There is a logical approach to the optimization of a website which can be broken down into four key stages.
1. Keyword Analysis: The first stage involves analysis of your product or service and identification of the search terms, or keywords, that could most effectively deliver the largest volume and highest quality traffic to your site, dependent on your phase of development.
2. On-page optimization: Once your keywords are determined and you have a development plan in place, stage two involves the on-page optimization of your site for the keywords you are targeting, as well as ensuring it is accessible to the search engine spiders. This includes optimizing content, headlines, URLs, code, meta data and so forth.
3. Linkbuilding: Once you are happy with your site offering and structure, you can move onto the third, and arguably most crucial, stage of development which is building links. The best site in the world will not be visible to the search engines if there are no other sites pointing to it. Securing a mix of inbound, outbound and reciprocal links is a key factor in establishing a ranking in the search engine results.
4. Reporting: And last but not least, monitoring your SEO activity will enable you to spot trends and make necessary or cost-efficient adjustments to your site and keywords in response to the fluid, ever-changing nature of the web.
It is possible to summarise the four stages of the SEO process in a simplified visual representation.
4 Stage SEO Process
1. Keyword Analysis
-Identify search potential (traffic) of keywords relative to product
-Assess competition & ROI projections on keywords
-Recommend keyword targeting
2. On-page Analysis/Optimization
-Assess accessibility of site to search engines including code and meta data
-Optimize content relative to keywords
-Optimize internal link structure
3. Linkbuilding
-Develop linkbuilding strategy to add strength to your site
-Inbound links via content/requests
-Directories
-Link exchanges/buying
4. Reporting
-Monitor traffic generated by keyword
-Track rank in search engine results
-Review user behaviour, conversions, ROI