The Art of SEO, 3rd Edition

CHAPTER FOUR

SEO Implementation: First Stages

SEO efforts require forethought and planning to obtain the best results, and a business’s SEO strategy is ideally incorporated into the planning stages of a website development or redevelopment project, as well as into ongoing web development efforts. Website architecture (including the selection of a content management system, or CMS), the overall marketing plan (including branding objectives), content development efforts, and more are affected by SEO.

In this chapter, we will discuss several aspects of how SEO efforts for both desktop and mobile generally begin, including:

• Putting together an SEO strategy

• Performing a technical SEO audit of site versions

• Setting a baseline for measuring results and progress

The Importance of Planning

As discussed in Chapter 3, your SEO strategy should be incorporated into the site planning process long before your site goes live, and your process should be well outlined before you make even the most basic technology choices, such as deciding on your hosting platform and content management system. However, this is not always possible—and in fact, more often than not, SEO efforts in earnest often begin well after a site has been launched and in use for some time.

In all scenarios, there are major components to any SEO strategy that need to be addressed long before you craft your first HTML <title> tag.

Identifying the Site Development Process and Players

Before you start the SEO process, ...