Over the last few years I have had the opportunity to work with thousands of business. In this time I always ask the company what their business plan and goal statements are on a 1 year, 3 year & 5 year schedule. I would say that over 90% of the business do not have this at all. Now I am not saying that every business needs a written out plan as I have met many CEO’S that have the plan in their mind and they are executing on it.
For the fist thing I like to do is to set out a 1 year goal plan. Where do you want your business to be. Then what will you do to get to that mark in one year. What are your strengths and weaknesses that will help and hinder you accomplishing your goal set.
The need of this plan is also needed in your SEO strategy as well. You need to have clear defined SEO goals in your business plan. Then are you going to hire an SEO consultant, in-house, or a firm to help meet your goal plan. Most people start out with a firm and I’ll let you choose your firm but I will say choose local. In-house means you need to know they can stand on their own two feet and do the work on their own. And last of all is the consultant who works from home and has been at firms, in-house and they do not want to play office politics. The SEO consultant wanna to put their head down and get working.
In working with business owners I want to see the plan they have. I want to see more goals then just make more money. I know we all want to make more money but in business there is more than just making money. In SEO there is more than just increasing revenue. You have the ultimate goal of having a clean and junk free website, solid database, clear call to action, and so on.
If you are a SEO in any fashion I would ask that you help your client formulate the business goals and objectives to help you succeed in your tasks. If you do not have the clear goals you will fail. Too many business fail because they have not thought about the business planning for SEO actions. I am a firm believer that you need many business plans. You will need a plan for marketing, finance, employees, sales, revenue, shipping, and soon. Once you have all of your individual plans, you will have a comprehensive business plan and strategy with strategic goals. Everything will come together and you will help yourself succeed.