Search Engine Optimization Playbook

SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION PLAN
Playbook & Toolkit
Follow this simple step-by-step playbook to develop an SEO plan that increases
your competitive position, reduces advertising expenditures, and implies authority.

Table of Contents SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION (SEO) PLAN
Introduction 04
Conclusion 32
Framework 03
About This Playbook 33
Understand SEO 10
13Evaluate Readiness
18Research Keywords
22Plan Using Pay-Per-Click
25Implement Strategy
29Measure Results
stage
stage
stage
stage
stage
stage
1
2
3
4
5
6

SEO
Framework
Leverage the framework below to quickly
empower your organization’s SEO strategy.
Click the buttons below to access all related
training, tools, templates, and other resources.
Website Program
Metrics Dashboard
Creating Agile
SEO Campaigns
On-Page Optimization
Checklist
Adwords Keyword
Planner Tool
Maturity Assessment
Webmaster & SEO
Expert Job Desc.
SEO System RFP
Agency Management
Training Course
Youtube Posting
Checklist
Keyword Database
Keyword Value
Estimator
Technology Overview
Mobile Optimization
Checklist
Keyword SpyVendor Evaluation
Training Course
Blog Post
Optimization Checklist
Google Trends Google Adwords
Google Webmaster
Tools
Google Analytics
Moz Open Site
Explorer
Vendors Matrix
Content Marketing
Framework
Social Media
Marketing Framework
Blogging for
Business Framework
Demand Gen &
SEO Benchmark
App Store
Optimization Checklist
Spyfu
MEASURE6PLAN4 IMPLEMENT51 UNDERSTAND EVALUATE2 RESEARCH3
Benchmark Report

4SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION (SEO) PLAN
Understand
SEO
Evaluate
Readiness
Research
Keywords
Plan Using
Pay-Per-Click
Implement
Strategy
Measure
Results
1 2 3 4 5 6
Introduction
“The process of affecting the visibility
of a website or a webpage in a
search engine’s unpaid results - often
referred to as “natural,” “organic,” or
“earned” results.”
Search Engine Optimization (SEO) DefinedWhat Is the Purpose of This Playbook?
To help you develop a Search Engine Optimization Plan that:
Is aligned with corporate values and vision
Provides a solid foundation for content marketing
Supports Corporate Marketing strategy, Content Marketing
plans, and Social Media Marketing and Blogging plans
Corporate Marketing Strategy
Marketing Communications Plan
Content
Marketing
Plan
Social Media
Marketing
Plan
Bottom line
SEO increases your competitive position, reduces
advertising expenditures, and implies authority.

What Are the Top 12 Benefits of SEO?
1. Increase sales through visitor call-to-action conversions.
2. Acquire new customers and new markets through better web
presence.
3. Reduce advertising expenditures.
4. Increase brand reputation and trust.
5. Measure revenue increases from digital channels.
6. Expand global markets.
7. Increase competitive position.
8. Deepen local presence (online and offline).
9. Forecast and prove ROI from SEO and all Digital Marketing.
10. Increase value of content creation and management.
11. Maximize company/brand social presence on the web.
12. Market to customers earlier in the buyer’s journey.
Why Do You Need to Utilize SEO?
Search is very, very popular. With 20% growth a year, it
reaches nearly every online American (91% of US internet
users search every month) and billions of people around the
world and drives an incredible amount of both online and
offline economic activity.
Although SEO is often seen as optimizing your web, 75% of
SEO is influenced by off-page factors, with only 25% of on-
page factors influencing rankings.
Higher rankings in the first few results are critical to
visibility. Being listed at the top of the results not only
provides the greatest amount of traffic, but also instills trust
in consumers as to the worthiness and relative importance of
the company or website.
Hubspot and MOZ
Hubspot
MOZ
Understand
SEO
Evaluate
Readiness
Research
Keywords
Plan Using
Pay-Per-Click
Implement
Strategy
Measure
Results
1 2 3 4 5 6
Introduction

SEO Marketing Research Results
Executive Summary
Achieving Revenue Goals
Current SEO Program Success
Obstacles to Achieving SEO Objectives
We’ve conducted our own research on Search Engine
Optimization, and our SEO Marketing Benchmark Report,
highlights the impact effective SEO strategies are having on
organizations, especially on revenue generation.
This report includes the following sections:
SEO
MARKETING
Benchmark Report
V I E W R E S O U R C E
What Our Research Report Has Found:
SEO objectives remain constant with increasing website
traffic, increasing lead generation and improving natural
search rankings ranked as the top objectives for this
year. Ultimately, the top choices are interrelated since
increases in website traffic and leads generated are often
the result of an improvement in natural search rankings.
It appears Outsourced SEO is more effective for
revenue generation. Companies that are achieving or
exceeding revenue goals are almost two times more
likely to outsource all or part of their SEO programs. By
outsourcing, these companies are gaining access to the
specialized expertise required to execute difficult tactics,
effectively leading to performance improvements.
SEO drives successful outcomes. Overall, 89% of compa-
nies who are attaining or exceeding revenue goals, and
64% of companies not achieving revenue goals, report
some level of success with SEO, whether significantly or
only slightly. No surprise but, companies that achieve or
exceed their revenue goals are seven times more likely to
have a “Very Successful” SEO program than are those not
achieving their revenue goals.
1
2
3
Understand
SEO
Evaluate
Readiness
Research
Keywords
Plan Using
Pay-Per-Click
Implement
Strategy
Measure
Results
1 2 3 4 5 6
Introduction

For SEO, Google Recommends to:
1. Make pages primarily for users, not for search
engines. Don’t deceive your users or present
different content to search engines than you
display to users, a practice commonly referred to as
“cloaking.”
2. Make a site with a clear hierarchy and text links.
Every page should be reachable from at least one
static text link.
3. Create a useful, information-rich site, and write
pages that clearly and accurately describe your
content. Make sure that your <title> elements and
ALT attributes are descriptive and accurate.
4. Use keywords to create descriptive, human-
friendly URLs. Provide one version of a URL to reach
a document, using 301 redirects or the rel=”canon-
ical” attribute to address duplicate content.
Main On-Page Optimizations Include
1
Title Tag – Have your keyword in here at least once, and as
close as possible to the beginning.
2
H1 Header Tag – Your header is like your title, but you see it
at the top of your page.
3
Body Copy – Use your keyword 2-3 times, including any vari-
ations in your page’s text.
4 ALT Image Tag – Include your keyword in at least one photo.
5
URL – Use your keyword once in the address URL for your
page.
6
META Description – These descriptions are ultimately what
get someone to click.
7
Sitemap – This file will tell Google where every page of your
site is, and how they link together.
Understand
SEO
Evaluate
Readiness
Research
Keywords
Plan Using
Pay-Per-Click
Implement
Strategy
Measure
Results
1 2 3 4 5 6
Introduction

Other Training Courses that Relate
This playbook is connected directly to the Content Marketing
Training Course and Social Media Marketing Training Course, and
we highly recommend you also look at those courses for additional
best practice resources and advice for your SEO project.
CONTENT
MARKETING
Training Course
SOCIAL MEDIA
MARKETING
Training Course
S TA R T L E A R N I N G
How to Use This Consulting Playbook
This playbook consists of six stages, each with a description, steps
and action items. Action items include using our premium tools &
templates. Our intention with this playbook is to help you:
Understand SEO and identify the keywords you
should focus on
Evaluate and select the technology that will be the
backbone of your SEO strategy
Plan and craft a strategy to drive traffic using Search
Engine Optimization
Understand
SEO
Evaluate
Readiness
Research
Keywords
Plan Using
Pay-Per-Click
Implement
Strategy
Measure
Results
1 2 3 4 5 6
Introduction

Understand
SEO
Evaluate
Readiness
Research
Keywords
Plan Using
Pay-Per-Click
Implement
Strategy
Measure
Results
1 2 3 4 5 6
Introduction
Outputs from This Playbook
Stage 1 - Understand SEO
Stage 4 - Plan Using Pay-Per-Click
Training Course, Benchmark Report, Technology
Overview, Demand Gen & SEO Benchmark
Creating Agile SEO Campaigns, Google Adwords, Moz
Open Site Explorer
Stage 2 - Evaluate Readiness
Stage 5 - Implement Strategy
Maturity Assessment, Vendors Matrix, Vendor Evaluation,
SEO System RFP, Agency Management Training Course
On-Page Optimization Checklist, Blog Post
Optimization Checklist, Mobile Optimization Checklist
Stage 3 - Research Keywords
Stage 6 - Measure Results
Adwords Keyword, Google Trends, Keyword Spy,
Keyword Database Planner Tool,
Google Analytics, Google Webmaster Tools, Website
Program Metrics Dashboard

Understand SEO
STAGE 1
SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION (SEO) PLAN
It’s important that your organization gets a fundamental understanding of how SEO works,
and the different options available.
In this first Stage you will:
STEP 1: Review SEO Best Practices
STEP 2: Review Data about Successful SEO
STEP 3: Understand SEO Technology
STEP 4: Review Demand Gen and SEO Report

Introduction
Understand
SEO
1
6 Myths about SEO you need to understand
Optimization framework for your web pages
Mobile and App Store SEO best practices
Reviewing SEO technology solutions
Executive Summary
Achieving Revenue Goals
Current SEO Program Success
Obstacles to Achieving SEO Objectives
SEO Tactics Effectiveness
SEO Performance Metrics
Review SEO Best Practices Review Data about Successful SEO
STEP 1 STEP 2
Action Item Action Item
Watch the Training Course: Search Engine Optimization
to discover how SEO works and which best practices are
required to get on to the top rankings to get free traffic.
SEO
MARKETING
Benchmark Report
Read the SEO Marketing Benchmark Report to compare
the strategies and practices of companies that have
succeeded in achieving or exceeding their revenue goals
with those that have not.
Topics covered by this video course include: This report includes the following sections:
V I E W R E S O U R C ES TA R T L E A R N I N G
Evaluate
Readiness
Research
Keywords
Plan Using
Pay-Per-Click
Implement
Strategy
Measure
Results
2 3 4 5 6
SEO
Training Course

Executive Summary
SEO Marketing Overview
SEO Vendor Landscape
Evolution of the Landscape
Analyst Bottom Line
Paid Search Vs. Organic Search
Website Experience
Demand Generation Metrics
The ROI of Demand Generation
Analyst Bottom Line
Understand SEO Technology Review Demand Gen and SEO Report
STEP 3 STEP 4
Read the SEO Technology Overview, which highlights the
Search Engine Optimization (SEO) technology space at a
high-level.
Read the Demand Generation & SEO Benchmark Report
to learn more about the role of SEO in demand generation,
as well as gaining a current view of the state of the demand
gen process.
This report includes the following topics: Topics discussed include:
SEO
Technology
Overview
DEMAND
GENERATION
& SEO
Benchmark Report
V I E W R E S O U R C E V I E W R E S O U R C E
Introduction
Understand
SEO
1 Evaluate
Readiness
Research
Keywords
Plan Using
Pay-Per-Click
Implement
Strategy
Measure
Results
2 3 4 5 6

Evaluate Readiness
STAGE 2
In this Stage you will evaluate the maturity of your organization when it comes to SEO:
STEP 1: Assessing Your SEO Maturity
STEP 2: Review SEO Technology Vendors
STEP 3: Evaluate SEO Technology Vendors
STEP 4: Determine if You Will Use Outsourcers
STEP 5: Find an SEO Expert for Your Team
STEP 6: Getting Help with SEO Systems
STEP 7: Learn How to Manage an SEO Agency

Introduction
2
Evaluate
Readiness
Strategy, Buy-in & Skills
Processes Definition
Automation & Systems
Keyword Management
Results Reporting
Metrics
Company
Target Industries
Offerings
Key Features
Unique Strengths
Customers
Assessing Your SEO Maturity Review SEO Technology Vendors
STEP 1 STEP 2
Use the SEO Maturity Assessment to help you measure
your organization’s search engine optimization maturity.
Use our SEO Vendors Matrix to obtain information about
key vendors in the Search Engine Optimization (SEO) tech-
nology space.
This assessment is intended to address the following areas: This matrix is based on several criteria:
Understand
SEO
Research
Keywords
Plan Using
Pay-Per-Click
Implement
Strategy
Measure
Results
1 3 4 5 6

STEP 3 STEP 4
General & Technical Requirements
Standard Feature Requirements
Advanced Feature Requirements
Service and Training Requirements
Evaluate SEO Technology Vendors Determine if You Will Use Outsourcers
Use our SEO Vendor Evaluation to compare SEO platforms
based on your requirements.
Based on your organizational maturity and SEO technology
solution decisions, you will need to decide if your organiza-
tion will hire an internal SEO expert, or hire an SEO agency
to get the work done.
This model is based on several criteria:
Introduction
2
Evaluate
Readiness
Understand
SEO
Research
Keywords
Plan Using
Pay-Per-Click
Implement
Strategy
Measure
Results
1 3 4 5 6

STEP 5 STEP 6
Position Overview
Responsibilities
Job Requirements
Company Info
Statement of Work
Proposal Procedure
Scope of Work & Business
Vendor Information
Estimated Budget
Find an SEO Expert for Your Team Getting Help with SEO Systems
Use our Webmaster and SEO Expert Job Description
to quickly document the role and responsibilities for this
position.
Use our SEO System RFP Template to help you design a
Request for Proposal (RFP) for a SEO platform.
This job description includes: This model is based on several criteria:
Introduction
2
Evaluate
Readiness
Understand
SEO
Research
Keywords
Plan Using
Pay-Per-Click
Implement
Strategy
Measure
Results
1 3 4 5 6

STEP 7
Prepare
Research
Select
Communicate
Manage
Learn How to Manage an SEO Agency
Action Item
Watch our Agency Management Training Course to help
you develop a streamlined approach to agency selection,
management and evaluation.
This course is based on several stages:
Introduction
2
Evaluate
Readiness
Understand
SEO
Research
Keywords
Plan Using
Pay-Per-Click
Implement
Strategy
Measure
Results
1 3 4 5 6
AGENCY MANAGEMENT
Training Course

Research Keywords
STAGE 3
This Stage will help you build a keyword list, check them against latest trends, spy on competitors’
keywords and determine each keyword’s financial value, if a first page ranking is achieved.
We will cover how to:
STEP 1: Build a Keyword List
STEP 2: Check the Trends for Keywords
STEP 3: Leverage your Competitors’ Keywords
STEP 4: Share Keywords with your Team
STEP 5: Determine the Value of Keywords

Keywords based on a URL
Related Keywords
Traffic Volume
Keyword PPC Cost
Keyword Categories
Compare Keywords
Explore Trends
Discover Related Searches
Compare dates
Visually chart information
Build a Keyword List Check the Trends for Keywords
STEP 1 STEP 2
Use the Adwords Keyword Planner Tool to discover
keyword opportunities for your organization based on rele-
vance to the topic, and volume of daily traffic.
Use Google Trends to compare keywords, based on how
they are trending historically, to understand which keywords
are a better long-term investment for optimization efforts.
Utilize this tool to review: This tool allows you to:
Introduction
Research
Keywords
3
V I E W W E B S I T E V I E W W E B S I T E
Understand
SEO
Evaluate
Readiness
Plan Using
Pay-Per-Click
Implement
Strategy
Measure
Results
1 2 4 5 6

Keywords
Competition Level
Global Monthly Searches
Local Monthly Searches
Leverage your Competitors’ Keywords Share Keywords with your Team
STEP 3 STEP 4
Use tools such as Keyword Spy and SpyFu to help you
discover and leverage your competitors’ keywords to save
time and money on your research effort.
Use the SEO Keyword Database to gather information on
the keywords that you are targeting, and share them with
your team.
This template includes:
V I E W W E B S I T E V I E W R E S O U R C E
Introduction
Research
Keywords
3Understand
SEO
Evaluate
Readiness
Plan Using
Pay-Per-Click
Implement
Strategy
Measure
Results
1 2 4 5 6

Profit per Day/Month/Year
B2B and E-Commerce Formulas
Value Per Visitor
Determine the Value of Keywords
STEP 5
Action Item
Use the SEO Keyword Value Estimator to calculate the profit
opportunities on a target keyword for each of the 10 organic
positions on the first page of a search engine.
This tool includes:
Introduction
Research
Keywords
3Understand
SEO
Evaluate
Readiness
Plan Using
Pay-Per-Click
Implement
Strategy
Measure
Results
1 2 4 5 6

Plan Using Pay-Per-Click
STAGE 4
This Stage is all about planning which keywords you will optimize by testing them first using paid
ads to see if that traffic is worth the effort required to achieve a ranking.
In this stage you will:
STEP 1: Discover How to Create Agile Campaigns
STEP 2: Test Keywords using Paid Google Ads
STEP 3: Discover your Competitors’ Link Strategy

Introduction
Plan Using
Pay-Per-Click
4
What is Agile SEO?
Reasons to Engage in Agile SEO Campaign
Agile SEO Approach
Action Plan
Bottom Line
Understand which keywords actually work
Test your landing pages with real traffic
Immediately send traffic to your site for testing
Test Titles and Descriptions for maximum Click-Thru (CTR)
Discover How to Create Agile Campaigns Test Keywords using Paid Google Ads
STEP 1 STEP 2
Use the Creating Agile SEO Campaigns How-to Guide to
helpyouplan,implement&measurean Agile SEOcampaign.
Use Google Adwords to identify which keywords generate
traffic that converts into leads or transactions by placing ads
on those search keywords and tracking the results.
This document includes: Adwords can help you:
CREATING AGILE
SEO CAMPAIGNS
How-to Guide
V I E W R E S O U R C E V I E W W E B S I T E
Understand
SEO
Evaluate
Readiness
Research
Keywords
Implement
Strategy
Measure
Results
1 2 3 5 6

See who is linking to your site
See who is linking to your competitors’ site
Find opportunities for linking you would otherwise not know
Understand how your competitor is ranking for keywords
Discover your Competitors’ Link Strategy
STEP 3
Action Item
Use the Moz Open Site Explorer to discover which sites
your competitors are linking to, so you can leverage their
approach in your SEO strategy.
Open Site Explorer can help you:
V I E W W E B S I T E
Introduction
Plan Using
Pay-Per-Click
4Understand
SEO
Evaluate
Readiness
Research
Keywords
Implement
Strategy
Measure
Results
1 2 3 5 6

Implement Strategy
STAGE 5
In this Stage you will be ensuring that your content is fully optimized.
You will discover a best practice approach to optimizing your website,
blog, mobile and social presences.
STEP 1: Optimize your Webpages for SEO
STEP 2: Optimize Blog Posts for SEO
STEP 3: Optimize Website for Mobile SEO
STEP 4: Optimize Mobile Apps for SEO
STEP 5: Optimize YouTube Videos for SEO
STEP 6: Utilize Content, Social Media and Blogging

Introduction
5
Titles
Body Copy
Images
Meta Tags
Styling & Format
Keyword placement
Call to Action
Use of Visuals
Optimize your Webpages for SEO Optimize Blog Posts for SEO
STEP 1 STEP 2
Use our SEO On-Page Optimization Checklist to get your
webpages ready for search engine optimization, and ensure
you didn’t miss any critical best practices.
Use our SEO Blog Post Optimization Checklist to get
your blog post ready for search engine optimization, and
ensure you didn’t miss any critical components of your post
according to your blog policy.
Optimizations include: Optimizations include:
Implement
Strategy
Understand
SEO
Evaluate
Readiness
Research
Keywords
Plan Using
Pay-Per-Click
Measure
Results
1 2 3 4 6

STEP 3 STEP 4
Responsive Vs. Dynamic Mobile Sites
Speed of your site
Short Meta Descriptions and Titles
Disabling Popups
First 2 sentences of description
Exciting and compelling icon
Target keyword in title
Screenshots that tell a story
Optimize Website for Mobile SEO Optimize Mobile Apps for SEO
Use our SEO Mobile Optimization Checklist to ensure that
you are optimizing your web pages based on mobile SEO
best practices.
Use our SEO App Store Optimization Checklist to ensure
that you are optimizing your app listing based on best
practices.
Areas of optimization include: A few key success factors include:
Introduction
5
Implement
Strategy
Understand
SEO
Evaluate
Readiness
Research
Keywords
Plan Using
Pay-Per-Click
Measure
Results
1 2 3 4 6

STEP 5 STEP 6
Introduction
Upload Standards
Optimize ‘Unlisted’ Videos
Publish Videos
Engage with commenters
Optimize YouTube Videos for SEO Utilize Content, Social Media and Blogging
Use our YouTube Posting Checklist to ensure you complete
all of the tasks associated with posting your videos on
YouTube.
Leverage the Content Marketing Framework, Social
Media Marketing Framework and Blogging for Business
Framework to leverage other related and powerful best
practices.
A few key success factors include:
Introduction
5
Implement
Strategy
Understand
SEO
Evaluate
Readiness
Research
Keywords
Plan Using
Pay-Per-Click
Measure
Results
1 2 3 4 6

Measure Results
STAGE 6
Now that your SEO program has been launched, you need to take a moment to reflect on the program,
measure success of the initiative and plan for the natural evolution and maintenance of SEO.
In this Stage you will:
STEP 1: Set Up Google Analytics
STEP 2: Set Up Google Webmaster Tools
STEP 3: Leverage a Metrics Dashboard

Introduction
Measure
Results
6
See where your traffic is coming from
Understand how long people stay on your website
Discover what pages are the most valuable
Compare different seasonal traffic trends
Submit your XML Sitemap directly
Find out what pages have errors
Understand where you can further optimize your site
Give context for dynamic URLs
Set Up Google Analytics Set Up Google Webmaster Tools
STEP 1 STEP 2
Use Google Analytics to collect key metrics, including how
long a visitor stays on your landing page and what actions
they take.
Use Google Webmaster Tools to communicate about your
website directly to Google, including submitting your sitemap
and understanding how your rankings appear.
Google Analytics can help you: Google Webmaster Tools can help you:
V I E W W E B S I T E V I E W W E B S I T E
Understand
SEO
Evaluate
Readiness
Research
Keywords
Plan Using
Pay-Per-Click
Implement
Strategy
1 2 3 4 5

Traffic Sources
Top Pages & Total Page Views
Unique Visitors
Pages/Visit
Leverage a Metrics Dashboard
STEP 3
Action Item
Use our Website Program Metrics Dashboard to collect key
metrics and show visually with charts how the SEO program
is doing.
Following are some key metrics you want to analyze:
Introduction
Measure
Results
6Understand
SEO
Evaluate
Readiness
Research
Keywords
Plan Using
Pay-Per-Click
Implement
Strategy
1 2 3 4 5

Conclusion
At the end of any project, it’s always a good idea to review it and identify
areas for improvement.
Demand Metric has the tools and expertise to help you build an effective
SEO program:
Creating or auditing your existing SEO Strategy
Assisting with using any of the tools referenced in this playbook
Providing hands-on marketing assistance to accelerate achieving
your marketing department’s goals.
To learn more, simply contact Demand Metric: info@demandmetric.com

About This Playbook
Demand Metric is a marketing research and advisory
firm serving a membership community of over 106,000
marketing professionals and consultants in 75 countries.
Offering consulting playbooks, advisory services, and
500+ premium marketing tools and templates, Demand
Metric resources and expertise help the marketing
community plan more efficiently and effectively, answer
the difficult questions about their work with authority and
conviction, and complete marketing projects more quickly
and with greater confidence — thus boosting the respect
of the marketing team and making it easier to justify
resources the team needs to succeed.
To learn more about Demand Metric, please visit
www.demandmetric.com

Search Engine Optimization Playbook

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Search Engine Optimization Playbook