Developing a plan for your SEO program can be a fairly intricate process – not only for newcomers, but veterans as well. With the second webinar of the series, "Fundamentals of Organic SEO – Developing Your Plan,” Siteworx experts shared ways to create an effective search engine optimization plan for your business or organization.

Whether you’re just getting started or currently running an SEO program, view the full recording for guidelines to help you achieve your SEO, business and user needs. Key highlights of the webinar include:

•Pre-planning research and competitive intelligence

•Stakeholder alignment and buy-in

•Technical and human resources required

•Sample analytics and SEO dashboards and templates

Apart from SEO plan development, our webinar generated another excellent question and answer segment we would like to share. Feel free to share any thoughts or add any additional insight you may have!

Q: How do I get started if I have no budget?

A: This is a common question heard a lot when talking with clients. From an SEO stand point, be sure to phase your approach starting with a single page or section of your site. For example, you can start with channel partner content or a section that contains background information about your business and capabilities. Review the section to make sure you have unique, readable titles. Do research and experiment with keywords and add links to the page. With a deliberate, focused SEO effort, you can see what works and expand from there. Once you get started, seeing how your site climbs the ranks can almost become addictive.

Q: Many of our rankings for important keywords are way below the first page (3rd, 4th, 10th etc.) What is the best way to move up in the search engine rankings for targeted keywords?

A: You may be choosing a keyword that has too much competition. Try optimizing your site for “long-tail keywords”. Also, try using some of the keyword tools like Google or WordTracker to expand your targeted terms. Try to expand to around three or four new targeted keywords. Try using synonyms for that word as well and take a look at the traffic they generate. Using multiple versions of a keyword may help you move up and get closer to the first page.

Q: What exactly is a Google page rank and is it important?

A: The Google page rank is a number Google generates each time it scans the web and rebuilds its index. You can only really get the page rank from the Google Toolbar. The page rank number is a grade from Google ranging your domain from one to ten and enabling them to measure the relative importance of your domain in comparison to the entire web. Don’t look at that number and think you are going to be able to change it quickly. Page rank is updated three or four times a year and is something Google uses in their own algorithm, not something you should look at and actually worry about.

Q: In the webinar you provide data for a fictional company. How did you get the competitive data? Did you mention a website and does it work with a website that has thousands of pages?

A: One of the priorities you should establish from a competition stand-point, is being familiar with your business and your sales processes. The other companies you review may not be your competition from an SEO perspective, but this is most likely where you’ll begin to look at your real rivals. Find out what their keywords are and then research them further. Take a look at the competition above you in Google search in terms of ranking – this is where you should be looking. Most likely these other companies are in the same industry as you; on occasion they are not, but most of the time your SEO competition is the same as your business competition. The website we use often is called SEOmoz. They have a really good comparison model for multiple websites and great tools like Linkscape. Put in some of your competitors and see how they stand in comparison to you from a link standpoint. Also, Spyfu is another good one. You can look at your competition and see the actual keywords they are using which will give you a lot of information as well. Another website, Compete.com, can grade your site from a competition stand point.

Q: How can you devise an ROI model for organic search for a B2B business where engagement is the goal?

A: Conversion in a B2B business could be a lot of things. If you don’t have an e-commerce site, a lot of times it’s based on leads. It might be as simple as downloading a white paper or filling out an online form. Speak to those people who understand your business, figure out what the “buying signals” are for your business and then relate those to the website itself. Once you’ve established what a conversion is for your site figure out how to set goals that will get you closer to that conversion. For example, because many B2B prospects do extensive online research about companies and products before making a buying decision, conversion may be getting people to a certain page on your website and then keeping track of their time on your site. If you know they spent 2 minutes on your site they probably read most of that page which could be a possible goal for you.

Q: I don’t have a lot of time to spend on SEO. What is the single most important SEO variable to manage?

A: The single most important variable is getting your site to a certain standard from a content/on-page optimization stand-point. You can really garner a good amount of SEO traffic from direct links and referring sites, but chances are you aren’t going to get those links unless your content is good. Part of creating good content is ensuring quality titles and meta information is populated on your site.

Q: My site has thousands of pages. Where should I start with an SEO plan?

A: You really need to concentrate on a section. For example, for Siteworx it may be about our products or partner landing pages. For your business it’s likely something very different. Look at your marketing calendar. Treat your website like a marketing channel. You will want to focus on content as well as the underlying structure of your website.

Q: Is this something you can do without a budget?

A: It really depends on how much you want to work. SEO is hard work requiring access to your content management system and the ability to manipulate and manage your content on a regular basis. You don’t have to have a budget, just the desire to make it work. Budget is definitely helpful if you want additional resources.