Library·SOP·SEO
Use free Google searches and real business facts to make an ordered plan of useful pages. Each idea has one main phrase, public evidence, a reason the business can help, and a next action. This method does not estimate search demand or ranking.
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Clarity, structure and references reviewed in this version. This is not a test in a live account.
Use free Google searches and real business facts to make an ordered plan of useful pages. Each idea has one main phrase, public evidence, a reason the business can help, and a next action. This method does not estimate search demand or ranking.
This SOP covers:
This does not cover:
Start with what the business offers, who it helps, and what those people need. These facts help you avoid phrases the business cannot serve.
Make your own copy of the SEO Keyword Research Shortlist. Use the prefilled IDs for the first batch. If you need more, continue in blank rows below with the next ID (K16, then K17; G06, then G07). The starter rows are not a limit.
Fill the Start Here tab with the basic facts you will use to judge search phrases. If an offer, audience, service area, or ability to help is missing, ask the business owner before treating a phrase as a fit.
Enter the business name, offer, audience, and the audience’s problem or task in Start Here!B5:B8. Use supplied facts or ask the owner. Do not guess what the business sells, who it serves, or what it can do.
Enter market or service area, search language, desired visitor action, and offer limits in Start Here!B9:B12. If there are no limits, confirm with the owner and write “None confirmed”.
Choose a starting topic for each distinct audience task or real offer worth exploring. There is no fixed number. Avoid near-duplicate seeds; one good seed can lead to several useful searches.
Pick plain wording for a real need the business can serve, such as “balcony gardening” for a shop that sells starter kits and can give beginners growing advice. Add a different seed only for a distinct offer or task.
In Keyword Candidates, enter each seed in Seed topic and Query or phrase, beginning at K01. Keep each ID unique and in order. When the prefilled IDs end, use the next blank row and continue the sequence (for example, K16).
Google suggestions can reveal wording to investigate. Search the wording, look at the visible results, and repeat only while a new phrase may reveal a useful need the business can serve.
Research each seed in rounds using Google autocomplete and public results. Treat suggestions as clues about wording, not a count of searches or proof that a page will rank. Use the market and language in Start Here.
Open Google Search and type one seed slowly in the language for your market. Record a useful autocomplete suggestion exactly on the next unused K row, label its source “Autocomplete”, and search that exact phrase. Suggestions vary by context and do not tell you search volume.
If no suggestion fits, search the seed itself. You may also test a real question supplied by a customer or the owner; label it as a tested query, not a Google suggestion. Record the exact clue or result you checked. Do not invent suggestion or result wording.
Take one promising phrase or confirmed customer question as the next query. Search it, then check autocomplete, related searches, or People also ask when they appear. Add a row only for a new useful wording or task; skip a near-duplicate that adds no new need.
After one pass, revisit every chosen seed and check related ideas across the topics. Continue another pass only where a query may reveal a different page the business can help with. Stop a seed when the next useful query repeats a phrase/task already covered or reveals no new page the business can credibly serve; move on when all seeds meet that rule, regardless of how many rows remain.
Check each phrase in public Google results so you can describe the visitor’s likely task and the kind of page showing for it.
Search the exact phrase using the market and language recorded on Start Here. For a local need, include the target city or region. Use one consistent search context when comparing phrases; if Google shows a different location, note it in Notes or uncertainty. Search results can vary by time and location.
Look at the visible organic result titles and page types; ignore entries marked as ads. Describe the kinds of pages, such as how-to guides, product listings, comparisons, local service pages, or a named website. Open a relevant result only if its type is unclear. Record what you saw, not what you think Google must show.
Use both the phrase and visible pages to choose a practical task label: Learn or solve (“how to start a balcony garden”); Compare or choose (“best balcony garden kit”); Buy, book, or do (“buy a balcony garden kit”); Find a named site or page (“Pine & Puddle garden kits”); or Mixed or unclear when the task or pages point in different directions. These labels are worksheet aids, not Google’s official categories.
Fill Evidence URL with the public Google results page or public page you checked, Checked date with today’s date, and Search clue observed with the exact suggestion or a short description of visible results. In Why it fits and what we can add, name the matching offer/audience/task and one thing the business can credibly contribute, such as first-hand advice, original details, a real product/service answer, or useful comparison. Do not claim contribution the owner has not confirmed.
Use business fit, visitor task, visible page type, and useful contribution to give every phrase a role or a reason to park it.
Ask what the visitor wants to do. Check that the audience, offer, market, and desired action match Start Here. If one missing owner fact could change the answer, ask the owner and park the phrase until confirmed.
Describe the kinds of visible organic pages for the query. Ask what specific useful answer this business can add: its own advice, experience, product/service details, or a genuine comparison. If the only plan is to copy or lightly rewrite other pages, the contribution is not ready.
For a useful page idea, choose Lead phrase candidate for its main phrase. Choose Supporting phrase only for the same task and page type. Choose Separate-page candidate when a different task or page type also fits the offer and has a useful contribution.
Use Park when one missing fact or search could change the decision; write that exact follow-up in Notes or uncertainty. If the business cannot serve the task or add a credible useful answer, write “Reject” and why. Leave Final page group ID blank for every Parked row.
Phrases can share a page when they ask for the same result and visible results show the same kind of page. Then order distinct page ideas by usefulness to this business and leave a writer or owner a clear next step.
Compare the searcher’s task and visible result-page type before grouping. Shared words alone do not mean two phrases belong on one page.
Combine phrases only when both tests match: the visitor wants the same result, and the visible organic results show the same kind of page. In the fictional worksheet, K01 “how to start a balcony garden” and K02 “how to grow vegetables on a balcony” both suggest beginner guides, so they can support one guide. K03 “balcony garden kit for beginners” asks shoppers to choose a product and shows listings, so it needs a separate product-page idea.
For a kept group, choose one Lead phrase candidate and mark close same-task phrases Supporting phrase. Mark a useful but different task Separate-page candidate. If the evidence is mixed, use Park until another query or owner fact resolves it. A separate-page candidate is an idea to compare, not an automatic instruction to publish.
After you have compared and ordered the viable ideas, fill one Page Groups row per idea from top to bottom. Use G01 for the first idea, G02 for the next, and continue past the prefilled rows when needed. Once the order is settled, update matching Final page group ID cells in Keyword Candidates one time.
Before filling the rows, compare every viable idea and choose a top-to-bottom order. Ask whether it fits the goal and audience, whether the business can add a useful answer, whether task/page-type evidence is clear, and whether the business is ready. In the fictional example, put the guide first: the owner can give renters original beginner advice, and K01/K02 show the same clear guide task. Put the kit page next: it fits the offer but serves a separate buying task. Explain why the first page beats the next plausible idea and why each later page comes next; use no made-up scores, cutoffs, search volumes, or forecasts.
For each ordered page idea, copy exactly one candidate phrase into Main phrase. It should plainly name the real offer or useful answer and match the visitor’s task. Mark that candidate Lead phrase candidate; put only close same-task, same-format phrases in Supporting candidate IDs and mark those rows Supporting phrase.
Fill Page purpose or searcher’s task with the answer or action the page should provide, then choose the matching Proposed page format. Add its existing URL if you know the page; otherwise write a short new-page idea. Do not claim the page exists if you have not confirmed it.
In Why these phrases belong together, name the shared visitor task and visible result-page type. In Why this page is useful now, state the business fit, useful contribution, and why it is first or why it comes next in the order. List every related K ID in Evidence candidate IDs; each candidate row holds a source and checked date. Use Next action or open question for an owner fact, a source to gather, or the first briefing action.
Review the ordered page plan before handing it to the next person. Keep only page ideas the business can serve with a useful answer or offer; leave unresolved ideas parked with a named next check.
Check every Page Groups row: there is exactly one Main phrase copied from a candidate, the main candidate is marked Lead phrase candidate, and each Supporting candidate ID points to a phrase with the same task and result-page type.
Check that each kept group’s Evidence candidate IDs point to rows with public Evidence URLs, Checked dates, and clear fit/contribution reasons. Confirm Page Groups are ordered top to bottom, the rationale compares each row with the next plausible idea, and candidate Final page group ID values match that final order. For every Park, Notes or uncertainty says what fact/search to check next or why the idea is rejected. Park any kept idea that fails these checks.
Give the next writer or owner the Page Groups rows in order, with the linked candidate evidence and any open question. The first next action may be to create a content brief for G01; do not write or publish the page as part of this SOP.
