Strategic SEO Planning
When to Use
- Use when building an SEO strategy or roadmap for a new or existing site.
- Use when planning content, architecture, and implementation phases together.
- Use when the user asks for an SEO plan rather than a point-in-time audit.
Process
1. Discovery
- Business type, target audience, competitors, goals
- Current site assessment (if exists)
- Budget and timeline constraints
- Key performance indicators (KPIs)
2. Competitive Analysis
- Identify top 5 competitors
- Analyze their content strategy, schema usage, technical setup
- Identify keyword gaps and content opportunities
- Assess their E-E-A-T signals
- Estimate their domain authority
3. Architecture Design
- Load industry template from
assets/directory - Design URL hierarchy and content pillars
- Plan internal linking strategy
- Sitemap structure with quality gates applied
- Information architecture for user journeys
4. Content Strategy
- Content gaps vs competitors
- Page types and estimated counts
- Blog/resource topics and publishing cadence
- E-E-A-T building plan (author bios, credentials, experience signals)
- Content calendar with priorities
5. Technical Foundation
- Hosting and performance requirements
- Schema markup plan per page type
- Core Web Vitals baseline targets
- AI search readiness requirements
- Mobile-first considerations
6. Implementation Roadmap (4 phases)
Phase 1: Foundation (weeks 1-4)
- Technical setup and infrastructure
- Core pages (home, about, contact, main services)
- Essential schema implementation
- Analytics and tracking setup
Phase 2: Expansion (weeks 5-12)
- Content creation for primary pages
- Blog launch with initial posts
- Internal linking structure
- Local SEO setup (if applicable)
Phase 3: Scale (weeks 13-24)
- Advanced content development
- Link building and outreach
- GEO optimization
- Performance optimization
Phase 4: Authority (months 7-12)
- Thought leadership content
- PR and media mentions
- Advanced schema implementation
- Continuous optimization
Industry Templates
Load from assets/ directory:
saas.md: SaaS/software companieslocal-service.md: Local service businessesecommerce.md: E-commerce storespublisher.md: Content publishers/mediaagency.md: Agencies and consultanciesgeneric.md: General business template
Output
Deliverables
SEO-STRATEGY.md: Complete strategic planCOMPETITOR-ANALYSIS.md: Competitive insightsCONTENT-CALENDAR.md: Content roadmapIMPLEMENTATION-ROADMAP.md: Phased action planSITE-STRUCTURE.md: URL hierarchy and architecture
KPI Targets
| Metric | Baseline | 3 Month | 6 Month | 12 Month | |--------|----------|---------|---------|----------| | Organic Traffic | ... | ... | ... | ... | | Keyword Rankings | ... | ... | ... | ... | | Domain Authority | ... | ... | ... | ... | | Indexed Pages | ... | ... | ... | ... | | Core Web Vitals | ... | ... | ... | ... |
Success Criteria
- Clear, measurable goals per phase
- Resource requirements defined
- Dependencies identified
- Risk mitigation strategies
DataForSEO Integration (Optional)
If DataForSEO MCP tools are available, use dataforseo_labs_google_competitors_domain and dataforseo_labs_google_domain_intersection for real competitive intelligence, dataforseo_labs_bulk_traffic_estimation for traffic estimates, kw_data_google_ads_search_volume and dataforseo_labs_bulk_keyword_difficulty for keyword research, and business_data_business_listings_search for local business data.
Error Handling
| Scenario | Action |
|----------|--------|
| Unrecognized business type | Fall back to generic.md template. Inform user that no industry-specific template was found and proceed with the general business template. |
| No website URL provided | Proceed with new-site planning mode. Skip current site assessment and competitive gap analysis that require a live URL. |
| Industry template not found | Check assets/ directory for available templates. If the requested template file is missing, use generic.md and note the missing template in output. |