SEO Strategy 2018 Template: What to Include

An SEO strategy template from 2018 serves as a structured framework that helps agencies document client goals, competitive positioning, keyword targets, and implementation timelines all in one place. At its core, it's a document that bridges the gap between what a client wants to achieve and how your team will actually execute the work. The template typically includes sections for site audit findings, current performance baselines, keyword research summaries, content gaps, technical improvements needed, and a month-by-month action plan. For agencies managing multiple clients with varying industries and complexity levels, a solid template ensures consistency in how you approach discovery and planning while also creating a reusable document type that saves significant time on proposal writing and project kickoffs.

Why this matters for your agency comes down to client management and accountability. When you present a comprehensive 2018-era SEO strategy template to a client, you're immediately establishing credibility and demonstrating that you've done real work before starting execution. Clients see the competitive analysis section showing which sites rank for their target keywords, the technical audit revealing specific on-page and backend issues, and the projected timeline with realistic expectations. This transparency reduces scope creep and misaligned expectations later. Internally, the template keeps your team aligned—developers know what technical work is needed, content creators see the keyword clusters and topics to target, and your account managers have a clear checklist to track progress against the documented plan.

Practically speaking, build your agency template around five core sections. Start with the situation analysis, which includes the current state of the client's website in search results, their existing traffic sources, and technical performance metrics like page speed and crawl errors. Then create a competitive analysis section that identifies the top five to ten ranking competitors and summarizes their keyword strategies, backlink profiles, and content strengths. The keyword research section should organize targets by search intent (informational, commercial, transactional) and show monthly search volume and difficulty scores so clients understand why you're prioritizing certain terms. Include a content audit that maps existing pages to target keywords and identifies gaps where new content needs to be created. Finally, add your implementation roadmap—this is where you list specific deliverables month by month, from technical fixes in month one through new content pieces, internal linking improvements, and link-building initiatives across the timeline.

The 2018 template approach is particularly useful because it predates the overwhelming complexity of AI-driven tools and algorithm updates, giving it lasting practical value. While the specific ranking factors and technical recommendations have evolved, the structural logic of thoroughly auditing, analyzing competitors, identifying opportunities, and mapping a phased execution plan remains evergreen.