--- description: Are you trying to figure out how to increase the traffic of your website? Traffic is the cornerstone of online marketing - in this lesson we discuss ways to... title: How to Build an SEO Foundation for Web Traffic image: https://www.leanlabs.com/hubfs/blog_post_imgs/seo-foundation.jpg --- [Blog](https://www.leanlabs.com/blog)/ [Growth Marketing](https://www.leanlabs.com/blog/topic/growth-marketing) # How to Build an SEO Foundation for Web Traffic 4 min read time ![How to Build an SEO Foundation for Web Traffic](https://www.leanlabs.com/hs-fs/hubfs/blog_post_imgs/seo-foundation.jpg?width=765&height=430&name=seo-foundation.jpg) If you're just [getting started with your online presence](//www.lean-labs.com/blog/7-biggest-mistakes-companies-make-when-designing-new-website) and digital marketing, it can be hard to prioritize tasks and make headway while [keeping an eye on the big picture](//www.lean-labs.com/blog/inbound-marketing-tactics-start-blueprint). When starting from scratch, getting overwhelmed is to be expected, especially given all of the (often conflicting) advice on how to achieve marketing success. Experts espouse the merits of A/B testing, sales funnel modeling, marketing automation platforms, blogger outreach, link building and virtually countless more tactics. ## SEO Foundation - Build Traffic First This article is lesson 2 in a twelve-part series: [**The Ultimate Guide to Inbound Marketing Strategies and Tactics**](//www.lean-labs.com/blog/planning-guide-inbound-marketing-strategy-tactics) You may even find yourself tempted to focus on expert-level initiatives like thought leadership development right from the get-go, but your first and most pressing move must be to build a foundation of pillar content that attracts organic traffic from your target market. The more sophisticated, [proactive marketing measures](//www.lean-labs.com/blog/when-best-time-start-marketing-a-startup) don't work unless you've already established a minimal baseline of visits to your site. Set some kind of traffic milestone that makes sense for you, whether it's 500 uniques weekly or 10,000 daily, and decide that until you reach this benchmark, you won't even think about blogger outreach, A/B testing and the like. Building consistent organic traffic is your first priority, and here's how to do it. ### Step 1: Find Out What Your Customers Want Your target audience is presumably researching options for potential solutions before making a purchase decision. According to one recent study, in fact, [80% of B2C customers](https://www.synchronyfinancial.com/third-annual-major-purchase.pdf) like to check their options online before making larger purchases, performing extensive research that can last between 38 and 135 days, depending on the product category. Similarly, in the B2B world, Demand Gen Report's research has found that [52% of decision makers](http://www.slideshare.net/christopherobinet/2013-b2b-buyerbehaviorsurveyfinal) view no fewer than eight online sources before selecting a vendor. Ultimately, you need to ensure that those searching for information about products that you sell are able to find _you._ Before you can give them the content they want, though, you'll need to figure out what it is that they want. You probably already know a lot of the frequently asked questions relevant to your business. Compiling a comprehensive list, however, is another matter. Your initial goal should be to create an exhaustive 100-question inventory based on every logical customer inquiry. Considering that you may be able to come up with the first 25 by yourself, where do the other 75 come from? Consult your trusty sales and support divisions immediately. They are the ones who field every question, from the logical to the inane. Then, check with others inside your organization. Considering that [content creation is everybody’s job](//www.lean-labs.com/blog/inspire-culture-excellent-content-creation), not just a “marketing department” responsibility, if you make it clear that you’re absolutely open to new ideas, they’ll likely start sending them your way. Just remember to thank those who submit new concepts and questions, even if you don’t end up using them. The last thing you want to do is discourage your in-house sources. ### Step 2: Find Out How Your Customers Are Searching Seemingly subtle differences in wording, tense or number can be critical when determining which keywords and phrases to emphasize in your content. For example, if you are a department store and your internal category of small kitchen appliances is called “kitchen electrics” on all of your internal reporting and store signage, it simply stands to reason that you would optimize for the phrase “kitchen electrics.” If you did that, though, you would be making a [costly mistake](//www.lean-labs.com/blog/keyword-usage-mistakes-you-may-be-making) – people are far more likely to search Google for "kitchen appliances." This is a critical SEO fundamental. In order to [determine exactly which words and phrases](http://www.iacquire.com/blog/the-persona-driven-keyword-research-process) your ideal customers are Googling, employ a keyword tool like [Keyword Tool](http://keywordtool.io/) (see how they optimized their name?), which instantly generates up to 750 alternative, longer-tail suggestions for every keyword, for free. Alternatively, you can use [Hubspot’s keyword tool](//www.lean-labs.com/blog/hubspots-keyword-tool-five-creative-ways-to-use-it-for-seo), which will help you to identify keyword opportunities that are within your reach – as well as conversion path ideas, keywords favored by your competitors and long-tail opportunities. Although the most popular service for this kind of research is undoubtedly the [Google AdWords Keyword Planner](https://adwords.google.com/KeywordPlanner), you need an AdWords account to use it. The advantages to the AdWords planner, however, are notable. It’s not only free but also provides competition and search volume statistics, which is data you're going to need for our next step. ### Step 3: Prioritize, Group and Schedule Now that you know what your customers want and how they’re going about searching for it, you likely have an exceedingly long list of topics staring you in the face.Clearly, you cannot generate 100 articles immediately. You're going to need to prioritize which topics will generate the most traction the fastest. Rank your list of articles based on the search volume and search competition data you gathered using your keyword tool. You might also do well to consider which topics speak most directly to your [unique value proposition,](//www.lean-labs.com/blog/how-to-effective-website-unique-value-proposition-examples) since you want to capitalize on the specialties, features and benefits that differentiate your product from the competition. Once you’ve determined your priorities, break down the list into tiers or themed groups. Your goal here is to turn it all into veritable bundles of monthly content activity. Not only will this process help you avoid content generation overwhelm, it will form the basis of your [communications calendar.](http://www.convinceandconvert.com/social-media-strategy/how-to-build-a-content-calendar-plus-a-free-template-for-2014/) Although a content calendar may seem complicated or intimidating, it’s actually quite straightforward and empowers you to visualize how your (already prioritized) topics will be distributed throughout the year. You can schedule your articles around key industry events, ensure content publication consistency and generate reminders for yourself to ensure that each article is ready on time. ### Step 4: Write and Publish It’s finally time to get in the trenches. You are now armed with all the knowledge required to carry out your organic traffic creation plan, and all you have to do now is generate each piece of content efficiently. Yes, all 100 articles. These SEO foundation articles are not going to be super sexy, but they're going to give you the traffic baseline you need so you can build on the momentum they give you. Keep in mind – this is the information that is most important to the people most likely to become your next happy customers. It will draw them to your site, since you’re answering the questions they’re asking in the exact words they’re asking them. When starting from zero, utilize this foundational strategy for at least the first two quarters of your efforts, and potentially the first four. Once your SEO-centric articles have started generating relevant traffic, then (and only then) should you start exploring more sophisticated marketing tactics. ## Latest, related and recommended posts [ ![What is closed-loop marketing? Definition, process, and examples](https://www.leanlabs.com/hs-fs/hubfs/2022%20blog%20featured%20images/26%20(2)%20(1).png?width=500&height=500&name=26%20(2)%20(1).png) Growth Marketing What is closed-loop marketing? Definition, process, and examples Read more ](https://www.leanlabs.com/blog/what-is-closed-loop-marketing) [ ![Loop marketing vs. inbound marketing: what changed and what didn't](https://www.leanlabs.com/hs-fs/hubfs/2022%20blog%20featured%20images/37%20(4)%20(1).png?width=500&height=500&name=37%20(4)%20(1).png) Growth Marketing Loop marketing vs. inbound marketing: what changed and what didn't Read more ](https://www.leanlabs.com/blog/loop-marketing-vs-inbound-marketing) [ ![How to implement loop marketing: the 90-day roadmap](https://www.leanlabs.com/hs-fs/hubfs/2022%20blog%20featured%20images/32%20(1)%20(1).png?width=500&height=500&name=32%20(1)%20(1).png) Growth Marketing How to implement loop marketing: the 90-day roadmap Read more ](https://www.leanlabs.com/blog/how-to-implement-loop-marketing-90-day-roadmap) [![About Lean Labs](https://www.leanlabs.com/hubfs/LL%20V4.1/logos/LL%20Logo%20Dark.svg)](https://www.leanlabs.com) Lean Labs builds growth machines that take 7-figure startups to 8\. → [**See How!**](https://www.leanlabs.com/approach/why-lean-labs) Share [ ![Share on facebook](https://www.leanlabs.com/hubfs/LL%20v5/Images/Icons/Facebook.svg) ](http://www.facebook.com/share.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.leanlabs.com%2Fblog%2Fhow-to-build-an-seo-foundation-for-web-traffic%3Futm%5Fmedium%3Dsocial%26utm%5Fsource%3Dfacebook) [ ![Share on linkedin](https://www.leanlabs.com/hubfs/LL%20v5/Images/Icons/LinkedIn.svg) ](http://www.linkedin.com/shareArticle?mini=true&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.leanlabs.com%2Fblog%2Fhow-to-build-an-seo-foundation-for-web-traffic%3Futm%5Fmedium%3Dsocial%26utm%5Fsource%3Dlinkedin) [ ![Share on reddit](https://www.leanlabs.com/hubfs/LL%20v5/Images/Icons/reddit.svg) ](https://www.reddit.com/submit?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.leanlabs.com%2Fblog%2Fhow-to-build-an-seo-foundation-for-web-traffic%3Futm%5Fmedium%3Dsocial%26utm%5Fsource%3Dreddit) [ Grade my site![chevron-right](https://www.leanlabs.com/hubfs/LL%20v5/Images/Icons/chevron-right.svg) ](https://cta-service-cms2.hubspot.com/web-interactives/public/v1/track/click?encryptedPayload=AVxigLLUGeyXuIFe4n%2B1E42IAXAWWgWgkkHKyylkCaC53TFA5LXNKHbY1ByeZ7mNZ9WHFS1WfZ1VrTarTazLKDbOc%2Btc%2Bg%2BBT11oQTrJhYOQyf5sCqDNGXudXVDytcA7Jb2UdS%2FC5xT4BZA6pMCL%2BHU0XpBYZ%2B0d78FOiUQsXv09XXmngTg%3D&portalId=275827) ![grader laptop](https://www.leanlabs.com/hs-fs/hubfs/LL%20v5/Images/grader%20laptop.png?width=552&height=454&name=grader%20laptop.png) ### AI Website Grader Uncover what’s working, pinpoint areas that need improvement, and get trained AI's recommendations on how to turn your website into your brand’s #1 salesperson. Grade my site ## TAKE THE FIRST STEP ### Turn your marketing from a cost center into a self-funding growth machine. ![work](https://www.leanlabs.com/hubfs/LL%20v5/Icons/work.svg) ### Our work & results Hear what our clients have to say about their results. **Read our 5 star reviews on HubSpot.** [](https://www.leanlabs.com/approach/success) ![programs](https://www.leanlabs.com/hubfs/LL%20v5/Icons/programs.svg) ### Programs & pricing **Find out how much it costs** to work with us. We have various programs available starting at $2k per month. [](https://www.leanlabs.com/pricing) ![kevin](https://www.leanlabs.com/hs-fs/hubfs/LL%20v5/Images/kevin.png?width=64&height=64&name=kevin.png) ### Get your free strategy session Find out exactly what **we’d do if we were your growth team.** Select a day and time on the calendar. Request a meeting [ Request A Meeting![right arrow icon](https://www.leanlabs.com/hubfs/LL%20V4.1/icons/Right%20arrow.svg) ](https://cta-service-cms2.hubspot.com/web-interactives/public/v1/track/click?encryptedPayload=AVxigLKguQz1pHGVkA3wdiTS9EE1O5E3Ct1K0Z80gm18lqpbpOzOOhixlWF3vFwSXsk5ZFPTer64z0Z%2BsMdxMcIozeqRS%2FeTnT1Fi%2Fenbbx6QM4lYwwHLgnazScch60YGZ8O7N48nP3dy51Pb162YfiwSq4Ucdk22w3H648JgH6iTgejT3TgMXeeL19riQjd&portalId=275827) ### Ask AI about Lean Labs [ ![](https://www.leanlabs.com/hubfs/LL%20v5/Images/Logos/chatgpt.svg) ChatGPT ](https://chat.openai.com/) [ ![](https://www.leanlabs.com/hubfs/LL%20v5/Images/Logos/googlegemini%201.svg) Gemini ](https://www.google.com/search?udm=50) [ ![](https://www.leanlabs.com/hubfs/LL%20v5/Images/Logos/perplexity%201.svg) Perplexity ](https://www.perplexity.ai/search/new) [ ![](https://www.leanlabs.com/hubfs/LL%20v5/Images/Logos/claude%201.svg) Claude ](https://claude.ai/new) [ ![](https://www.leanlabs.com/hubfs/LL%20v5/Images/Logos/copilot.svg) Copilot ](https://copilot.microsoft.com/) Ask AI ```json { "@graph": [ { "@id": "https://www.leanlabs.com/#organization", "url": "https://www.leanlabs.com/", "logo": { "url": "https://www.leanlabs.com/favicon.ico", "@type": "ImageObject", "width": 60, "height": 60 }, "name": "Lean Labs", "@type": "Organization", "sameAs": [ "https://www.entities.org/entity/lean-labs", "https://www.linkedin.com/company/lean-labs", "https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/lean-labs-eed8", "https://twitter.com/leanlabs", "https://www.youtube.com/@LeanLabs1", "https://www.facebook.com/LeanLabs", "https://ecosystem.hubspot.com/marketplace/solutions/lean-labs", "https://clutch.co/profile/lean-labs", "https://www.g2.com/products/lean-labs/reviews", "https://opencorporates.com/companies/us_fl/P23000000218", "https://www.agencyspotter.com/lean-labs" ], "slogan": "We help companies on HubSpot Drive Growth", "address": { "@type": "PostalAddress", "postalCode": "34638", "addressRegion": "FL", "streetAddress": "16703 Early Riser Avenue, Suite 11", "addressCountry": "US", "addressLocality": "Land O' Lakes" }, "memberOf": { "name": "HubSpot Diamond Partner", "@type": "Organization" }, "knowsAbout": [ { "url": "https://www.leanlabs.com/solutions/answer-engine-optimization-agency", "name": "Answer Engine Optimization", "@type": "Thing" }, { "url": "https://www.leanlabs.com/solutions/growth-driven-design", "name": "Growth-Driven Design", "@type": "Thing" }, { "url": "https://www.leanlabs.com/solutions/loop-marketing", "name": "Loop Marketing", "@type": "Thing" }, { "url": "https://www.leanlabs.com/solutions/hubspot-projects", "name": "HubSpot", "@type": "Thing" }, { "url": "https://www.leanlabs.com/solutions/lead-generation-website", "name": "Lead Generation", "@type": "Thing" }, { "url": "https://www.leanlabs.com/solutions/website-redesign", "name": "Website Redesign", "@type": "Thing" }, { "url": "https://www.leanlabs.com/expertise/saas-marketing-agency-hubspot", "name": "SaaS Marketing", "@type": "Thing" }, { "url": "https://www.leanlabs.com/expertise/healthcare-marketing-agency-hubspot", "name": "Healthcare Marketing", "@type": "Thing" }, { "url": "https://www.leanlabs.com/expertise/fintech-marketing-agency-hubspot", "name": "Fintech Marketing", "@type": "Thing" } ], "description": "Lean Labs boosts marketing ROI for SaaS and B2B companies, driving significant growth through expert strategies, lead generation, and website optimization.", "contactPoint": { "url": "https://www.leanlabs.com/schedule", "@type": "ContactPoint", "email": "hello@lean-labs.com", "telephone": "+1-913-871-6500", "contactType": "sales" }, "foundingDate": "2007-08-10", "hasOfferCatalog": { "name": "Lean Labs Services", "@type": "OfferCatalog", "itemListElement": [ { "name": "Marketing x AI", "@type": "OfferCatalog", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "Offer", "itemOffered": { "url": "https://www.leanlabs.com/solutions/loop-marketing", "name": "Loop Marketing", "@type": "Service" } }, { "@type": "Offer", "itemOffered": { "url": "https://www.leanlabs.com/solutions/answer-engine-optimization-agency", "name": "Answer Engine Optimization (AEO)", "@type": "Service" } }, { "@type": "Offer", "itemOffered": { "url": "https://www.leanlabs.com/solutions/hubspot-website-schema-rocket", "name": "AEO Schema", "@type": "Service" } }, { "@type": "Offer", "itemOffered": { "url": "https://www.leanlabs.com/solutions/aeo-genie", "name": "AEO Genie", "@type": "Service" } } ] }, { "name": "Web x AI", "@type": "OfferCatalog", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "Offer", "itemOffered": { "url": "https://www.leanlabs.com/solutions/lead-generation-website", "name": "Lead Gen Websites", "@type": "Service" } }, { "@type": "Offer", "itemOffered": { "url": "https://www.leanlabs.com/solutions/websites", "name": "Website Design", "@type": "Service" } }, { "@type": "Offer", "itemOffered": { "url": "https://www.leanlabs.com/solutions/growth-driven-design", "name": "Growth-Driven Design", "@type": "Service" } }, { "@type": "Offer", "itemOffered": { "url": "https://www.leanlabs.com/solutions/website-redesign", "name": "Website Redesign", "@type": "Service" } }, { "@type": "Offer", "itemOffered": { "url": "https://www.leanlabs.com/solutions/web-migrations", "name": "Website Migrations", "@type": "Service" } } ] }, { "name": "HubSpot x AI", "@type": "OfferCatalog", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "Offer", "itemOffered": { "url": "https://www.leanlabs.com/solutions/hubspot-projects", "name": "HubSpot Projects", "@type": "Service" } }, { "@type": "Offer", "itemOffered": { "url": "https://www.leanlabs.com/solutions/hubspot-breeze-agents", "name": "HubSpot Breeze Agents", "@type": "Service" } } ] } ] }, "numberOfEmployees": { "@type": "QuantitativeValue", "value": 12 } }, { "@id": "https://www.leanlabs.com/#website", "url": "https://www.leanlabs.com/", "name": "Lean Labs", "@type": "WebSite", "publisher": { "@id": "https://www.leanlabs.com/#organization" }, "inLanguage": "en-US", "description": "Lean Labs boosts marketing ROI for SaaS and B2B companies through expert strategies, lead generation, and website optimization.", "potentialAction": { "@type": "SearchAction", "target": { "@type": "EntryPoint", "urlTemplate": "https://www.leanlabs.com/hs-search-results?term={search_term_string}" }, "query-input": "required name=search_term_string" } }, { "@id": "https://www.leanlabs.com/blog/how-to-build-an-seo-foundation-for-web-traffic", "url": "https://www.leanlabs.com/blog/how-to-build-an-seo-foundation-for-web-traffic", "name": "How to Build an SEO Foundation for Web Traffic", "@type": "WebPage", "about": [ { "@id": "https://www.leanlabs.com/blog/how-to-build-an-seo-foundation-for-web-traffic#article" }, { "@id": "https://www.leanlabs.com/blog/how-to-build-an-seo-foundation-for-web-traffic#howto" } ], "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://www.leanlabs.com/#website" }, "breadcrumb": { "@id": "https://www.leanlabs.com/blog/how-to-build-an-seo-foundation-for-web-traffic#breadcrumb" }, "inLanguage": "en-US", "description": "Learn the 4-step SEO foundation strategy for building organic web traffic: discover what customers want, how they search, prioritize content, then write and publish.", "dateModified": "2026-06-09", "isAccessibleForFree": true }, { "@id": "https://www.leanlabs.com/blog/how-to-build-an-seo-foundation-for-web-traffic#breadcrumb", "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "item": "https://www.leanlabs.com/", "name": "Home", "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1 }, { "item": "https://www.leanlabs.com/blog", "name": "Blog", "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2 }, { "item": "https://www.leanlabs.com/blog/topic/growth-marketing", "name": "Growth Marketing", "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3 }, { "name": "How to Build an SEO Foundation for Web Traffic", "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4 } ] }, { "@id": "https://www.leanlabs.com/blog/how-to-build-an-seo-foundation-for-web-traffic#article", "@type": "BlogPosting", "author": { "name": "Kevin Barber", "@type": "Person", "sameAs": [ "https://www.linkedin.com/in/thekevinbarber", "https://www.thekevinbarber.com/", "https://www.entities.org/entity/kevin-barber" ], "jobTitle": "Head of AI Growth" }, "headline": "How to Build an SEO Foundation for Web Traffic", "isPartOf": { "url": "https://www.leanlabs.com/blog/planning-guide-inbound-marketing-strategy-tactics", "name": "The Ultimate Guide to Inbound Marketing Strategies and Tactics", "@type": "BlogPosting" }, "keywords": "SEO foundation, web traffic, organic traffic, keyword research, content strategy, content calendar, SEO content", "publisher": { "@id": "https://www.leanlabs.com/#organization", "logo": { "url": "https://www.leanlabs.com/favicon.ico", "@type": "ImageObject" }, "name": "Lean Labs", "@type": "Organization" }, "wordCount": 1100, "inLanguage": "en-US", "description": "Learn the 4-step SEO foundation strategy for building organic web traffic: discover what customers want, how they search, prioritize content, then write and publish.", "dateModified": "2019-05-03T17:04:30.154Z", "datePublished": "2015-05-12T19:59:00.000Z", "articleSection": "Growth Marketing", "potentialAction": { "@type": "ReadAction", "target": "https://www.leanlabs.com/blog/how-to-build-an-seo-foundation-for-web-traffic" }, "mainEntityOfPage": { "@id": "https://www.leanlabs.com/blog/how-to-build-an-seo-foundation-for-web-traffic" }, "isAccessibleForFree": true }, { "@id": "https://www.leanlabs.com/blog/how-to-build-an-seo-foundation-for-web-traffic#howto", "name": "How to Build an SEO Foundation for Web Traffic", "step": [ { "name": "Find Out What Your Customers Want", "text": "Create an exhaustive 100-question inventory based on every logical customer inquiry. Start with questions you already know, then consult your sales and support teams for additional questions they field regularly. Open the process to your entire organization to surface ideas from every department.", "@type": "HowToStep", "position": 1 }, { "name": "Find Out How Your Customers Are Searching", "text": "Use keyword research tools to determine the exact words and phrases your ideal customers are searching. Tools like Keyword Tool, HubSpot's keyword tool, or Google AdWords Keyword Planner can generate long-tail keyword suggestions, competition data, and search volume statistics to inform your content strategy.", "@type": "HowToStep", "position": 2 }, { "name": "Prioritize, Group and Schedule", "text": "Rank your article topics by search volume and competition data from your keyword research. Consider which topics align with your unique value proposition. Break the list into themed tiers and build a content calendar to distribute topics throughout the year, scheduled around key industry events.", "@type": "HowToStep", "position": 3 }, { "name": "Write and Publish", "text": "Generate each piece of content, targeting all 100 articles from your prioritized list. These foundational SEO articles answer the questions your target audience is asking in the exact words they use. Maintain this strategy for the first two to four quarters before exploring more sophisticated marketing tactics.", "@type": "HowToStep", "position": 4 } ], "@type": "HowTo", "description": "A 4-step process for building a foundation of pillar content that attracts organic search traffic from your target market." } ], "@context": "https://schema.org" } { "@type": "BlogPosting", "@context": "https://schema.org", "articleBody": "If you're just getting started with your online presence and digital marketing, it can be hard to prioritize tasks and make headway while keeping an eye on the big picture. When starting from scratch, getting overwhelmed is to be expected, especially given all of the (often conflicting) advice on how to achieve marketing success. Experts espouse the merits of A/B testing, sales funnel modeling, marketing automation platforms, blogger outreach, link building and virtually countless more tactics. SEO Foundation - Build Traffic First This article is lesson 2 in a twelve-part series The Ultimate Guide to Inbound Marketing Strategies and Tactics You may even find yourself tempted to focus on expert-level initiatives like thought leadership development right from the get-go, but your first and most pressing move must be to build a foundation of pillar content that attracts organic traffic from your target market. The more sophisticated, proactive marketing measures don't work unless you've already established a minimal baseline of visits to your site. Set some kind of traffic milestone that makes sense for you, whether it's 500 uniques weekly or 10,000 daily, and decide that until you reach this benchmark, you won't even think about blogger outreach, A/B testing and the like. Building consistent organic traffic is your first priority, and here's how to do it. Step 1 Find Out What Your Customers Want Your target audience is presumably researching options for potential solutions before making a purchase decision. According to one recent study, in fact, 80% of B2C customers like to check their options online before making larger purchases, performing extensive research that can last between 38 and 135 days, depending on the product category. Similarly, in the B2B world, Demand Gen Report's research has found that 52% of decision makers view no fewer than eight online sources before selecting a vendor. Ultimately, you need to ensure that those searching for information about products that you sell are able to find you. Before you can give them the content they want, though, you'll need to figure out what it is that they want. You probably already know a lot of the frequently asked questions relevant to your business. Compiling a comprehensive list, however, is another matter. Your initial goal should be to create an exhaustive 100-question inventory based on every logical customer inquiry. Considering that you may be able to come up with the first 25 by yourself, where do the other 75 come from? Consult your trusty sales and support divisions immediately. They are the ones who field every question, from the logical to the inane. Then, check with others inside your organization. Considering that content creation is everybody’s job, not just a “marketing department” responsibility, if you make it clear that you’re absolutely open to new ideas, they’ll likely start sending them your way. Just remember to thank those who submit new concepts and questions, even if you don’t end up using them. The last thing you want to do is discourage your in-house sources. Step 2 Find Out How Your Customers Are Searching Seemingly subtle differences in wording, tense or number can be critical when determining which keywords and phrases to emphasize in your content. For example, if you are a department store and your internal category of small kitchen appliances is called “kitchen electrics” on all of your internal reporting and store signage, it simply stands to reason that you would optimize for the phrase “kitchen electrics.” If you did that, though, you would be making a costly mistake – people are far more likely to search Google for kitchen appliances. This is a critical SEO fundamental. In order to determine exactly which words and phrases your ideal customers are Googling, employ a keyword tool like Keyword Tool (see how they optimized their name?), which instantly generates up to 750 alternative, longer-tail suggestions for every keyword, for free. Alternatively, you can use Hubspot’s keyword tool, which will help you to identify keyword opportunities that are within your reach – as well as conversion path ideas, keywords favored by your competitors and long-tail opportunities. Although the most popular service for this kind of research is undoubtedly the Google AdWords Keyword Planner, you need an AdWords account to use it. The advantages to the AdWords planner, however, are notable. It’s not only free but also provides competition and search volume statistics, which is data you're going to need for our next step. Step 3 Prioritize, Group and Schedule Now that you know what your customers want and how they’re going about searching for it, you likely have an exceedingly long list of topics staring you in the face.Clearly, you cannot generate 100 articles immediately. You're going to need to prioritize which topics will generate the most traction the fastest. Rank your list of articles based on the search volume and search competition data you gathered using your keyword tool. You might also do well to consider which topics speak most directly to your unique value proposition, since you want to capitalize on the specialties, features and benefits that differentiate your product from the competition. Once you’ve determined your priorities, break down the list into tiers or themed groups. Your goal here is to turn it all into veritable bundles of monthly content activity. Not only will this process help you avoid content generation overwhelm, it will form the basis of your communications calendar. Although a content calendar may seem complicated or intimidating, it’s actually quite straightforward and empowers you to visualize how your (already prioritized) topics will be distributed throughout the year. You can schedule your articles around key industry events, ensure content publication consistency and generate reminders for yourself to ensure that each article is ready on time. Step 4 Write and Publish It’s finally time to get in the trenches. You are now armed with all the knowledge required to carry out your organic traffic creation plan, and all you have to do now is generate each piece of content efficiently. Yes, all 100 articles. These SEO foundation articles are not going to be super sexy, but they're going to give you the traffic baseline you need so you can build on the momentum they give you. Keep in mind – this is the information that is most important to the people most likely to become your next happy customers. It will draw them to your site, since you’re answering the questions they’re asking in the exact words they’re asking them. When starting from zero, utilize this foundational strategy for at least the first two quarters of your efforts, and potentially the first four. Once your SEO-centric articles have started generating relevant traffic, then (and only then) should you start exploring more sophisticated marketing tactics.", "articleSection": ["Growth Marketing"], "keywords": ["Growth Marketing"], "author": [ { "@type": "Person", "name": "Ben Jacobson", "url": "https://www.leanlabs.com/blog/author/ben-jacobson" } ], "dateModified": "2026-07-22 09:15:19.000Z", "description": "If you're just getting started with your online presence and digital marketing, it can be hard to prioritize tasks and make headway while keeping an eye on the big picture. When starting from scratch, getting overwhelmed is to be expected, especially given all of the (often conflicting) advice on how to achieve marketing success. Experts espouse the merits of A/B testing, sales funnel modeling, marketing automation platforms, blogger outreach, link building and virtually countless more tactics.", "headline": "How to Build an SEO Foundation for Web Traffic", "image": [ { "@type": "ImageObject", "contentUrl": "http://www.lean-labs.com/hubfs/blog_post_imgs/seo-foundation.jpg", "url": "http://www.lean-labs.com/hubfs/blog_post_imgs/seo-foundation.jpg", "caption": "How to Build an SEO Foundation for Web Traffic", "sourceOrganization": { "@type": "Organization", "name": "Lean Labs" }, "width": "600", "height": "315", "creditText": "Ben Jacobson/Lean Labs", "dateCreated": "2015-05-12 03:59:00.000Z" } ], "thumbnailUrl": "http://www.lean-labs.com/hubfs/blog_post_imgs/seo-foundation.jpg", "inLanguage": "en", "isPartOf": { "@type" : "Blog", "@id": "https://www.lean-labs.com/blog/", "name": "Lean Labs Blog", "publisher": { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://www.lean-labs.com", "name": "Lean Labs" } }, "mainEntityOfPage": { "@type": "WebPage", "@context": "https://schema.org", "url": "https://www.leanlabs.com/blog/how-to-build-an-seo-foundation-for-web-traffic", "dateModified": "2026-07-22 09:15:19.000Z", "inLanguage": "en", "additionalType": "article_leaf", "publisher": { "@type": "Organization", "name": "Lean Labs", "@id": "https://www.lean-labs.com/#organization", "logo": "https://www.lean-labs.com/hubfs/LL%20V4.1/logos/LL%20Logo%20Dark.svg", "url": "https://www.lean-labs.com/", "sameAs": [ "https://www.linkedin.com/company/lean-labs/", "https://ecosystem.hubspot.com/marketplace/solutions/lean-labs", "https://www.glassdoor.com/Reviews/Lean-Labs-Reviews-E3982766.htm", "https://www.youtube.com/@LeanLabs1", "https://www.facebook.com/LeanLabs/", "https://x.com/leanlabs?lang=en", "https://rocketreach.co/lean-labs-profile_b5f5471df42d3400", "https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/lean-labs-eed8" ] }, "name": "How to Build an SEO Foundation for Web Traffic", "headline": "How to Build an SEO Foundation for Web Traffic", "description": "If you're just getting started with your online presence and digital marketing, it can be hard to prioritize tasks and make headway while keeping an eye on the big picture. When starting from scratch, getting overwhelmed is to be expected, especially given all of the (often conflicting) advice on how to achieve marketing success. Experts espouse the merits of A/B testing, sales funnel modeling, marketing automation platforms, blogger outreach, link building and virtually countless more tactics.", "datePublished": "2015-05-12 03:59:00.000Z" }, "publisher": { "@type": "Organization", "name": "Lean Labs", "logo": "https://www.lean-labs.com/hubfs/LL%20V4.1/logos/LL%20Logo%20Dark.svg", "url": "https://www.lean-labs.com/", "sameAs": [ "https://www.linkedin.com/company/lean-labs/", "https://ecosystem.hubspot.com/marketplace/solutions/lean-labs", "https://www.glassdoor.com/Reviews/Lean-Labs-Reviews-E3982766.htm", "https://www.youtube.com/@LeanLabs1", "https://www.facebook.com/LeanLabs/", "https://x.com/leanlabs?lang=en", "https://rocketreach.co/lean-labs-profile_b5f5471df42d3400", "https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/lean-labs-eed8" ] }, "wordCount": 1440, "datePublished": "2015-05-12 03:59:00.000Z", "isAccessibleForFree": true } ```