SEO Process
- SEO Process: Overview
- SEO Process: Research Phase
- SEO Process: Planning and Strategy Phase
- SEO Implementation Phase
- SEO Process: Monitoring Phase
- SEO Process: Assessment Phase
- SEO Process: Maintenance Phase
- SEO Process: References
SEO Process: Overview
According to SEO Dictionary, SEO Process is a particular method or system of accomplishing SEO. The SEO process can be broken down into six general phases, including the research phase, the planning and strategy phase, the implementation phase, the monitoring phase, the assessment phase, and the maintenance phase. The SEO process is highly iterative. Each phase constitutes its own body of knowledge. The figure below uses arrows to indicate the relative order of each phase, and loops to indicate the iterative nature of the SEO process. The smaller loop occurs between the (re)assessment phase and the maintenance phase, and the larger loop occurs between the (re)assessment phase and the research phase.

SEO Process: Research Phase
The Research Phase is the first phase of the SEO process. The research phase usually consists of several different types of research, including business research, competitor analysis, current state assessment, and keyword research.
SEO Process: Planning and Strategy Phase
The planning and strategy phase answers some fundamental questions based on the output of the research phase. We need to iron out several strategies in this phase, including those for handling content, link building, social media, and search engine marketing, as well as technical strategies. All of these strategies can be rolled up into a single artifact: the SEO Plan.
SEO Process: Implementation Phase
After the SEO plan is approved, the implementation phase can start. The SEO implementation phase is where all the planning and strategy come into effect. This phase comprises two broad areas of work effort: internal and external optimizations.
SEO Process: Monitoring Phase
The monitoring phase comprises just that: monitoring. We need to monitor several things, including web spider activities, referral sites, search engine rankings, website traffic, conversions, hacker intrusions, and more. All of these activities are related and are highly dependent on the analysis of your web server logs.
SEO Process: Assessment Phase
The assessment phase uses the output of the monitoring phase as well as a series of checklists on which to base the assessment. This phase is also referred to as the checkpoint phase.
SEO Process: Maintenance Phase
Once the major SEO work is done in the implementation phase, the focus will be on website maintenance. The maintenance phase takes care of problems (minor and major) found in the (re)assessment phase. In many ways, the maintenance phase is similar to the implementation phase.