Create An SEO Strategy That Aligns With Your Marketing Plan

According to research from SEOInc, organic search drives 53% of all website traffic, making it the largest single traffic source for most businesses.

Yet HubSpot's State of Marketing report found that only 29% of marketers say their SEO efforts are aligned with overall business goals.

This disconnect creates three problems:

1. Vanity metrics over business impact: Ranking for high-volume keywords that don't convert
2. Resource misallocation: Creating content that doesn't support sales or customer acquisition
3. Missed opportunities: Ignoring high-intent searches where your ideal customers are actively looking

Strategic SEO starts with questions, not tactics. Before researching a single keyword, you need to understand how search visibility serves your specific business model, customer acquisition strategy, and revenue goals.

The 5-Question Framework for Strategic SEO

This framework helps small businesses and marketing teams build SEO strategies that integrate with broader marketing plans rather than operating in isolation.

Different business models require different SEO success metrics:

E-commerce businesses typically measure:

• Organic revenue (sales attributed to organic search traffic)
• Product page rankings for high-intent keywords
• Conversion rate by traffic source
• Average order value from organic visitors

B2B service businesses focus on:

• Marketing Qualified Leads (MQLs) from organic search
• Rankings for solution-aware keywords (e.g., "CRM for real estate agencies")
• Content engagement (time on page, scroll depth) for educational content
• Demo requests or consultation bookings from organic traffic

Local businesses prioritize:

• Google Business Profile visibility
• Phone calls and direction requests from search
• Review volume and rating improvements

Action step: Define your primary SEO KPI by completing this sentence: "SEO is working when we generate [specific outcome] from [specific search intent] at a rate of [specific volume/frequency]."

A comprehensive audit reveals visibility gaps and opportunities across the full customer research journey.

Most businesses focus SEO exclusively on their own website while ignoring the broader digital ecosystem where customer decisions happen.

Customers consult many sources and may need 8 touchpoints; or up to 62 before making a purchase desicion. Those touchpoints occur through:

Owned properties:

• Website (blog, product/service pages, resources)
• Google Business Profile
• Social media profiles (LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram)
• YouTube channel
• Email marketing (which drives branded search)

Third-party platforms:

• Review sites (Google Reviews, Yelp, Trustpilot, G2, Capterra)
• Industry directories (Better Business Bureau, professional associations)
• Q&A sites (Quora or Reddit)
• Comparison sites in your industry
• Local news or business publications

Audit methodology:

1. Search your brand name and variations—what appears in the first 20 results?
2. Search your category + location (e.g., "plumber Minneapolis")—where do you appear?
3. Search your top 3 services as questions (e.g., "why is my drain clogged")—does your content show up?
4. Check review platforms—what's your rating and review volume compared to competitors?
5. Analyze your Google Business Profile insights—how do customers find your profile? What actions do they take?

Customer research—through interviews, search query analysis, and sales team insights—produces an SEO strategy rooted in actual user intent rather than assumed keywords.

Three-layer research approach:

Layer 1: Direct Customer Conversations

Talk to 5-10 recent customers and ask:

• "Before you contacted us, how did you research [problem/solution]?"
• "What specific questions were you trying to answer?"
• "What terms did you search for in Google?"
• "What other companies or resources did you look at?"
• "What convinced you we were the right choice?"

These conversations reveal:

• Actual language customers use (often different from industry jargon)
• Questions that indicate buying intent vs. casual research
• Competitors and comparison scenarios
• Trust factors and decision criteria

Layer 2: Sales Team & Customer Service Insights

According to Marcus Sheridan's research in They Ask, You Answer, businesses that create content answering these exact questions see 10x higher conversion rates from organic traffic.

Layer 3: Search Query Analysis

Use tools and data sources to validate and expand:

• Google Search Console: What queries currently drive impressions and clicks to your site?
• Google Business Profile Insights: What search queries led people to find your profile?
• Competitor content analysis: What topics rank well for competitors? (Use tools like Ahrefs or SEMrush)
• Google autocomplete: Start typing your service + common question words (what, how, why, where)

1️⃣ Early-stage content answers educational questions and builds awareness.

2️⃣ Middle-stage content helps customers evaluate solutions and understand options.

3️⃣ Late-stage content addresses vendor selection, pricing, and decision validation. Most businesses create only top-of-funnel content, missing the high-intent searches that drive revenue.

The biggest SEO strategy mistake is creating content only for awareness-stage searches while ignoring consideration and decision-stage queries.

The Content Stage Framework:

Awareness Stage: Problem Recognition

🧠 Customer mindset: "I think I have a problem but I'm not sure what it is or what to do about it."

Search examples:

• "Why is my website traffic declining?"
• "Signs you need a new accounting system"
• "How to tell if your marketing isn't working"

📝 Content types:

• Educational blog posts
• Problem identification guides
• Industry trend articles

Consideration Stage: Solution Education

🧠 Customer mindset: "I understand my problem and I'm researching different solutions." Search examples:

• "How much does a plumber cost for this problem?"
• "Is this plumber licensed and insured?"
• "Are there repair vs replacement options?"

📝 Content types:

• Comparison guides
• How-to articles explaining different approaches
• Pros/cons analysis
• "Ultimate guide" style resources
• FAQ pages

Decision Stage: Vendor Selection

🧠 Customer mindset: "I know what solution I need and I'm choosing a provider." Search examples:

• "Best [your service] in [location]"
• "[Your service] pricing"
• "[Competitor] vs. [Your Company]"
• "[Your Company] reviews"

📝 Content types:

• Service pages with clear value propositions
• Pricing pages (or transparent pricing philosophy)
• Case studies and testimonials
• Process/methodology explanations
• Team credentials and expertise

Content prioritization framework:

When deciding what content to create first, ask:

1. Business value: How close is this search to a buying decision?
2. Search volume: How many people search for this?
3. Competition: How difficult is it to rank?
4. Content uniqueness: Can we provide insights competitors don't?

Prioritize content that scores high on business value and content uniqueness, even if search volume is moderate.

Quick wins exist—Google Business Profile optimization, low-competition keywords, content updates—but sustainable SEO growth is a long-term investment.

Businesses looking for immediate traffic should combine SEO with paid search ads, social ads, or other short-term channels while SEO builds.

The most common SEO strategy failure is mismatched expectations about timeline and results.

Realistic SEO timeline by activity:

📆Months 1-2: Foundation & Quick Wins

• Google Business Profile optimization: 2-4 weeks to see local search impact
• Technical SEO fixes: 4-8 weeks for search engines to recrawl and reindex
• Low-competition keyword content: 6-12 weeks to rank
• Content updates to existing pages: 4-8 weeks to see ranking changes

📆Months 3-6: Building Momentum

• New content on moderate-competition topics: 3-5 months to rank
• Authority building (backlinks, mentions): 4-6 months to impact rankings
• Consistent publishing rhythm: 3-4 months to establish topical authority

📆Months 6-12: Compound Growth

• Competitive keyword rankings: 6-12 months (sometimes longer)
• Domain authority growth: 6-12 months minimum
• Organic traffic doubling: 8-12 months with consistent effort
• Measurable revenue impact: 9-15 months for many B2B businesses

Research backing from Ahrefs:

Ahrefs analyzed 2 million keywords and found:

• Only 5.7% of pages rank in the top 10 for a keyword within a year
• Pages ranking in position 1 are, on average, 3+ years old
• New domains take longer to rank than established sites

The impatience problem:

Many businesses abandon SEO after 3-4 months when they don't see immediate ROI. This creates a self-fulfilling prophecy, they never invest long enough to see results.

SEO's advantage: once you rank, the traffic is essentially free and compounds over time. Paid ads stop the moment you stop paying.

Implementing Your SEO Strategy: Next Steps

Now that you have the strategic framework, here's how to put it into action:

Week 1: Strategy Definition

1. Answer the 5 questions in this framework for your business
2. Define your primary SEO KPI tied to revenue
3. Document your customer's buying journey and search behavior

Week 2: Audit Current State

1. Conduct a digital presence audit across all platforms
2. Review existing content and map it to funnel stages
3. Identify gaps in your content coverage

Weeks 3-4: Prioritize & Plan

1. Create a prioritized list of content based on business value + competition
2. Set up tracking (Google Analytics 4, Search Console, rank tracking)
3. Establish a realistic timeline and resource allocation

Month 2 and Beyond: Execute Consistently

1. Create and publish high-value content on a consistent schedule
2. Optimize Google Business Profile and third-party listings
3. Build relationships and earn backlinks
4. Monitor, measure, and adjust based on results

When to get help:

Consider working with an SEO agency when:

• You lack in-house expertise in technical SEO, content strategy, or link building
• Your team doesn't have bandwidth to execute consistently
• You're in a competitive industry where expertise makes a significant difference
• You need faster results and want to avoid common mistakes

Strategy Before Tactics

The businesses that succeed with SEO are those that view it as a strategic marketing channel aligned with business goals, not a set of tactics to implement blindly.

Start with these five questions. Get clear on your objectives, understand your customers' search behavior, and commit to the timeline required.

The tactics—keyword research, content creation, technical optimization, link building—become far more effective when guided by a solid strategy.

Have questions about implementing an SEO strategy for your business? Contact Hoist to discuss how we can help you create a search strategy that drives actual business results.