About Our Process at TrioSEO

Many say, “SEO is dead,” but we disagree and have the results to prove it.

Search Engine Optimization, commonly called SEO, is the art and science of getting your website to appear on the first page of Google (and other search engines).

But today, being online isn’t enough. You have to stand out, and that’s where SEO comes into play—it’s like a spotlight on your website.

But here’s the thing: not all SEO is created equal. A good, clear plan makes all the difference.

Imagine building a house without a blueprint—sure, you can do it; however, your chances of success are low. SEO’s blueprint boils down to a trio of strategy, software, and a team of strong writers.

Discovery Audit: Learning About Your Company

The first piece of the puzzle involves familiarizing ourselves with your company, brand, and website.

After you’ve applied to work with us, we’ll review your application and set up a sales call.

From there, you’ll connect with one of our Owners, Nathan Hirsch, to learn more about our packages and the advantages of teaming up with TrioSEO.

Your Homework

Here, you can expect some light homework to help our team get up to speed.

We’ll want to know about your business, industry background, company history, customer profile, etc. This information will be kept on file so our writers can craft curated articles that speak directly to your future visitors.

You can get the process started by filling out this form: Get Started.

Our Homework

Next is the first phase of our Trio: strategy. Think of this as detective work.

We’ll perform an in-depth analysis and audit of your website and get a better understanding of your existing content.

We’ll reach out with the results and if we think it’s the right move to start working together.

In this phase, we’ll discuss our pricing and decide on a monthly package together.

If we work together, we’ll move into the next research phase: keywords and competitors.

Keyword Research

The most important part of our strategy is keyword research because it builds a roadmap of what topics to write, when, and how they relate to the big picture.

If you get this wrong, you’ll start heading down the wrong path—that’s why we spend extra time to ensure all our ducks are in a row from the beginning.

What’s Keyword Research?

Let’s imagine you have a lemonade stand. But instead of a brick-and-mortar location, it’s online.

Keyword research is like figuring out what words or phrases people might type into a search engine (like Google) when looking for lemonade.

Maybe they type “best lemonade recipe” or “refreshing summer drink.”

If you know these phrases, you can use them on your website (or write articles about them), so when someone searches for those words, your lemonade stand shows up in the results.

Just like you’d want people to find your lemonade stand, we want people to find your company, too!

We rely on an industry-trusted model called the “hub and spoke” strategy to do this.

Hub and Spoke Strategy

The hub and spoke model, a well-known strategy in the SEO world, works exceptionally well.

It works so well that it helped us scale FreeUp to $12 million in ARR, eventually leading to an exit in 2019 — Read the case study here.

Let’s return to our lemonade stand example and tell you about our strategy.

Imagine your main lemonade stand is in the center of a big park, and that’s your Hub.

Several paths lead to smaller lemonade-themed spots around the park from this main lemonade stand. These paths are like your Spokes.

Each of these smaller spots might have something different:

• One might tell the story of how you make your lemonade,
• Another might have fun lemonade recipes,
• Another might have games related to lemons.

In the world of websites and SEO:

Hub: This is a comprehensive article (like a detailed guide). It’s like the main lemonade stand, where you provide all the essential information about a topic. For example, “The Ultimate Guide to Making Lemonade.”

Spokes: These are more specific articles that branch out from the main topic but are related. Using our example, spokes might be “5 Unique Lemonade Recipes”, “The History of Lemonade,” or “Choosing the Best Lemons for Your Drink”. Each of these “spoke” articles will link back to the main “hub” page, and often, the hub will link out to these spokes.

Why Do We Use the Hub and Spoke SEO Strategy?

Well, this also relates to our Trio:

• Organization: It helps organize content in a clean and user-friendly way. Visitors can start at the hub for an overview and then dive deeper into specific areas of interest through the spokes.
• Growth: Search engines like when content is interconnected and organized. Having a hub and several spokes linking (within your website) to each other tells the search engine that you’ve got a lot of good information on that topic, which helps build authority on a given topic or group of topics.
• Increased Engagement: If visitors find one article (spoke) interesting, they might click on the link to the main guide (hub) or another related article (another spoke). This keeps them on your site longer, which is also good for SEO.

Our goal is simple: create high-quality content that tells search engines, “Hey, did you know this company is a subject matter expert in {your industry}?”

The more content you have on your website, the more a search engine understands your expertise- and with expertise comes authority.

A search engine has one job: match a user’s search to content that best:

• Answers the search intent
• Displays industry expertise
• Has showcased experience
• Has trust among peers

And how do we do that? Blog articles, and lots of them.

Writer Briefs

Once our keyword research is done, our roadmap is built.

We have a strong understanding of the road ahead, and it’s time to bring everything together in a content brief (also known as an “outline”).

Let’s stick with our lemonade stand analogy.

Imagine you want to tell the world about your lemonade stand and hire someone to write articles. However, this person has never tasted your lemonade or seen your stand.

You can’t just say, “Write something about my lemonade stand!” They might miss out on what makes your lemonade special, like that secret ingredient you use or how you serve it.

This is where a writer’s brief comes into play.

A brief is like giving that writer a detailed map, recipe, and a sample taste of your lemonade.

It provides:

• Direction: What specific topics should they cover? (e.g., “Talk about our grandma’s secret recipe.”)
• Keywords: What specific words or phrases (like “refreshing summer drink” or “best lemonade in town”) should they include when writing?
• Tone and Style: Should the writing be fun and playful or more serious and informative? (e.g., “Keep it light and fun, like a summer day!”)
• Goals: What do you want to achieve with the content? Do you want people to visit your stand, sign up for a lemonade-making class, or learn more about lemonade?

We use briefs to communicate our vision for every article.

Each section of the brief is SEO-rich and speaks to search engines. This is also where the second phase of the Trio enters the chat: software.

Our team uses advanced tools like Ahrefs and SEOwind to streamline the process.

We aim to eliminate guesswork, see what your competitors are doing (or not doing), and position your content to outrank existing results.

Working With Writers

After finalizing your brief, our writers will do what they do best: write engaging, high-quality content—this is the third component of TrioSEO.

Once a draft is completed, we’ll ensure it meets our quality threshold by:

• Double checking keywords are properly positioned
• Pictures (if any) are royalty-free and ready to use
• Running the draft through a plagiarism scanner
• Ensuring the writer has adhered to the brief
• Tones and messaging are accurate
• Titles are engaging and inviting
• Brand guidelines are followed

If your article needs edits after publication, we’ll connect with the writer, communicate your feedback, and work with them to refine the piece.

Then, once a draft is finalized, our team starts the upload process.

Uploading Articles and Optimizing On-Page SEO

The next step is to upload content and get it ready to be published.

At this time, we’ll follow on-page SEO best practices and continue optimizing the article.

What is On-page SEO?

Alright, let’s dive back into our lemonade stand adventure!

Imagine your lemonade stand is not just any stand but a fun, lemon-themed park. People don’t just visit to drink lemonade; they come to experience everything! But to ensure people enjoy their time and can find all the attractions easily, you need signs, clear paths, and a few fun surprises.

On-page SEO is like setting up your park so everything runs smoothly and people can find their way around (these people are search engines).

We’ll manage several different things, such as:

• Title Tags: Imagine you have a big, bright sign at the entrance that says “World’s Best Lemonade Stand!” That’s the title of your article, and it tells people (and search engines) the main topic and invites them to click.
• Meta Descriptions: Now, right below that sign, there’s a smaller board that describes what they can find inside: “Fresh lemonade, fun lemon games, and delicious lemon pies!” This is like the meta description. It gives search engines a summary of what the article is about.
• Headers and Subheaders: The park includes sections like “Lemonade Tasting” or “Lemon Pie Baking.” Big signs labeling these sections are like article headings and subheadings, helping organize content.
• Keyword Usage: If people in the park frequently talk about “refreshing lemonade” because that’s what they love, then mentioning “refreshing lemonade” in your signs and attractions makes sense. In your article, this means using relevant keywords naturally within the content.
• Image Alt Text: In some spots, there are fun pictures. But what if someone can’t see them? A small description describing what it shows (like “kids enjoying lemon ice cream”) is like the alt text for images in your article. It explains the image to those who can’t see it (and to search engines). We’ll manage this also.
• Internal Links: You’ve set up pathways and signs in the park pointing towards other attractions, such as, “Enjoyed the lemon pie? Try our lemon ice cream next!” These pathways are like internal links in your article, guiding visitors to other relevant content. Returning to our hub and spoke strategy, we pre-plan internal links to ensure content is grouped appropriately.

In general, on-page SEO ensures that when someone visits your article (or lemon park), they can easily find what they’re looking for, understand what each section is about, and discover new things they didn’t know they were interested in.

Plus, it tells search engines what your content is about so they can show it to the right people.

Then, once your article is formatted, it’s time to publish it and monitor results.

Analysis and Reporting

The last piece to the puzzle brings us back to software.

Our team will monitor, track, and provide reports about the progress of your content.

SEO is like a garden: your articles are the seedlings, and with due time, they sprout and come to life, bringing visitors to your website.

Because we understand that SEO content is an investment, our team will set you up with monthly and quarterly reports to track the progress of everything.

Next Steps

TrioSEO is grounded in strategy, software, and a strong team of writers.

While every client is different, our repeatable, systematic process allows us to scale content efficiently and effectively.

Want help driving organic traffic to your website?

Get started with a free SEO audit.

Want to see how we’ve done it for our own companies? Check out our case studies:

Read FreeUp SEO Case Study

Read EcomBalance SEO Case Study