Why we love Yoast SEO
In our Sane SEO class last month we spent some time talking about Yoast and his SEO for WordPress plugin. If you have been in one of my classes you already know that I think the Yoast is the Content Developer’s best friend. In my perfect world I just want to concentrate on developing accessible content, that satisfies the site visitors queries, and helps them take the actions they need, to solve whatever issue that drew them to the site. If all that happens, I have helped fulfill the purpose of the site and I am one happy content developer.
In this post I have included Yoast’s comments about SEO Fast Start, and the chart that he used to illustrate the SEO Fast Start process. For those who did not attend the Sane SEO class, I will repeat why I am such a fan of the SEO products from Yoast. He is one of those WordPress Plugin developers who exceeds reasonable customer support expectations. The Yoast SEO Resource site http://yoast.com/articles/wordpress-seo/ is packed with tutorials and even videos to help those new to WordPress SEO optimize their sites like pros. Check the site out — read, watch, do learn.
The Yoast SEO Fast Start Process
SEO Fast Start is a “process driven” approach to search engine optimization. In developing SEO Fast Start over the past 7 years, I have mapped the process out in a way that is easy to understand, communicate to others, and modify as you see fit.
Everything that you need to know about SEO fits into one of the boxes on the chart below. Everything you need to do. Everything you need to communicate about. It all fits into the process map. Everything.
To make SEO Fast Start work for beginners, the SEO Fast Start process also contains my own simple, step by step methods for executing each step in the process. In my experience, it has rarely been necessary to go beyond this simple roadmap.
To make it work for more advanced users, I’ve made it easy to change. If you don’t like the approach that I’ve outlined at a particular step, you can simply replace the contents of that one box with your own methods. No matter what you change, it’s still easy to understand. So you’ll never have trouble explaining it to your partners, clients, contractors, and co-workers.
So here’s “SEO Fast Start,” in one simple chart:
How To Read The SEO Process Chart:
If you read down the left hand side, you will see a series of steps – from mapping out your keyword strategy to refining your strategy & tactics. At the bottom, we have a container for the specialized technical knowledge that we need, but that only applies to a small number of sites.
For each step (reading top to bottom), you see each stage (reading left to right) that must be completed at that step in the process.
As you complete one cycle of the process, you take the results that you have measured and map out new strategies and tactics for the next planning cycle. SEO never stops, but the first few planning cycles are by far the most intensive.
Will the “Fast Start” approach work for you?
At the worst, this is exactly the same thing you’ve been doing, just better organized. At its best, this approach will supercharge your results by allowing you to focus on high-impact activities that can really “move the needle” in ways that really matter for your business.
Whether you’re an entrepreneur working on your own sites, a consultant or web designer working on others’ sites, or an in-house marketing specialist doing your best to help your employer… SEO Fast Start will help you get better results with less effort. Making your life easier is what it’s all about.
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