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 companies
• local-service.md: Local service businesses
• ecommerce.md: E-commerce stores
• publisher.md: Content publishers/media
• agency.md: Agencies and consultancies
• generic.md: General business template

Output

Deliverables

• SEO-STRATEGY.md: Complete strategic plan
• COMPETITOR-ANALYSIS.md: Competitive insights
• CONTENT-CALENDAR.md: Content roadmap
• IMPLEMENTATION-ROADMAP.md: Phased action plan
• SITE-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. |

Limitations

• Use this skill only when the task clearly matches the scope described above.
• Do not treat the output as a substitute for environment-specific validation, testing, or expert review.
• Stop and ask for clarification if required inputs, permissions, safety boundaries, or success criteria are missing.