One of the common hurdles for implementing Search Engine Optimization for your website is determining an effective strategy and an implementation plan. Should I first address page titles, or a site map? Should I nofollow footer links to my “Terms of Service” page or add unique META descriptions to my pages first? The list goes on-and-on. The options may leave you scratching you head thinking “How do I develop an SEO Strategy?”

SEO Building Blocks

If you want to maximize results and minimize the time to implement, then I recommend you develop a strategy that builds upon a strong SEO foundation. I’ve identified seven building blocks for SEO success. The lower blocks form the SEO foundation for your website.

High level overview of the 7 SEO Building Blocks for Success:

1. Configuration
Start out right by choosing the right domain name, making needed server configurations, choosing and configuring a content management system and installing an SEO friendly analytics package.

2. Research & Targeting
Align your business and SEO goals, then perform targeted keyword research.

3. On Page Factors
Make it easier for the search engines to figure out what content is included on your pages and what the topics are. Optimize titles, descriptions, header tags, etc.

4. Information Architecture 
Information Architecture forms the skeleton or frame of your website. The joints are the links between pages. Search Engines use these links to discover pages and determine which pages are heirarchically more important than others. Links include main navigation, category navigation, sitemap, footer, tag clouds breadcrumb trails and more.

5. Building Awareness
The rest of the world, including search engines, needs to be aware of your website and the content it contains. Techniques for building awareness include syndication, XML site maps, link building and social media optimization.

6. Accelerators
Managing the distribution of page rank juice, expanding keyword research, strategic link building and generating buzz about your website will amplify or accelerate your results.

7. Measure & Refine
Once search traffic starts flowing in, results should measured agains business goals. Use analytics and advanced keyword research to find new opportunities to add new targeted content to the website.

Prioritze

Analyze your websites current SEO state in each of the first six blocks: Configuration, Targeting, On-Page Factors, Information Architecture, Awareness, Acceleration. For each block, determine the current depth of coverage.

Address configuration & targeting issues first. Deepen coverage at each level before moving up. You can and should work on multiple block levels at a time.

Try to avoid top heaviness. A good rule of thumb is: To improve SEO results, for any given block, the effort required is higher if blocks below are smaller. Smaller = less coverage.

Implementation Plan

1. Set goals for SEO
2. Analyze current SEO state (focus on foundation blocks)
3. Prioritize (based upon current state analysis)
4. Perform keyword research
5. Identify target keywords (consider search volume; business goals; brand; user roles; purchase phases; etc)
6. Implement improvements in foundation blocks
7. Add targeted content
8. Build awareness, accelerate & refine

For the clients that I work with every day, following this overall strategy drives an ever growing amount of targeted search traffic to their websites.