Easy to follow steps to create a killer SEO marketing plan using Trello to start slaying your SEO today!
You know you need to integrate SEO into your overall marketing efforts, but you have no idea where to start. In this post we are going to go over why having an SEO marketing plan for your website is so important and how to create one in 5 easy steps. And stick around for the end, because there’s a special bonus to help you jump start your SEO marketing plan today!
Why You Need an SEO Marketing Plan
If you’re an entrepreneur who is just starting out, or maybe someone who has been working on their side hustle for a while now, you’ve probably heard about SEO (aka search engine optimization). It’s kind of like the black box of digital marketing for a lot of people, but here’s the thing, it doesn’t have to be!
When you have an SEO marketing plan with specific and actionable line items, tackling your SEO becomes a whole lot easier and less overwhelming. It also helps you set goals and track your progress and makes integrating SEO into your weekly and monthly work flows so much easier!
Choose Your SEO Project Management Tool
Before you can start mapping out your website SEO marketing plan, you need to decide how you’re going to keep track of everything.
There are so many great project management tools out there to use in your business. For SEO, I like to stick with the simplicity of a Google Sheet or an Excel document. I love being able to use filters and organize headings alphabetically if need be.
I also use Trello for a lot of my business workflows, and an SEO Trello board is a must-have for keeping all of your ideas, goals and content planning organized. If you’re a visual person like I am, a Trello board can easily help you get a high-level overview of everything you’re working on (and need to work on) when it comes to your SEO strategy.
Outline SEO Goals & Objectives
Once you’ve chosen how you’re going to track and manage your SEO tasks, it’s time to start planning things out. But first, think about your goals and objectives.
Now I know what you’re thinking – but Nina, the goal is to drive more traffic. And yes! That is one of the primary goals of SEO, but did you know that you can also use SEO for things like:
- Branding
- Reputation Management
- Lead Generation
- E-commerce sales
SEO is so much more than just “traffic,” which is why it’s your marketing secret weapon.
If you have a few different goals for your SEO marketing, that’s great! Just keep in mind that different types of content can and should be used for different things. For example, a blog post might be used to generate traffic for a specific term, whereas an opt-in page that you want to drive traffic through is really to build your email list, etc.
Who Are You Targeting?
Once your goals are defined, it’s time to start thinking about your audience and who you are creating this SEO content for.
If you’ve been in business for a while, you probably have some user personas or avatars in place already. Now is the time to bust them out! Outlining who you are targeting and how your services can benefit them really helps when you start to plan out your SEO content strategy. Writing a blog post becomes a whole lot easier when you know you’re targeting a specific type of person with a specific need. It immediately adds clarity to your messaging and language, which is great for SEO and really helps you hone in on your topic, letting your expertise shine through.
Keyword Research & Mapping
Once your audience is defined, it’s time to move onto the fun stuff – keyword research! If you’re new to keyword research, don’t worry. Once you peel back the layers and have a system in place, finding keywords to target is way less daunting. My beginner’s guide to keyword research is a great place to start!
Outline your target keywords in a Trello board and remember – one primary keyword or keywords per URL. Don’t try to target the same term on every piece of content you create!
Track Your Content Creation
Ok, you’ve identified your keywords, now you’re ready to start creating, woo hoo!
Before you start writing, use an SEO Trello board to keep track of all of the important pieces of information or your content, like:
- Title
- Target Keyword(s)
- Goals
- Avatar
- Interlinking
- Publish Date
This way you know exactly what every piece of content is supposed to be doing for your website and business and most importantly, your SEO strategy. It’s also really helpful for looking back at what you’ve already created so you don’t end up repeating topics or posts.
Technical SEO
Finally, create a space to organize any technical SEO or website issues you want to address, like page speed or making sure your mobile experience is seamless. Technical SEO issues can be overwhelming, but they’re super important to take care of. When you create a space in your marketing plan to keep track of them, you’re less likely to forget about them and can easily reference them on calls with technical members of your team!
And, That’s a Wrap!
We’ve gone over the 5 steps you need to take to start implementing an SEO marketing plan for your website! Carve out an 30 minutes to an hour for each of these 5 steps over the course of a month. That way things seem less overwhelming, and you can tackle it in bit-sized pieces over time. Once you’ve mapped everything out, the implementation process is the easy part!
Bonus!
I created an SEO Marketing Trello board just for you! If you’re ready to start tackling your website’s SEO today, sign-up for the Nina Gibson Co. email list and snag your FREE Trello board. Make a copy and kick-start your SEO, like right now.
And if you found these tips helpful and you’re ready for more, my Nitty Gritty SEO Checklist outlines EVERYTHING you need to start slating your SEO today. Overlay the tips in the checklist with the marketing Trello board and you’ll be driving traffic on auto-pilot in no time.
Xx
Nina
