With a new site you have a blank canvas. Based on the inventory the dealer has, what is the optimal site structure that will make the most sense?

Intake Notes & Dealer Inventory

From the intake notes, you should be able to tell which manufacturers, vehicle types, and categories are most important to your client. Looking at the dealer’s All Inventory page, see which vehicle types, categories, and manufacturers they have the most amount of inventory of—this will help you prioritize which pages you will create first.

Google Trends

Using Google Trends you’ll be able to see what the popular search trends in your dealer’s area have been over the past 5 years. Look at search trends for their top manufacturers, vehicle types, and categories.

Think about seasonality when creating your 7-month plan. What is going to be important for your client in 6 months? What will have a lot of searches in 6 months? Consider creating those pages first so they have plenty of time to be crawled and indexed by search engines.

Keyword Planner Tool

The Keyword Planner Tool is useful for checking the average search volume and competition for keywords in a target location. Use this tool to find and select keywords relevant to your 7-month plan to track in SEO Monitor.

Content & YouTube

Content

  • Requesting content for your client varies from new to old packages. For new packages, content begins in the very first month of the client’s SEO campaign. In the old packages, content begins in the third month of the SEO campaign. Be sure that your campaign accounts for the correct package and content type in order for all deliverables of a client’s SEO package to be fulfilled.

  • Refer to the Content Request SOP for more info:

YouTube

  • For old package clients, depending on the type of SEO package, YouTube videos begin in the third month of the client’s SEO campaign.

Third-Seventh Months

The campaign plan presents to the client each month’s proposed focus. These focuses should be based on the research done above. Each month, the account manager should check in with the client to make sure the proposed focus aligns with their needs and goals.

Understand that these focuses are not set in stone. Clients know their business and trends better than anyone. Have a conversation with them to make sure your SEO strategy complements their business. If they’re getting a new brand in or they get a lot of traffic for a specific vehicle type in a particular month be ready to change your proposal to reflect their needs.

After running through each of these tasks, you will have a filled out 7-month SEO campaign plan.