What basic requirements and preparations should you confirm before starting SEO?

Before starting SEO for a website, confirm that you have a website to optimize, check whether its pages are indexed by search engines, and choose keywords that reflect how consumers search. If a team will be doing the work, also clarify business goals, budget, and resources. Next, review representative pages, compare competitors in search results, and choose tools based on their intended use. The key to preparation is not buying every tool, but knowing which pages to improve, which search needs to serve, and how to track results.

Clarify which business goals SEO should support

Semrush’s article for startups recommends first explaining to management how SEO can support revenue and customer acquisition to secure budget and resources. This is advice on organizational preparation, not a search engine ranking requirement.

For example, general informational articles can reach visitors encountering the brand for the first time, while more specific, problem-solving content can attract and nurture potential customers. Clarifying the purpose of the content helps explain why it deserves investment, rather than simply saying, “We want higher rankings.”

Check the website and its indexing status, then identify common issues

A 2010 awoo article lists a website, indexing, and suitable keywords as three prerequisites. Its 2017 article emphasizes that a page must be indexed to have a chance of appearing in search results. For pages that are not yet indexed, first check whether search engines can read them rather than moving straight to a discussion of rankings.

For websites with product and category pages, the 2017 article suggests the following review order as a reference for planning the work:

• Check the homepage first.
• Select representative product pages and category pages at each level.
• Compile issues shared across pages and prioritize fixes.

The reasoning is that pages of the same type often have similar structures, so an issue found on one page may also exist on others. This does not mean that every page is in exactly the same condition.

Match keywords to search needs and assess the competition

Keyword preparation involves more than listing product names. According to awoo’s early advice, choose terms that reflect consumers’ search habits and can be read by search engines, then review the corresponding pages.

Its 2017 article also recommends reviewing search results for target keywords and comparing websites of a similar size with similar page types. If large platforms or authoritative websites dominate the results, consider less competitive terms. This is guidance for choosing topics, not a rule that large websites always win or that other websites have no chance.

Choose tools by purpose and look beyond rankings

Forum users do not agree on a single set of tools: some consider Ahrefs essential, while others recommend choosing tools based on their purpose, or starting with Google Analytics and one of SEMrush, Ahrefs, or Screaming Frog, then adding more once familiar with them. These are user recommendations, not a mandatory shopping list.

Performance tracking should also connect back to business goals. Beyond rankings, awoo’s 2017 article recommends monitoring search traffic, the pages visitors land on, and revenue from conversions. These can guide what to measure, but instructions for using historical tools in the article should not be treated as tutorials for current interfaces.