It’s always good to have a plan of attack when you want to achieve big goals, however big goals can be overwhelming, and it’s often difficult to take the first step. SEO can be broken down into a simple acronym: Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic and Timelined (S.M.A.R.T.) Let’s break it down.
Specific
Specific is referring to your company’s goals, I’m not talking about vague ones like need more rank number one in all the search engines, or gain more website views. Specifically, make goals that directly connect to the business objectives, for example, double the amount of clients in a year or convert fifty percent more leads to customers. These types of goals focus the company, that way each department knows the objective and is working toward the same goal.
Measurable
Measurable is tracking progress and seeing results through analytics. Because the internet is so great, analytics can measure every aspect of your marketing. It’s very important to build off setting specific SEO goals so that you can monitor progress and the success rate of your original set objectives. There are many business and SEO KPIs to keep track of however a few to consider are, SEO Metrics, which keeps track of rackings, flow and balance, Link-Building Metrics that analyses total links built and from authoritative and relative sites, Real-World Metrics, which is all about increasing traffic and exposure.
Achievable
Achievable is setting goals. The objective is to set rather high goals to the point of realistically reaching that goal is about fifty percent, but it is important to not aim so high that the goal and plan of attack is unachievable. Simply speaking, always strive for what is out of reach not what is out of sight. A good place to start is a few basic questions: What keywords are you targeting? Are the players on the front page your competition, and does the company have the resources to achieve these goals? Developing smart goals is a tasking process trying to balance the companies wildest dreams with what is actually achievable with real world resources.
Realistic
Realistic, though the R in S.M.A.R.T. could also stand for relevant because it’s important to use keywords and target the right audience relevant to the companies product and services. Realistic works well too. It requires a solid knowledge of the results for the terms your target audience is searching for. Although, ranking in the top three may not be what is realistic to the companies SEO goals. It’s also possible to gain page visibility through a heavily thought out locations page. When thinking realistically remember to ask: Can this be done? And Does the company have enough resources to achieve this? Playing into short term and long term goal of SEO and marketing tactics realistic and achievable are important to distinguish.
Timely
Timely is last but not least. Time is perhaps the most important of all. Time is our greatest form of currency. You only have 1440 minutes in a day and how you spend those minutes everyday shapes your entire future and all of the projects and goals you are working toward. SEO will often take longer than other forms of marketing. So it’s at the utmost importance to be real with how much you can achieve with the time you have.
Whatever you do don’t forget SEO smarter not harder! It’s all too easy to get absorbed into this world of technology, but don’t wander aimlessly around the internet. Use tools like S.M.A.R.T., 4Ps, or SWOT Analysis to strategically plan steps the balance both time and resources to maximize your results, ultimately achieving the company’s goals and working towards big dreams.
Co-founder Custom Design Partners
Alexander Hatala is the co-Founder at Custom Design Partners. He specializes in e-Commerce operations, performance marketing strategies, and behavioral analytics.