Our SEO process moves from audit to implementation
The way we work follows a clear sequence: learn your business, audit your site, plan the work, implement it, and monitor results. Not a rigid formula, but the structure that produces consistent outcomes.
Six stages from first conversation to ongoing review
This is not a rigid formula, but it is the structure that produces consistent outcomes. Below is what happens at each stage and what you can expect as a client.
Discovery and goal setting
We learn your business, customers, competitors, and baseline search performance before touching the website.
Technical site audit
Crawl your site, test speed and mobile usability, check structured data, and rank every issue by severity.
Keyword research and content planning
Identify search terms, group by intent, map to pages, and surface content gaps across your site.
Implementation
Technical fixes, content publishing, on-page updates, and local SEO work in structured sprints.
Monitoring and adjustment
Watch indexing, crawl behavior, and ranking movements, then investigate and adjust based on findings.
Reporting and review
Regular reports and review meetings where we discuss results, priorities, and business changes.
Discovery and goal setting
Before we touch your website, we need to understand your business. What do you sell? Who are your customers? What geographic area do you serve? What are your competitors doing in search? We start with a conversation and a questionnaire that covers these questions.
We also look at your current search performance: where you rank, what traffic you receive, and what your historical search trajectory looks like. This information sets the baseline and tells us whether your goals are realistic given your starting point and competitive landscape.
Technical site audit
With your goals defined, we run a technical audit of your website. This involves crawling your site with tools that simulate search engine behavior, checking your server response codes, reviewing your robots.txt and XML sitemap, and examining your site's structure.
We also test page speed, mobile usability, and the presence of structured data. The audit produces a document listing every issue we find, ranked by severity and impact on search performance. This document becomes the technical roadmap for the implementation phase.
What the audit examines
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Crawl simulation
Tools replicate search engine behavior to find broken links, redirect chains, and blocked resources.
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Server response codes
We verify that pages return correct HTTP status codes and that error pages are handled properly.
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Robots.txt and XML sitemap
We review crawl directives and confirm your sitemap lists the right pages in the right priority.
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Page speed and mobile usability
Load times, Core Web Vitals, and mobile rendering are tested against current benchmarks.
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Structured data presence
Schema markup is checked for correctness, completeness, and eligibility for rich results.
Keyword research and content planning
In parallel with the technical audit, we conduct keyword research. We identify the search terms your potential customers use, group them by topic and intent, and map them to pages on your site.
This research reveals where you have content gaps: topics that people search for but that your site does not cover. It also reveals where existing pages are targeting the wrong terms or competing with each other. The output is a content plan that specifies what new pages to build, what existing pages to revise, and what each page should target.
Implementation
Implementation is where the work gets done. Technical fixes are applied to the site, either by our team or by your developers with our guidance. Content is written, edited, and published. On-page elements like title tags and internal links are updated.
For local SEO, Google Business Profile optimizations and citation work begin. We work in sprints, with each sprint tackling a specific set of tasks from the roadmap. You receive updates after each sprint so you know what was done and what is coming next.
Implementation tracks
Technical fixes
Server, crawl, and structural issues resolved directly or through developer guidance.
Content production
New pages written, existing pages revised, all targeting the terms from the content plan.
On-page elements
Title tags, meta descriptions, header structure, and internal linking updated to target.
Local SEO
Google Business Profile optimization and citation consistency work for local visibility.
Sprint cadence: each sprint tackles a defined task set from the roadmap, with updates delivered after completion.
Monitoring and adjustment
After implementation, we monitor how your site responds. Rankings do not change overnight, but we watch for early signals: pages being indexed, changes in crawl behavior, and initial ranking movements.
If a page is not improving as expected, we investigate. Sometimes the issue is content quality; sometimes it is a technical problem we missed; sometimes a competitor has strengthened their page. We adjust based on what we find.
Monitoring is continuous, and adjustments are part of the process, not an exception to it.
Reporting and review
At regular intervals, we deliver reports and conduct review meetings. Reports cover keyword rankings, organic traffic, conversions from organic search, and the work completed since the last report.
Review meetings are where we discuss what is working, what is not, and what to prioritize next. These meetings are also where we learn about changes in your business that might affect search strategy: new products, new locations, shifts in target audience.
The process is a loop, not a line. What we learn in each cycle informs the next.
How long the process takes
The initial audit and planning phase typically takes two to three weeks. Implementation varies based on the scope of work: a site with minor technical issues and a small content plan might take a month, while a large site with significant problems might take several months.
Measurable ranking movement usually begins within three months. Stronger, stable rankings build over six months to a year. We do not rush the process, because shortcuts in SEO tend to create problems that take longer to fix than doing the work properly the first time.
AUDIT AND PLANNING
Two to three weeks
Discovery, technical audit, and content plan completed before implementation begins.
IMPLEMENTATION
One to several months
Varies with site size and scope. Sprint-based, with updates after each cycle.
RANKING MOVEMENT
From three months
Early signals appear first. Stable rankings build over six to twelve months.
What we need from you
Our process works best when clients participate. We need access to your website, your Google Analytics and Google Search Console accounts, and your Google Business Profile if you have one.
We need someone on your team who can answer questions about your business, your customers, and your industry. If we are writing content, we need a subject matter expert who can review it for accuracy. The more access and input we have, the better the results.
SEO is not something we do to your website; it is something we do with your business.
Access and participation checklist
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Website access
CMS or backend credentials so we can apply technical fixes and publish content directly or alongside your developers.
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Google Analytics and Search Console
Read access to both accounts so we can establish baselines, track changes, and report on real data.
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Google Business Profile
If you have one, manager access lets us optimize listings, posts, and citation consistency for local search.
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A team point of contact
Someone who can answer questions about your business, customers, and industry throughout the engagement.
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Subject matter expert for content review
When we write content, a domain expert on your side reviews it for technical accuracy before publishing.
Questions about the process
Do you work on all six stages for every client?
Most engagements include all six stages, but the depth of each varies. A site that already has solid technical foundations may need less audit time and more content work. A site with crawl problems may spend longer on technical fixes before content production begins. We tailor the emphasis to where you need the most improvement.
Can you work with our in-house developers?
Yes. Technical fixes can be applied by our team or by your developers with our guidance. When your developers do the work, we provide detailed specifications, review the changes, and confirm that each fix resolves the issue found in the audit. This collaborative approach often works well for teams that want to maintain control over their codebase.
What happens if rankings do not improve?
If a page is not improving as expected, we investigate. Sometimes the issue is content quality; sometimes it is a technical problem we missed; sometimes a competitor has strengthened their page. We diagnose the cause, adjust the approach, and track the response. SEO outcomes are never guaranteed, but the monitoring and adjustment stage exists precisely to catch underperformance early and respond to it.
How often will we receive reports?
Reports are delivered at regular intervals, typically monthly. Each report covers keyword rankings, organic traffic, conversions from organic search, and the work completed since the last report. Review meetings accompany the reports so we can discuss priorities, answer questions, and learn about any changes in your business that might affect strategy.
Want to see how this works for your site?
Based in New York, serving businesses across the United States.