Skip to content
Arva SEO

The SEO process, step by step.

An SEO checklist you can repeat on any website: baseline, keyword research, page map, audit, on-page work, off-page and local, then a report. What to record, which mistakes to avoid, and where Arva SEO does the work.

Start free See pricing

Free for your first website. No credit card required.

01Baseline

Write down where you start, before you change anything.

A baseline is a dated snapshot of how the website performs today. Without it, you can’t show that your work did anything, to a client or to yourself. Take it first, keep the source reports, and use the same date range every time you compare.

What to record

  • The date range you measured (for example the last 28 days)
  • Organic visits from Google Analytics
  • Search Console clicks and impressions, plus the top queries and pages
  • Enquiries that matter to the business: calls, forms, bookings
  • Where the target keywords rank today, including “not ranked”
  • Known problems: pages that are not indexed, slow pages, broken links

Common mistakes

  • Starting the work first and trying to remember the numbers afterwards
  • Comparing different date ranges, or a busy month with a quiet one
  • Counting traffic only, and forgetting the enquiries the business actually wants
  • Treating a ranking tool’s estimate as the website’s own data

02Keyword research

Find the searches your customers really make.

Keyword research means listing what the business sells and where, then finding the searches people use to look for it. A phrase is worth chasing only if it fits the business, matches what the searcher wants and is in the right place. A big search number alone doesn’t make it valuable.

What to record

  • Keyword, location and the search intent
  • How relevant it is to a real service or product
  • Search volume and difficulty, with the date and the tool they came from
  • Phrases you rejected and why (for example a “beach resort” search for an inland property)

Common mistakes

  • Picking the biggest numbers without asking if the business can serve them
  • Treating a tool’s volume and difficulty as exact. They are estimates and differ between tools
  • Forcing “near me” into the copy. Name the town or area instead
  • Ignoring what Google already shows for the search

Four kinds of search intent

  • Navigational: the person wants one site, such as “TikTok login”
  • Informational: they want to learn, such as “what is PPC”
  • Commercial: they are comparing, such as “best microphone for podcasting”
  • Transactional: they are ready to buy, such as “buy Mitsubishi Montero”

Pick the page type to match: an article for the informational search, a service or product page for the transactional one.

How Arva SEO does it

Keyword research gives ideas with volume, difficulty and intent for any country. It also lists the searches your website already shows up for, from Search Console. Volume and difficulty are estimates and are labelled that way.

03Keyword to page map

Give every important search one page.

A keyword map turns research into a plan. Group the searches that mean the same thing, give each group the best page for it, and note where a page is missing. Two pages chasing the same main search compete with each other.

What to record

  • Page URL and its main topic
  • The primary keyword and the related searches
  • Intent, and whether the page exists or must be made
  • The current ranking, as the page’s own baseline

Common mistakes

  • Pointing every search at the homepage
  • Writing a second page for a search an existing page already answers
  • Mixing intents on one page, such as a how-to guide and a booking page
  • Treating “five keywords per page” as a rule. It is a classroom habit

04Website audit

Turn warnings into a short list of fixes.

An audit crawls the site and checks indexing, titles, headings, links, images, speed and mobile use. A pile of warnings isn’t a plan. For every finding, write the affected page, the evidence, why it matters and the fix, then order them by impact.

What to record

  • The affected URL and the evidence
  • Why it matters, in one sentence
  • The proposed fix and who does it (you, the developer, the host)
  • Priority, and the date it was fixed

Common mistakes

  • Calling a URL an error before finding out why it is excluded from the index
  • Padding pages to reach a word count. Google has no minimum word count
  • Using rel=prev/next for paginated pages. Google no longer uses it, so link the pages with ordinary crawlable links
  • Mixing up canonical tags, which name the preferred version, with redirects, which move visitors

05On-page improvements

Fix one important page at a time.

Use the map and the audit to improve the pages that matter most. Write a specific title, description and main heading, then helpful copy that answers the search. Choose lighter images with real alt text, and check the live page on a phone.

What to record

  • What changed on each page, and the date
  • The old and new title, description and main heading
  • The page brief: intent, outline, images and the next action for the visitor
  • A check of the live page: URL, links, mobile view and structured data

Common mistakes

  • Cloning a page and leaving a duplicate address such as /amenities-2/
  • Writing to a word count instead of to the visitor’s question. Answer it, then stop
  • Adding settings to a page whose copy is vague or copied
  • Claiming a ranking benefit from a trick nobody has measured, such as geotagging images

06Off-page and local

Earn visibility that is real and relevant.

Off-page work is everything that builds trust outside your own site: accurate business listings, a complete Google Business Profile, and links from sites that have a genuine reason to mention you. Quality and relevance count. Quantity does not.

What to record

  • Business name, address and phone, exactly as they appear everywhere
  • A citation log: where you submitted and where it was actually published
  • A prospect list: site, why it is relevant, contact, status
  • Business Profile details: category, hours, photos and the searches that show it

Common mistakes

  • Paid links, link swaps at scale, low-quality directories and spammy forum comments. Google treats them as link spam
  • Dropping a link into an unrelated comment or thread
  • Assuming a Business Profile is open to every business. Google generally requires in-person contact with customers during set hours, so online-only businesses are not eligible
  • Crediting one citation for a ranking change without evidence

How Arva SEO does it

Backlinks shows who links to a site and the link gaps against competitors, and keeps outreach prospects in one list. Local SEO checks the site’s local details, compares Business Profiles and scans the map pack. Arva SEO does not submit listings or buy links for you.

07Report and repeat

Explain what changed, then do it again.

A report tells the owner what happened, what you did, what is still uncertain and what comes next. Use the same date range as the baseline and only compare periods you have reliable data for. Then go back to the start of the cycle with the new numbers.

What to record

  • A short summary in plain words
  • Traffic, clicks, impressions and enquiries against the baseline
  • Keyword and page movements, including the ones that fell
  • Work completed, problems met and the next actions

Common mistakes

  • Reporting a percentage you can’t source
  • Saying a change caused a ranking move when you only know it came before it
  • Hiding what did not work
  • Sending the same report every month with nothing about next steps

08Updated advice

What has changed since older SEO courses.

Many guides written in 2024 still circulate. Five points to check before you follow them, with Google’s own pages.

01

No word-count rule

Google says there is no magic minimum or maximum length. Answer the question the visitor asked. Google’s SEO Starter Guide.

02

Link spam

Paid ranking links, excessive link swaps, low-quality directories and spammy forum comments are link spam. Google’s spam policies.

04

Business Profile eligibility

It depends on how the business serves customers: generally in-person contact during stated hours. Online-only businesses don’t qualify. Google’s eligibility rules.

Also remember that search volume and difficulty are a tool’s estimates, and that third-party authority scores are not Google scores.

09FAQ

Questions, answered.

Something else? Ask us.

What is the SEO process?

A repeating cycle: record a baseline, research keywords, map them to pages, audit the website, improve the pages, build relevant visibility off the site and in local listings, then report and start again. Each round starts from the numbers you recorded in the last one.

How long does SEO take to work?

Usually weeks to months, depending on the website, the competition and how much changes. No one can guarantee a ranking. A baseline lets you see what moved.

Does a page need a minimum number of words?

No. Google says there is no magic minimum or maximum word count. Write what the visitor needs, and no more.

Do I need paid tools to follow this process?

No. Google Search Console and Google Analytics are free, and Arva SEO covers every step for your first website on the Free plan, with monthly limits on the paid-data steps.

Is this a checklist I can copy for a client?

Use it as a frame. Every site has different goals, so adapt the worksheet to the business and keep the evidence for what you change. The free SEO worksheets give you the seven sheets to start from.

10Related

Works well with.

11Start today

Your first website is free.

Create an account in a minute, record your benchmark and run your first audit. No credit card required.

Start free Talk to us