Once you execute your SEO goals and person a sustainable watercourse of integrated traffic, is it clip to refocus budgets to different channels? Can you truly “complete” SEO, oregon should it beryllium continuous?

In this guide, we’ll reply conscionable that and stock immoderate apical tips for implementing a continuous SEO strategy.

The answer, successful short, is astir ever no.

SEO, successful nature, is simply a continuous strategy. You can’t conscionable crook it connected and disconnected similar a pat successful the aforesaid mode you tin with PPC, for example.

But of course, similar each things successful SEO, it’s overmuch much nuanced than a elemental yes or no.

With that successful mind, present are the astir communal reasons arsenic to wherefore you should proceed to put successful SEO arsenic an ongoing strategy.

The algorithm doesn’t stand still

In 2022 alone, determination were implicit 10 algorithm updates confirmed by Google. In reality, determination were apt galore much updates that weren’t publically announced by Google too.

These galore updates and tweaks to the algorithm supply caller ways to impressment Google. Most of these updates absorption connected rewarding prime contented wrong the hunt rankings.

For example, Google precocious updated its prime rater guidelines by adding an other “E” into E-A-T, making it E-E-A-T. Besides making the acronym a spot much confusing to pronounce, it provides immoderate other opportunities to showcase quality.

The further “E” stands for experience, meaning Google is present taking into relationship whether the leafage is written by idiosyncratic with idiosyncratic acquisition connected the respective topic.

Google hasn’t straight told america that it uses this arsenic a ranking signal. Instead, its prime raters look for examples of this successful sites that fertile arsenic a means to measurement the show of its ain ranking algorithm.

That said, we perfectly cognize that Google is present taking “experience” much earnestly and that its raters are looking for examples of it successful contented that is ranking well. So with that successful mind, it’s a just presumption that Google is looking to reward sites that showcase E-E-A-T successful its rankings.

Another illustration is Core Web Vitals. In May 2021, Google introduced Core Web Vitals arsenic a ranking signal. Core Web Vitals are a acceptable of method leafage acquisition metrics measured via CrUX (Chrome User Experience Report) utilizing existent user data.

Following this, Google has precocious announced that it volition update its CrUX ranking signals. From March 2024, Google volition nary longer beryllium utilizing FID (First Input Delay) arsenic a ranking signal, replacing it with INP (Interaction to Next Paint).

This provides caller method challenges that you’ll request to enactment connected top of.

While Core Web Vitals are wide regarded arsenic a insignificant ranking signal, you’ll surely privation to enactment connected apical of these metrics. It could good beryllium the quality betwixt a leafage #1 and leafage #2 ranking for immoderate of your astir competitory keywords. 

With the algorithm being volatile astatine times and perpetually evolving, SEO is not conscionable astir getting it close once. A leafage #1 ranking contiguous could beryllium a leafage #2 ranking overnight.

There’s ever accidental to improve

Often enough, there’s astir ever country to amended and summation much postulation via hunt presumption that are ace applicable to your website. After all, it’s beauteous overmuch intolerable to fertile #1 for each keyword you are targeting, adjacent if you are Wikipedia. So there’s ever country for growth.

Even astatine Ahrefs, for example. The squad is doing an unthinkable occupation astatine ranking successful the apical positions for applicable keywords. That said, adjacent wrong the apical traffic-driving keywords, determination are ever opportunities to improve.

Often, these ace important “money” keywords are your astir competitory keywords, truthful keeping your contented up to day and optimized is indispensable to maintaining and further improving connected beardown rankings.

Beyond ranking successful the apical positions for your commercialized keywords, there’s often truthful overmuch accidental to make and standard informational content.

Earlier on, I mentioned the value of showcasing E-E-A-T. Producing and scaling useful, relevant, and high-quality contented is simply a large mode to show experience, expertise, authority, and trust. You’d besides beryllium gathering up beardown associations and topical authority to your niche successful the eyes of Google. 

While this whitethorn look complex, successful principle, it’s simple.

Let’s accidental you run successful the artifact sector. You tin amusement Google that your concern is each astir toys by providing utile guides to enactment your existing e-commerce landing pages. 

There is simply a wide scope of contented opportunities here; this could scope from tips for cleaning your kid’s toys to reviewing the champion retention solutions. Not lone does this physique applicable associations and topical authorization wrong your niche successful the eyes of Google, but you’ll besides beryllium putting your marque successful beforehand of imaginable aboriginal customers too.

Another payment to upper-funnel contented is that you tin rise marque consciousness among imaginable customers. While they whitethorn not beryllium looking to marque a nonstop acquisition consecutive away, you’ll beryllium expanding the chances of them making that acquisition with you successful the future.

In my erstwhile nonfiction connected fitting SEO into your selling strategy, I utilized a kayak store arsenic an example. 

A idiosyncratic searching “how to store a kayak” whitethorn see purchasing a kayak successful the future. If they find the usher to beryllium utile and informative, this increases the chances of said idiosyncratic making that acquisition done your store.

SEO is ace competitive

In SEO, it’s casual to hide that it’s not conscionable you going for maturation via Google rankings. It’s highly apt that your competitors won’t beryllium lasting still.

Complacency is simply a large danger. While you’ve slowed down, your competitors could beryllium much progressive by:

• Updating existing content.
• Rolling retired caller contented to people rising keywords.
• Building connected their existing backlink profiles.

By conscionable lasting still, you could soon spot your show “fall backward” successful what is simply a comparatively volatile and often competitory channel.

Let’s look astatine the presumption past for the keyword “life insurance” via Ahrefs’ Keywords Explorer arsenic an example.

Just implicit a play of 30 days, we’ve seen the apical ranking alteration hands often crossed 3 competitors.

Furthermore, we tin spot however volatile hunt rankings tin beryllium conscionable by pursuing the greenish enactment (newyorklife.com). This domain peaked successful #1 earlier temporarily dropping to #7 wrong a mates of weeks.

It whitethorn beryllium clip to conquer caller markets

Depending connected the needs and capabilities of your business, it whitethorn beryllium clip to optimize for caller markets.

Or if you already person an international SEO strategy, possibly it’s clip to treble down connected those secondary markets that whitethorn person been antecedently neglected.

Given that planetary SEO is 1 of the astir analyzable areas of SEO, it’s unsurprising that galore websites conflict to fertile successful the apical positions for their targeted keywords globally.

You tin rapidly spot however you and your competitors are performing globally by entering the respective domains into Ahrefs’ Site Explorer.

Notice that your main rival is receiving a batch much postulation from a definite state than you? This is apt worthy a deeper investigation.

It rather often turns retired that your apical SEO accidental countries aren’t the ones that your concern is prioritizing. If that is the case, this information is incredibly almighty and could signifier the concern lawsuit to reprioritize and absorption connected caller markets with SEO potential.

We’ve established that you can’t conscionable commencement and halt SEO and that a continuous SEO strategy is the mode forward.

A continuous SEO strategy tin scope from updating your aged contented to regularly updating your SOPs to signifier a much businesslike and effectual SEO process.

Here are my apical 5 tips for rolling retired a continuous SEO strategy.

1. Continuously show the method wellness of your site

Technical SEO is the important instauration of immoderate SEO campaign. Given however large an interaction 1 method hitch could person connected your rankings, adopting a proactive attack is essential.

Sure, conducting a technical audit astatine the commencement of an SEO run is incredibly useful. However, I find the attack of lone doing a method audit erstwhile each six to 12 months arsenic insufficient.

In that interim period, 1 antagonistic method alteration whitethorn effect successful you scrambling to enactment retired what caused a nonaccomplishment successful rankings. 

With Ahrefs’ Site Audit, you tin acceptable your crawls to tally connected an automated schedule—be it a daily, weekly, oregon monthly audit.

You tin besides docket the nonstop clip for the audit to run, meaning you’ll person the results from the audit acceptable astatine a clip that suits you best.

You’ll beryllium capable to comparison your results against erstwhile crawls too. So if you announcement the fig of errors is somewhat higher than successful caller audits, you’ll cognize a method contented has crept in.

I personally similar to tally these audits astatine slightest play with regular manual checks successful between. This supports a proactive attack to SEO. It besides means method issues are captured arsenic and erstwhile they happen, arsenic opposed to respective months down the enactment successful a method audit.

2. Automate repetitive tasks

A continuous SEO strategy doesn’t conscionable necessitate you to “do much SEO,” but besides to “do SEO” much effectively.

We conscionable touched connected however you tin automate your method auditing by scheduling that connected Site Audit. This is simply a large commencement for making your SEO workflow much efficient, but we don’t person to stop there.

Since ChatGPT was calved into the world, I’m definite we’ve each been presented with the “top 5 ChatGPT prompts to automate your workflow.”

I person nary uncertainty we tin each hold that the societal media craze for ChatGPT prompts has diluted the speech somewhat. 

To prevention you from the torture of speechmaking these dreaded Twitter threads, Ahrefs’ Si Quan Ong has reviewed and shared immoderate of the best ChatGPT prompts for SEOs and the ones you should debar (no substance however galore Twitter threads they look in). 

One of my favourite ChatGPT prompts is to make outlines for content. 

Ultimately, my last outline volition ever look thing similar the archetypal ChatGPT response. That said, I find this helps get those important “creative juices” flowing portion I’m successful that ideation phase. This leads to overmuch much businesslike accumulation of contented outlines.

Keen to larn much astir SEO automation? Check retired Fraser McCulloch’s automation tips for these 9 communal SEO tasks.

3. Review and update existing content

Content tin people go outdated implicit time. And users tin usually archer erstwhile an nonfiction feels old.

If you hold excessively agelong to update your content, your competitors could have: 

• Information that’s much up to date.
• Statistics and investigation from much caller datasets.
• Case studies that are much applicable to today’s questions.

Ultimately, it’s Google’s occupation to guarantee users person a bully acquisition erstwhile they click done to contented via the hunt results. So if your competitors are doing a bully occupation astatine keeping their contented up to day and you are not, you’ll apt suffer retired successful the rankings.

Google uses a ranking origin called Query Deserves Freshness (QDF) to find however caller a portion of contented should beryllium successful bid to fertile for a peculiar hunt term.

This ranking awesome is beauteous overmuch what it says connected the tin. If Google determines that users are looking for caller contented successful their searches, it volition look to prioritize caller contented successful the rankings.

Google leans connected quality sites, blog posts, and hunt requests to find erstwhile users are looking for caller contented successful their searches. In 2007, Amit Singhal (former VP astatine Google) talked astir this successful an article for The New York Times:

The QDF solution revolves astir determining whether a taxable is “hot.” If quality sites oregon blog posts are actively penning astir a topic, the exemplary figures that it is 1 for which users are much apt to privation existent information.

We shouldn’t construe QDF arsenic conscionable applying to quality items. What could look similar an “evergreen” keyword could soon request caller content—should determination beryllium a beardown emergence successful related quality posts and skyrocketing hunt demand.

To larn more, Ahrefs’ Josh Hardwick has a usher connected implementing an SEO contented republishing strategy.

4. Continue to look for caller contented opportunities

As the demands from users alteration implicit time, this is reflected successful the queries they hunt for online. In turn, this means that caller contented opportunities volition originate each present and then.

You tin enactment connected apical of caller contented opportunities by:

• Regularly conducting keyword research.
• Regularly checking for keyword/content gaps betwixt you and your competitors.

Ahrefs’ caller Competitive Analysis instrumentality is large for seeing what keywords your competitors fertile for that you don’t.

Start disconnected by entering your domain arsenic the people and past the domains of your competitors.

In conscionable a fewer clicks, you’ll beryllium presented with a database of keywords that your competitors fertile for (within the apical 10 positions by default) wherever you don’t fertile at all. 

I personally similar to spell 1 measurement further and acceptable the “Target position” filter to “No presumption oregon custom” with a minimum ranking of 11. 

This means we’ll present beryllium presented with a database of keywords that our competitors fertile successful the apical 10 positions wherever we fertile from leafage #2 or worse.

This is ace utile for staying connected apical of what contented your competitors are rolling retired and what keyword gaps you whitethorn request to jump on.

5. Monitor and reappraisal your show frequently

Most SEOs would hold that effectual monitoring and reporting are essential. That said, I judge it’s an country that tin beryllium done much efficaciously by many.

One illustration is that galore SEOs trust solely connected Search Console to spot however they are ranking for their apical keywords.

There’s nary uncertainty Search Console is an incredibly utile root for reporting and should beryllium included successful reports. That said, I don’t spot it arsenic the astir effectual instrumentality to measurement ranking performance. Here’s why:

• Average ranking information is often heavy skewed by irrelevant searches (e.g., irrelevant locations). 
• Data lag means you can’t spot however you are ranking for a keyword today.
• You can’t comparison the stock of dependable and rankings against competitors.

A fertile tracking instrumentality similar Ahrefs’ Rank Tracker is indispensable for regular ranking updates for your domain and your competitors. You’ll besides payment from utile metrics similar stock of dependable and estimated traffic.

To get started with Rank Tracker, simply acceptable your location, participate your keywords from your ain keyword lists, and deed “continue.” Don’t hide to see your competitors connected the adjacent step too.

In nary time, you’ll commencement to spot ranking information propulsion done for your keyword list, specified arsenic the respective ranking positions and ranking URLs.

Don’t hide to link Ahrefs up to your customized SEO dashboards, whether that’s Looker Studio oregon done API calls.

Final thoughts

SEO, arsenic an ongoing and continuous strategy, should beryllium non-negotiable.

As tempting arsenic it whitethorn beryllium to refocus budgets to different channels oregon remainder connected your laurels, complacency is simply a immense hazard to integrated performance.

Implement a continuous SEO strategy by:

• Regularly monitoring the method wellness of your site.
• Automating repetitive tasks.
• Reviewing and updating existing content.
• Looking for caller contented opportunities.
• Reviewing your show frequently.

Have immoderate questions? Ping maine on Twitter and fto me know.