In this lesson, I’ll show you some tools and resources that have worked for me when creating SEO content strategies that have reached over a million impressions. But before we dive in, remember I’ve also got a full SEO content strategy class that you can check out if you want to explore any of the concepts we’ll briefly touch on here.
Everyone talks about how to build the best SEO content strategy, but the truth is, we first need to understand your business model and goals to create the right SEO strategy for you.Right then. Let’s get a move on!
Content Creation and Optimisation
When creating SEO content and thinking about future updates, it’s essential to have an actual SEO content strategy. Otherwise, things can get messy fast. It’s much easier to have everything organised from the start and adjust based on how search intent changes over time.
First things first. If you’re launching a web project in 2025, know that organic space online is getting tighter. You’ll need to find smart ways to sneak in and start capturing traffic that aligns with your business model.
If your business offers local products or services, your best bet is a local SEO strategy using tools like Google My Business.
Now, if you run a shop and want to reach a wider market, beyond your city or even nationwide, then it’s worth building an online store that meets all the technical requirements Google Search Console recommends for new websites.
In my case, my project Rojas Creator isn’t tied to one location. I offer SEO services remotely, so I can work with anyone, anywhere. That means I focus on using the most effective and affordable tools to get visibility and leads. I’ll show you which tools I use to build this strategy a bit later on.
The goal here is for you to understand that SEO techniques are mostly the same, but depending on your business, some should come before others.
Now, when it comes to optimising your website content, you can only do it properly with data. If someone tells you otherwise, just turn around and run.
These days, AI tools claim they can review your site and suggest changes to improve your rankings. Sure, they might help, but I’d strongly recommend you spend some time using Google’s free tools, and maybe a few paid ones, to actually see what’s working and what’s not in your current content.
Doing this will help you fine-tune your topics and product offerings to match what people are really searching for. You can start with free tools like Google Search Console or Google Ads Keyword Planner, or go for paid options like Ahrefs or Semrush.
SEO Content Strategy Components
The key components of an SEO content strategy are:
- Keyword research
- Search intent analysis
- Content planning
- Content creation and optimisation (on-page SEO)
- Internal linking
- Backlink strategy (external links)
- Performance tracking and adjustments
These 7 components are what we need to keep in mind when building an SEO content strategy. Keyword research and search intent analysis allow you to run an audience search and understand what your audience is really looking for, what has a good chance of working, and what isn’t worth your time.
The next 4 points can be managed with a content calendar and a clear site structure. This helps you create longer, more valuable content pieces, often called pillar pages, and then build more specific supporting content. This approach strengthens internal linking and improves your site’s overall performance analysis.
Lastly, we’ll cover performance tracking and adjustments a bit later on.
Content Creation and Optimization
When creating content, the very first thing I always do is keyword research, followed by search intent analysis for each keyword. I use four free tools: Google Docs and Google Sheets to collect and organise information, and for keyword and search intent research, I work with Google Ads Keyword Planner and Google’s advanced search.
In the Keyword Planner, the most useful data for me is the keyword suggestions and the search volume column. I sort by search volume and select the keywords that make the most sense for my content. You can either manually copy the data or download it directly into a Google Sheets document to speed things up.
Then in Google Sheets, the next step is to understand our current situation and see if we have the resources to compete for each keyword. For example, if a keyword in Google shows lots of ads and high search volume, it will probably be very difficult to reach the first page in the short term. In that case, we need to find gaps or opportunities where we can position ourselves.
Right inside Google Search, you can also identify which rich snippets appear for that keyword. These might include local packs, videos, FAQs, text boxes, ordered lists, courses and so on. Each keyword will show different combinations of snippets, and those are exactly what you should keep in mind when creating your content. You can use Rank Math to do this easily. They have a free version, but honestly, the paid one is 100% worth it. It’s the one I use for all my projects, and I’ve never had a complaint.
Once all of this is done, it’s time to put in the hours writing, formatting and publishing your content. Remember, this process should be as easy as possible for you, because it’s something you’ll need to keep doing long-term.
Every 3 to 6 months, you can collect new data and make changes to your H1, H2 and H3 titles, update your meta descriptions, and even consider creating videos for each page. This helps support your content with a free backlink because YouTube is an external traffic source, and Google counts it as a backlink even if it comes from your own channel.
Tools for Content Strategy
Building a website also means being ready to learn and relearn many tools. You probably already know how to use some of them, and others not yet. But here’s a quick activity I invite you to do: open a Google Docs file and write down all the tools you use. You’ll likely realise you’re already using more than 10. So don’t be afraid of seeing too many tools. With the right method, we can apply each one at different stages of the process.
There are thousands of tools out there, free and paid. If you don’t have the budget for paid ones, you can start with the free tools Google offers. Just keep in mind you’ll need to invest more time gathering the data that these tools would normally provide in a few minutes, such as search intent for each keyword and the required rich snippets for each page.
In our SEO content strategy class, I’ll explain how to do this without having to use tools like Semrush or Ahrefs. We’ll work only with advanced Google search, Google Sheets, and Google Ads Keyword Planner.
Let’s break down the tools you can use to collect proper data for each part of your SEO content strategy.
Keyword Research
- Semrush: Find high-volume, low-competition keywords in seconds
- Ahrefs: Discover thousands of keyword ideas with real click data
- Google Keyword Planner: Great for identifying terms based on Google Ads data
- Ubersuggest: Generate keyword ideas with difficulty, volume and quick suggestions
Search Intent Analysis
- Google SERP: Analyse top-ranking results to understand user intent
- Semrush (Intent filter): Classify keywords by type – informational, transactional or navigational
Content Planning
- Google Sheets: Plan topics, dates and keywords with a flexible, collaborative layout
- Google Docs: Draft briefs, share ideas and edit content with your team in real time
- Basecamp: Manage tasks and content deadlines with your team in one place
- Wipster: Review and approve multimedia content with live feedback and version control
Content Creation & On-Page SEO
- Rank Math: Improve on-page SEO in WordPress with advanced analysis and precise suggestions
- ChatGPT: Write clear, creative and error-free content in seconds
- Gemini: Find synonyms, boost key ideas and improve text flow
Internal Linking
- Ahrefs Site Audit: Spot internal linking opportunities from your existing site structure
- Screaming Frog: Audit your internal links and find orphan pages easily
Backlink Strategy
- Ahrefs: Identify high-quality links and analyse competitors’ backlink profiles
- Semrush: Discover backlink opportunities and track existing ones
Performance Tracking & Adjustments
- Google Analytics: Measure traffic, bounce rates, session duration and conversions
- Google Search Console: Track organic performance and keyword rankings
- Looker Studio: Visualise SEO metrics in interactive, shareable dashboards
Keyword Research vs Website Audit
Before we talk about keyword research and how to apply it to your web project, I want to explain the difference between a website audit and keyword research. Many people confuse these two processes. While they often happen at the same time, each one evaluates different parts of your site and gives different results.
A website audit focuses on analysing technical problems your site might have. That includes performance issues like loading speed, as well as navigation problems and how your site adapts to different screen sizes or formats. It even covers things like colour contrast and how easy it is to read the text. All of this can be reviewed and added to a task list once the audit is done.
On the other hand, when we talk about keyword research for a content strategy, we’re referring to the text, links, videos and images within your site. More specifically, we’re talking about the words used to describe or define each of those parts on a page. The goal of keyword research is to find out how often people search for certain terms or variations of keywords.
If you already have a project, you can check the impressions from the past 3 months and discover new keywords people are using to find your content more effectively.
All that data can also give you a new task list. If you don’t have a website yet, you may need to build a proper information structure for it. And if you do have a website, the best move is to review which pages are bringing traffic and which are not. It’s better to remove pages that are not generating any kind of traffic.
Performance Monitoring and Analysis
Once you’ve set your short and long-term goals, it’s time to be patient and wait for the data to come in. But how long should you wait after making changes? I recommend waiting around 3 to 6 months. By then, you should have enough information to measure whether your past decisions were the right ones.
This breaks the myth that you’ll see big changes just 15 days after making updates. We need to understand that SEO is a long-term process. Of course, we all want to get clients as soon as possible, and you might start to notice an increase in traffic or form submissions. This happens because your pages can move in and out of the first page, which is completely normal.
You can check this data using different analytics platforms like Google Analytics or Ahrefs. Look at engagement metrics such as new traffic sources, what users are doing on your site, how long they stay on each page and any conversions you’ve set up. Just remember, Google won’t track anything specific unless you’ve configured it correctly.
If traffic drops, don’t panic or give up. As long as the trend over the last 6 months is going up, there’s no need to worry. But if you’ve lost a lot of traffic quickly and the 6-month trend is clearly going down, then it’s time to run another audit and find out which changes didn’t help your site.
If you follow my method for building a strategy, you shouldn’t run into serious issues. And if you’d like a 1-on-1 session, you can book my SEO consultations where I’ll review your project and give you a full week of direct support through tickets.
You can also use Google Search Console to get your Content Performance Report or Keyword Ranking Report. I recommend sorting the data by number of impressions and checking which new keywords your updated content is ranking for, how much search volume they have and what position they appear in on the results page.
