Enterprise SEO strategy

Large international websites are already generating a significant amount of their revenue from free SEO channel. Losing current rankings and visibility can cost the business millions.

The key part of SEO strategy for large international enterprises is proper planning and prioritisation.

Think of it a bit as a game of Risk.

The board has 6 continents (=> SERP).

Each of the players (with SEO tools & Teams) are trying to capture territories (=>rankings).

All results are determined by random dice rolls (=> Google's Search Algorithm).

You can't control what Google will roll out tomorrow, can you?

Planning and prioritisation process

First of all, you'll need to Detect (learn, watch, analyse and understand your rivals as well as your own resources). Underestimation or overestimation can lead to a potential or real loss to the business.

When you know what's going around the next step is to Protect what you already have. As I've mentioned before, even a slight decline in rankings (visibility) can cost the business millions.

For example, if you've Detected that website migration isn't going well - roll it back, don't wait before you start losing money. New error on the website - fix it before Google show it in Search Console. (Whenever you see the error in Search Console it is already a bit late)

Bear in mind that if you are trying to "attack/capture new territories" with limited resources (i.e. not enough data to make proper decisions), it can make you more vulnerable.

Examples of SEO tasks for Detect

Detect:

• The right keyword first
• SEO errors before the release / Website migration
• Googlebot's behaviour (crawl stats)
• General technical SEO errors
• Slow speed pages
• Random changes that affect SEO rankings
• Content quality
• Content gaps
• Links gaps
• Position/visibility changes
• Competitors' strategy
• Toxic links
• Keyword cannibalisation
• Security issues (especially on WordPress and other mainstream CMSs).

Examples of SEO tasks for Protect

• Use the right keywords
• Fix SEO errors before FE release / Website migration
• Protect your crawl budget
• Fix general technical SEO errors
• Improve core web vitals (website speed)
• Fix random content/technical changes that negatively affect your SEO rankings
• Write good content
• Keep a good backlinks balance
• Disavow toxic links
• Fix keyword cannibalisation issues
• Protect from spam and security issues
• Make a DMCA Removal Request if someone copied your content, some pages or even the entire website.

Examples of SEO tasks for Grow

• Create new content (not necessarily text)
• Build Links & add a hook
• Improve existing content
• Create new pages
• Improve site speed
• Do SEO tests
• Optimise crawl budget
• Build a perfect website structure
• Improve your CTR for organic keywords
• Optimise Images
• Optimise Videos

In some cases business owners are already making the most of their organic traffic, then they should consider:

• Adding more products/services
• Expanding on the new markets.

Some SEO tasks can vary from project to project, but for many established enterprise-level businesses 1. Detect -> 2. Protect -> 3. Grow

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