A step-by-step framework you can implement this week

This checklist works for tech companies, SaaS platforms, and software vendors that sell to businesses or enterprises. It assumes your site already exists and you're either starting SEO or fixing gaps from past attempts.

If you're a very early-stage startup with minimal content, skip to Phase 1: Technical Foundation. If you've been doing SEO for 12+ months but traffic has plateaued, jump to Phase 3: Authority & Depth.

This is not a guide for agencies offering SEO services (different sales funnel), consumer apps without business-to-business positioning, or companies still in pure stealth mode.

Technical issues act as a ceiling on visibility. Google can't rank content it can't crawl or understand. These tasks clear the floor:

• Crawl audit: Run your domain through Screaming Frog or similar tool. Fix 404 chains, redirect loops, and orphaned pages. Most sites have 50+ crawl errors hiding.
• Core Web Vitals: Check Google Search Console for LCP, FID, and CLS failures. Prioritize pages with traffic first (they're losing clicks now). Fixes usually involve image optimization, third-party script removal, or server-side caching.
• Schema markup: Add Organization schema (company details, logo), BreadcrumbList (navigation structure), and SoftwareApplication or SaasProduct schema if applicable. This doesn't move ranking directly but helps Google categorize your content correctly.
• XML sitemaps: Generate and submit to Search Console. Verify all indexable pages appear. Remove staging, test, or internal-only URLs.
• robots.txt: Audit for blocks preventing indexation of important content. Block only /admin, /api, and duplicate URL parameters.

Timeline: Most teams complete Phase 1 in 2–4 weeks. Expect no traffic movement yet—this removes barriers, not builds visibility.

This phase targets keywords your sales team already hears. High-intent terms have lower search volume but higher conversion probability.

• Audit title tags and meta descriptions: Review your top 50 pages in Search Console by impressions. Many will have auto-generated or generic titles. Rewrite each to include your target keyword naturally (avoid stuffing). Update meta descriptions to include a benefit or clear next step. Average CTR improvement: 5–15%.
• Internal linking audit: Map keyword clusters. If you have a page about 'Ruby on Rails deployment,' link to it from pages about 'DevOps tools' and 'infrastructure automation.' Use descriptive anchor text. Most sites have poor internal link structure—fixing it costs nothing and accelerates indexation.
• Create or refresh 'buying guide' content: Tech buyers search for comparisons and how-tos. Example: 'SaaS analytics vs. business intelligence tools' or 'When to move from monolithic to microservices architecture.' Build these around keywords your sales team sees in Slack or CRM notes.
• Claim and optimize GBP: Even digital-first companies benefit from a complete Google Business Profile (company description, categories, website link). Verify ownership immediately.

Expected result: Most teams see ranking improvements for 10–20 target keywords within 6–8 weeks. Traffic usually grows 15–40% in Phase 2 as lower-volume, high-intent keywords start to convert.

Once Phase 2 keywords rank consistently, expand topical authority and build external credibility.

• Depth: Topic expansion within clusters — If 'API rate limiting' ranks and converts, create 3–5 deeper pieces: best practices, common mistakes, architecture patterns. Internal link them as a sub-cluster. This increases topical depth, which Google uses as a ranking signal.
• Authority: Backlinks from relevant sources — Target 5–10 links per month from tech blogs, newsletters, or developer communities you actually use. Quality beats volume: one link from Hacker News or a tech publication beats 50 from link farms. Outreach should reference your content specifically, not be a generic 'partnership' pitch.
• Thought leadership content: Publish industry analysis, annual reports, or original research. This attracts links naturally and positions your company as a reference source (helps brand search volume too).
• Monitor competitor content: Use SEMrush or Ahrefs to track which competitor pages rank in your target keyword clusters. If they rank on a topic you haven't covered, build something better or more specific.

Timeline: Authority building takes 6–12 months to show consistent ranking improvements. In our experience working with tech companies, firms that complete Phase 2 thoroughly reach Phase 3 faster and see better results.

Effort vs. Impact trade-offs:

• High Impact / Low Effort (Do First): Title tag rewrites, meta descriptions, internal linking fixes, GBP claim, schema markup for product pages. These take hours, not weeks, and often move traffic within 4–8 weeks.
• High Impact / High Effort (Do Second): New buying guide content, competitor content analysis, content refreshes for ranking pages. These take 2–4 weeks per piece but are worth the investment if they target keywords your sales team actively pursues.
• Medium Impact / Low Effort (Do Third): Blog posts on industry trends, thought leadership. These build topical authority and attract links but move the needle slower. Schedule these alongside higher-priority work, not instead of it.
• Low Impact / High Effort (Defer): Redesigns 'for SEO,' rewriting all old blog posts, chasing low-volume vanity keywords. These feel productive but rarely convert.

A common mistake: teams spend three months on a design overhaul that improves nothing, then wonder why traffic flatlined. The checklist above prioritizes effort against actual ranking and conversion outcomes.

Set baseline metrics before starting Phase 1. Track these monthly:

• Organic traffic: Total sessions from Google (including branded and non-branded). Expect 0–5% change in Month 1, 10–30% by Month 4 if you're following the phases.
• Keyword ranking count: How many keywords rank in top 10, top 20, top 50? Most growth happens in positions 11–30 first. Track keywords you actually built content around, not every keyword Google shows impressions for.
• Click-through rate from search results: Search Console shows impressions vs. clicks. Title/meta rewrites often improve this 5–15% without ranking gains.
• Sales-qualified leads from organic: Use UTM parameters or CRM source tracking. Many tech companies focus on traffic volume and ignore conversion. A 10-person team doing consulting work values 5 qualified leads per month over 100 random visitors.
• Core Web Vitals score: Google Search Console shows percentage of 'good' pages. Aim for 90%+ within 4 weeks of Phase 1 completion.

Avoid vanity metrics: page views without revenue context, keyword count without ranking position, or monthly reports without month-over-month comparison. Build a simple spreadsheet with these five metrics and review monthly. Most teams discover SEO bottlenecks faster when they measure what actually moves the business.