An SEO website project has eight parts, from strategy to analytics. Write the scope of each part before you brief a vendor or your own team. Then each person knows what to deliver and what is excluded.
Learn this skill in the course Digital Marketing (MC-DM).
Signs that your scope has a gap
- The website is live, but nobody did keyword research before the pages were written.
- The quotation lists pages and a theme, but no content, copy or analytics.
- Nobody owns the domain name, the hosting or the business email accounts.
- Photos, videos and brand design cost extra, and you find out after the project starts.
The eight parts of an SEO website project
1. Project management
Name one project manager who knows sales, marketing and web technology. Set the end date. A strategy and content project takes about 20 working days. A full website build takes about 30 working days.
2. Strategy
Hold one strategy session. Write a positioning statement and a go-to-market plan. The website then follows the strategy, not the other way around.
3. Sales funnel
Do keyword opportunity research. Make a customer journey map and a map of the touchpoints. These maps tell you which pages and content you need.
4. Sales content
List each content item and its number. Examples are the home, about and contact pages, articles that answer search intent, and short explainer videos.
5. Copywriting
Specify four types of copy: SEO copy, product copy, short text on buttons and forms (microcopy), and ad messages.
6. Web services
Include the business domain name, DNS and a content delivery network (CDN) with SSL, web hosting and business email accounts. Make sure that your company owns each account.
7. Website build
Specify the platform (for example WordPress) and the theme, plus the enquiry forms. Include image and video optimisation, and landing pages with technical SEO.
8. Analytics and reports
Set up Google Analytics, Google Search Console and Bing Webmaster Tools, plus the SEO tools that your team uses. Agree which reports you get and how often.
Write down what is excluded
These items are often outside a standard scope. Each one needs a designer, a producer or a developer:
- A brand book and brand design
- Changes to the design of a ready-made theme
- Licensed stock photos, vectors and videos
- Photo and video shoots, and voice-over talent
- Custom analytics events and triggers
A large organisation usually needs all eight parts. A small business can start with a small website of about five pages that has SEO built in, and then add content each month.
What to do this week
- Compare your current website quotation or plan with the eight parts. Mark each part that is missing.
- Find out who owns your domain name, hosting and email accounts.
- Write a list of exclusions and agree it before the project starts.
