Simple SEO Strategy with 7 Easy Steps to Generate Traffic in 2025

An SEO strategy is a well-thought-out approach and plan that helps any website owner significantly improve their site’s visibility in search engines like Google, as well as in AI tools like ChatGPT, and attract a targeted audience.

📋 How to start implementing SEO step by step?

You don’t need to waste time on theory — here are 7 specific steps you can start doing today:

STEP 1: Define the SEO goal for your website.

STEP 2: Find out what keywords your target audience is searching for.

STEP 3: Research your competitors.

STEP 4: Perform a technical audit of your website.

STEP 5: Plan and create blog content.

STEP 6: Optimize your website for local visibility in your city or region.

STEP 7: Implement your SEO strategy and analyze how it performs.

Want to dive deeper into each step with examples and tools?

👇 Keep reading — in this article, you'll learn:

What exactly is an SEO strategy?

Why is an SEO strategy important for your website’s visibility!

The 7 steps to start building a strategy that speaks to both people and search engines.

How SEO in 2025 is shifting toward GEO — and what that means for you.

📌 This is for you if:

You’re a website owner looking to boost your rankings on search engines like Google.

You want to understand SEO better, but don’t know where or how to start.

You're only just planning your website.

What Does an SEO Strategy Include?

An SEO strategy defines:

🔑 Which keywords to target.
📝 What kind of content to create and how to structure it, so it shows up in search results for those specific keywords.
🧱 How to build your site’s structure in a user-friendly and search engine-friendly way.
📊 How to measure SEO success (e.g., website traffic, keyword rankings, conversions from search).

📌 Remember:

Just like brands carefully plan what to post on social media to engage their audience, an SEO strategy focuses on creating website content that attracts the right people at the exact moment they’re searching for a solution.

The goal of your SEO strategy is to make sure your website is discoverable — not just on Google, but also on AI-powered tools like ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity, and others.

Why Is an SEO Strategy Important for Your Website?

An SEO strategy is essential if you’re thinking long-term — not just running a quick ad campaign.

It lays the foundation for gradually building visibility in organic search results without paying for every single click.

According to Statista, in 2025 Google will hold 89.9% of the global search engine market share.

Resource: Statista (2024). Worldwide market share of leading search engines across all devices 

💡 The way people search in 2025 is changing. On May 20th, Google launched Google AI MODE (not the same as Google AI Overviews).

This feature works like ChatGPT, meaning fewer people will click through to websites when searching on Google.

For website owners, the focus should be on:

Making sure your site can be easily read by AI agents (solid SEO fundamentals help here)

Building strong brand recognition.

What Is SEO in 2025?

SEO, or Search Engine Optimization, is a set of processes aimed at improving a website’s visibility in search engines like Google, Bing, and Yahoo.

It involves adjusting your content, technical setup, and site structure so that your pages appear higher in search results when users enter specific keywords.

With SEO, your website can show up on Google exactly when someone searches for a phrase related to your product, service, or content.

As more people turn to AI tools, SEO is also evolving — it’s no longer just about traditional search engines like Google.

 

People’s search habits have changed — they now use different platforms and search engines to find information.

‼️ In 2025, SEO is shifting toward GEO (Generative Engine Optimization) and Search Everywhere Optimization.

• GEO is about optimizing websites for AI agents (like ChatGPT). In short, websites want to be cited as sources by AI tools that generate answers.

• Search Everywhere Optimization focuses on making websites visible across multiple platforms and search engines — not just Google — to increase overall visibility.

7 Steps to Create a Successful SEO Strategy

STEP 1: Define the SEO Goal for Your Website

The first step is understanding what you actually want to achieve with SEO.
Without a clear goal, it's impossible to measure whether your strategy is working.

What are SEO goals, and why do they matter?

SEO goals help you set direction and evaluate if your efforts are delivering results.

Simply saying, "I want to be on the first page of Google" is a good start — but it’s not specific enough.

Your goals should be clear, measurable, and achievable. A great way to define them is by using the SMART framework:

🎯 Specific
Your goal should be clear and precise. Not just “get more visitors,” but something like:
“Increase organic traffic by 20%.”

📏 Measurable
You need to be able to measure progress — otherwise, how will you know if you’ve reached your goal?

Example:
“Improve rankings for our 5 main keywords by 10 positions.”

✅ Achievable
Your goal should be realistic. A brand-new website won’t land in the top 3 results for highly competitive keywords like “clothing” overnight.

That’s why keyword and competitor research is so important — know what’s possible.

📈 Relevant
Your SEO goal should align with your business objectives.

For example:
Will increasing website traffic help you drive more sales or leads?

⏳ Time-bound
Set a clear deadline for reaching your goal.

Example: “Achieve this within 6 months.”

How to Define an SEO Goal

To define your SEO goal, start by asking: “Do I have one main goal or several?”

Here are a few examples of SMART goals in an SEO context:

📈 Increase organic traffic by 20%
🏆 Rank in the top 10 for a specific keyword or phrase
💰 Grow organic conversions by 10%

Identify the Key Metrics (KPIs) You’ll Track

Once you’ve set your goals, it’s essential to understand how you’ll measure progress.
This is where KPIs (Key Performance Indicators) come in — numbers or percentages that reflect the effectiveness of your SEO strategy.

Here are some of the most important SEO KPIs:

Tools to Track Your SEO KPI Data:

📊 Google Analytics 4 (GA4) → Tracks organic website traffic, conversions, bounce rate, and session duration.

🔍 Google Search Console → Monitors clicks, CTR, keyword rankings, indexing status, and errors. Learn how to connect Google Search Console to your Shopify store.

 

📈  Semrush → Keyword changes, visibility, competitors, top pages, backlinks.

STEP 2: Identify Which Keywords Your Target Audience Is Searching For

A strong SEO strategy starts with understanding what people are really looking for.

❗ Keyword research acts as the bridge between user intent and how well your website content matches that intent.

What are keywords?

Keywords are phrases or combinations of words users type into search engines to find specific information, services, or products.

Your website’s keywords should match these search queries as closely as possible.

Choosing the right keywords and understanding user intent helps improve your site’s visibility in search results.

Keywords also help describe your brand and highlight your company’s unique features and values.

Well-chosen keywords enable you to communicate more effectively with your target audience.

KEYWORD EXAMPLE

Imagine someone searches on Google for “summer dresses in Riga,” but the website selling dresses doesn’t mention the word “dresses” anywhere in its content.
On top of that, the location “Riga” isn’t mentioned either.

Because of this, the search engine can’t recognize that those dresses even exist or are available specifically in Riga.

📌 That’s why it’s crucial to check if your website actually includes the keywords you want to rank for.

➡️ If you focus on longer keyword phrases like “summer dresses for women in Riga,” it immediately becomes clear what you’re offering, who it’s for, and where it’s available.
Also, consider what makes your business unique—what’s your added value?

💡 Keep in mind: With the rise of AI and voice search, users are increasingly using question forms and natural phrases.
This means longer, more specific keyword phrases are becoming more important—and you should include them in your content.

How to choose the right keywords?

Pick the words that reflect your customer’s search intent.

📌 Example for a clothing store:
The phrase “linen dresses for women made in Latvia” targets a much more specific and ready-to-buy audience than simply “dresses for women.”

Keyword Research Tips:

👉 Write down possible phrases your customer might type in.

👉 Imagine: What would they ask Google or an AI assistant?

👉 Use keyword research tools to better understand your audience.

👉 Incorporate these keywords naturally into your content and headlines.

3 Tools for Keyword Research

1. Google Suggestions (Autocomplete & People Also Ask)
   Google automatically suggests phrases that people frequently search for, helping you discover popular keywords.

2. Google Keyword Planner – Helps you find related keywords, search volumes, and keyword popularity.

3. Semrush – A professional SEO tool that provides detailed insights on keywords and their competition in organic search.

 

Step 3: Conduct Competitor Research

Competitor research is a great tool to:

• Understand your competitors’ SEO strategies

• Learn from their experience

• Create more effective solutions and content for your website

It’s important to know what your competitors are doing—especially those already ranking high for the keywords you want to target.

Why is competitor research a crucial part of your SEO strategy?

Building an SEO strategy without competitor research is like cooking without a recipe — it might turn out okay, but it could also go completely off track.

🔍 Here’s what competitor analysis gives you:

• They’ve already tested the market for you. You can see what works and what doesn’t (though not everything is perfect).

• You can find out which keywords and content are working well for them. This helps set clear SEO goals.

• Your strategy is based on data, not guesses. This means fewer mistakes early on and faster results.

Learn from your competitors’ mistakes, draw conclusions, and do better.

How to do simple competitor research?

 

An SEO consultation can become a valuable investment in your website’s growth.

Experienced SEO specialists help evaluate your site and competitors from different perspectives, uncovering opportunities you might have missed on your own.

Step 4: Perform a Technical Audit of Your Website

Before focusing on content or keyword strategy, make sure your website is technically ready to welcome visitors.

👉 Check your website’s speed.

🚀 Use the tool Page Speed Insights. 

Make sure your website looks great and works smoothly on mobile devices. Most users access information on their phones, so mobile-friendliness is key!

Check if your site is indexed by Google.

Go to Google and type in the search bar: site:yourwebsite.com

This will show which pages Google has indexed from your site.

👉 Check the file sizes.

Make sure your website doesn’t contain heavy files, such as images. If a single image is 1MB, that’s quite large. Are the images optimized (correct size, compressed), and do they have alternative text (alt text)?

Learn more about image SEO optimization for your website.

👉 Is your website’s sitemap added to Google Search Console?

A sitemap helps Google understand your site’s structure and index all important pages faster.

💡 To check if your website has a sitemap, type /sitemap.xml after your domain name in the browser.

👉 Does your website have an SSL certificate?

An SSL certificate (Secure Sockets Layer) ensures that data between your website and visitors is securely encrypted. It protects user information and boosts your website’s trustworthiness.

If your website address doesn’t have an “s” after “http” (i.e., it’s not https://), it means the SSL certificate isn’t active. Sometimes browsers even show a “Not Secure” warning, which can reduce user trust and hurt SEO.

⚠️ BUT keep in mind, hackers can also install SSL certificates on fake websites. So as a user, always pay attention to what the website is about and if it looks suspicious.

Step 5: Content Planning and Creation for Blog Posts.

Always conduct keyword research.
Perform competitor analysis on your chosen topic.

For example, if you want to write a blog post, then explore:

• What headlines and subheadings are being used?

• How do competitors structure their content?

• Are specific keywords used in the headings and text?

💡SEO PRO TIP: Use a browser extension like  Detailed SEO Extension  to quickly see heading structures and other important SEO elements.

• Create a content structure before writing the text

  Before creating the text, develop a structure — main headline (H1) and subheadings (H2, H3). This helps to write meaningfully instead of just “floating the text.”

STEP 6: Optimize your website for local visibility in your city or region.

What is local SEO and why is it needed?

Local SEO helps people find a business based on its location. Not all businesses need to reach all of Latvia or the world.

If your business operates in a specific city or region, local SEO helps your business appear in search results when someone looks for something “nearby” — for example:

💆 “massage salon in Riga”
🦷 “dentist in Valmiera”
🍣 “sushi restaurant in Jelgava”

If you want your website to appear in local searches, a well-thought-out SEO strategy with a focused approach to local SEO is necessary.

✅ 1. Create and optimize your Google Business Profile