SEO Strategist

Purpose

Build an SEO strategy grounded in keyword data, competitor analysis, on-page optimization, and technical health. Produces prioritized roadmaps ranked by traffic potential × winnability — not vanity keyword lists. Bridges technical SEO, content strategy, and conversion intent.

When to Use

• Building a content calendar backed by keyword research
• Auditing an existing site's SEO health before a relaunch
• Researching keywords for a new product or landing page
• Identifying content gaps vs competitors
• Diagnosing a traffic drop or ranking loss
• Planning a link-building or topical authority strategy

Before You Start

1. Goal clarity — Traffic? Leads? Rankings for specific queries? Brand vs non-brand?
2. Target audience — B2B? B2C? Geographic focus? Language?
3. Current baseline — Google Search Console data (impressions, clicks, top queries)
4. Competitive set — 3-5 direct and indirect competitors to benchmark against
5. Tool access — Ahrefs / Semrush / GSC access; if none, note assumptions
6. Site crawlability — Technical SEO audit requires a crawl (Screaming Frog, Sitebulb, or Ahrefs Site Audit)

Core Workflow

Step 1: Keyword Research with Intent Clustering

Don't chase keywords in isolation. Cluster by search intent:

Intent	Query Pattern	Content Type	Conversion Distance
Informational	"how to", "what is", "guide"	Blog post, guide	Far (top-of-funnel)
Navigational	"[brand] login", "[product] pricing"	Brand pages	Close (if on-brand)
Commercial	"best X", "X vs Y", "X review"	Comparison, listicle	Mid-funnel
Transactional	"buy X", "X free trial", "[tool] tool"	Product page, pricing	Close

For each cluster, rank by:

• Search volume (monthly searches)
• Keyword difficulty (how hard to rank — KD score)
• Traffic potential (not just volume — includes SERP features, CTR)
• Business relevance (does the query match your buyer?)
• Current position (if already ranking, how close to top 3?)

The winnability filter: Prioritize keywords where you can realistically rank top 3 in 3-6 months given your domain authority.

Step 2: Content Gap Analysis

For each competitor:

1. Pull their top 50-100 ranking pages
2. Cross-reference with your own rankings
3. Surface gaps: keywords they rank for and you don't
4. Filter gaps by: high traffic + relevant + beatable

Output a gap table:

Competitor	Their URL	Keyword	Their Position	Your Position	Traffic Potential
competitor.com	/guide/x	"how to x"	3	Not ranking	2,400/mo

Step 3: On-Page SEO Audit

For priority pages (top 20 by traffic or business value), audit:

• Title tag — Includes primary keyword, <60 chars, compelling
• Meta description — <160 chars, includes keyword, action-oriented
• H1 — Single H1, matches user intent, keyword-inclusive
• H2/H3 structure — Logical hierarchy, sub-topics covered
• Internal linking — Links to relevant pillar pages, anchor text variety
• External linking — Links to authoritative sources where helpful
• Image SEO — Alt text, descriptive filenames, proper sizing
• Schema markup — Product, FAQ, Article, Breadcrumb as applicable
• Core Web Vitals — LCP < 2.5s, INP < 200ms, CLS < 0.1
• Content depth — Does it comprehensively cover intent vs competitors?

Score each page 0-10 and list specific fixes.

Step 4: Technical SEO Health Check

Run through the technical checklist:

• Crawlability: robots.txt, XML sitemap, noindex issues
• Indexation: pages in index vs sitemap discrepancies
• Site structure: click depth, orphan pages, canonical issues
• Duplicate content: near-duplicates, parameter handling
• Redirects: chains, loops, 404s in internal linking
• Mobile: responsive design, mobile usability in GSC
• Speed: Core Web Vitals by page template
• HTTPS: mixed content, certificate validity
• Schema: structured data errors in GSC

Step 5: Build the Prioritized Roadmap

Every recommendation should fit into one of four tiers:

Tier	Criteria	Timeframe
Quick wins	Low effort, fast traffic gain (title tag fixes, internal linking)	1-2 weeks
Content production	Net-new pages targeting gap keywords	1-3 months
Content upgrades	Rewrite/expand existing pages that rank 4-20	1 month
Strategic bets	Link building, topical authority, major technical projects	3-12 months

Step 6: Output Format

SEO AUDIT: [Site name]
DATE: [YYYY-MM-DD]
BENCHMARKED VS: [competitors]

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY:
[3-line headline: current state + biggest opportunity + expected impact]

CURRENT STATE:
- Organic traffic: [monthly]
- Ranking keywords (top 100): [count]
- Top 3 rankings: [count]
- Domain authority / Domain rating: [score]
- Core Web Vitals passing: [%]

TOP OPPORTUNITIES (ranked):

1. QUICK WIN — [Name]
   Expected traffic lift: [+X/mo]
   Effort: [hours/days]
   Action: [specific change]

2. CONTENT PRODUCTION — [Topic cluster]
   Target keywords: [list]
   Traffic potential: [monthly searches]
   Competitor baseline: [who ranks today]
   Action: [brief with outline]

3. STRATEGIC BET — [Topic authority / link building / technical]
   Expected impact: [traffic + ranking lift]
   Timeline: [quarters]

TECHNICAL ISSUES (severity-ranked):
- CRITICAL: [issues breaking rankings]
- HIGH: [issues limiting rankings]
- MEDIUM: [issues worth fixing eventually]

CONTENT GAPS (top 10):
[Table of keywords competitors rank for that you don't]

90-DAY ROADMAP:
Month 1: [quick wins + first 2 content pieces]
Month 2: [content continues + technical fixes]
Month 3: [content continues + link building kickoff]

SEO Principles

1. Intent beats volume. A 200/mo transactional keyword beats a 20,000/mo informational one for most businesses.
2. Topical authority > scattered keywords. Own a cluster, not one-off posts.
3. Internal linking is free leverage. Every new page should link from 3+ existing pages.
4. Time-to-rank averages 3-6 months for net-new pages on established domains; longer for new sites.
5. Watch GSC queries weekly. The query report surfaces the real user language.
6. Don't optimize for AI summaries — optimize for the reader. Serving user intent wins for both.

Related Skills

• content-strategist — For content calendar and format planning once SEO priorities are set
• copywriting — For on-page copy that ranks and converts
• marketing-strategist — For tying SEO goals to broader growth strategy