Define and document client-specific SEO business goals at onboarding.
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Why this matters
Clarifying and recording the client's specific business goals ensures SEO efforts align with actual priorities and measurable desired outcomes, reducing later misalignment and rework.
Hypothetical standard operating procedure
Adapt this example to your site, access, tools, and change process. It is our suggested procedure, informed by the sources below.
- Schedule a dedicated session with the client to extract their business goals related to SEO impact.
- Ask for and record details on priority products/services, target customers, markets, key conversion actions, and constraints.
- Map these goals to planned SEO activities to confirm relevance and completeness.
- Circulate the documented goals to client and agency teams for review and approval.
- Incorporate the approved goals into the onboarding brief accessible to all stakeholders.
Watch for
Avoid assuming that search metrics alone represent client goals; failing to document these can cause misdirected SEO strategies.
Definition of done
An approved document captures priority products, target audiences, key markets, desired actions, and business constraints explicitly mapped to SEO activities.
Sources & attribution
Original checklist wording and example SOP by Best SEO Checklist, using source-grounded AI assistance. Editorial contact: Ted Kubaitis, @tedkubaitis on Teams. Check current source guidance before implementation.