The Problem With Your SEO Tool That No One Talks About

It doesn’t matter what tool you use. It doesn’t matter what plugin you use.

There’s a REAL problem with your favorite SEO tool or plugin that almost no one talks about.

A lot of people think you can just hit ‘Install’ and be done with that whole ‘SEO thing.’

The thing is, that SEO tool isn’t doing squat to really help you.

But it’s not it’s fault.

So many people prescribe that if you only install X, your SEO needs will be taken care of.

I don’t care WHAT your X is – your SEO needs aren’t what that SEO tool is for.

That SEO tool is a tactic for implementing your SEO strategy. Just like the Google Keyword Planner is a tactic for developing keyword research.

The problem no one talks about with your favorite SEO plugin? It doesn’t do squat for your strategy (and it can’t).

What is an SEO Strategy?

An SEO strategy is not based in tools. It’s not based in plugins.

It’s based on your IDEAL CLIENT.

Who are they? What do they want? How do you serve them? Where do they look for the answers to their problems?

^ All of this will lead you to an SEO strategy for your business that you can then implement with your favorite SEO plugin. But not before.

Click to tweet: “SEO is less about chasing an algorithm and more about understanding your ideal client on an instinctive level -@lizlockard”

Where do you find an SEO Strategy?

You find your SEO strategy in the overlap between search data & what you know about your ideal client.

You find what you need to know about your ideal client through ACTUAL CONVERSATIONS with them or from eavesdropping in Facebook groups or from survey data or from your own instincts (based on tons of your own personal experience with them).

You find out what you need to know about SEO research through a lot of things, one of them being solid keyword research.

Why Is SEO Strategy Important?

Because SEO without strategy is a waste of your time. Not only does SEO with strategy convert more traffic into leads but it also attracts better quality traffic – that of your IDEAL clients.

SEO implemented without strategy attracts a lot of time-wasters and converts less traffic.

MarketingSherpa recently did a study that proved that SEO strategy is incredibly important. This looks like a really complicated graph but basically the increasing size of the pink bars shows that SEO STRATEGY = BETTER QUALITY TRAFFIC.

You can see in the graph that each line increases a few percentage points between those organizations who have no strategy to those who’ve developed a real strategy. (Meaning that those with strategy receive higher conversion rates).

So solid SEO strategy = higher conversion rates + higher quality traffic.

Who doesn’t want more of both of those things?

Click to tweet: Piecemeal SEO doesn’t work. Strategic SEO does. -@lizlockard

You With Me?

How many SEO tools or plugins have you tried? How much time or thought have you given to strategy? Did you think you had SEO ‘covered’? What do you think of the MarketingSherpa stats? Let me know in the comments!

This is the third post in a series on SEO for small business. Check out the first post, Can SEO Really Work for My Small Business? and the second post, What’s the Real Benefit of SEO? (Hint: It’s not traffic). Want to be in the loop for upcoming free SEO training? Get on the insider’s list here.