sop · Growth
SEO Client Intake & Routing
SEO Client Intake & Routing
Purpose
Identify the correct SEO starting path for a new opportunity before a quotation, audit, or execution plan is prepared.
This SOP decides where the SEO work should start. It does not perform the downstream audit, architecture planning, keyword research, local SEO, ecommerce SEO, or content work itself.
When to Use
Use for a new SEO inquiry, a new website opportunity involving SEO, or a major SEO scope change where the client's current situation needs to be reassessed.
Owner
The SEO Lead/Strategist owns the final routing decision. Sales or the responsible client-facing person collects the initial information. Project Delivery may support scoping when delivery implications are material.
Required Inputs
Use the SEO Client Intake Checklist to collect the minimum information required for routing.
At minimum, confirm:
- whether a live website exists;
- website URL, if applicable;
- business/products/services;
- target audience and market/location;
- primary business goal;
- current SEO/business problem;
- whether a rebuild/new website is planned;
- timeline or urgency where relevant.
Routing Logic
Path A — Existing website improvement
Use when the client has a live website and wants to improve organic visibility, traffic, leads/sales, technical health, content, site structure, or conversion performance.
Starting point: Website SEO Audit.
The audit should determine current issues, opportunities, priorities, and likely scope before the team recommends execution work.
Path B — New website / no meaningful existing site
Use when the client has no website, only a minimal landing presence, or is planning a completely new site where the existing structure should not drive the new architecture.
Starting point: Website Architecture & SEO Planning.
Planning should determine the appropriate page structure, keyword/page mapping, URL structure, internal-linking approach, content direction, and relevant search/technical considerations before design/development proceeds.
Path C — Existing website being rebuilt
Use when a live website exists but the client plans a major redesign/rebuild.
Starting point: Audit the current website and use the findings to inform the new website architecture/SEO plan.
Do not discard useful ranking/content/link equity without first understanding the existing site.
Specialized cases
Some opportunities require a more specific downstream path after initial intake, for example:
- ecommerce SEO;
- local SEO;
- content-only engagements;
- migration/replatforming;
- international/multilingual SEO;
- recovery from a major technical/indexing issue.
The SEO Lead should select the most appropriate downstream SOP/assessment once the basic client situation is understood. Do not create a new intake SOP for every specialization.
Procedure
1. Collect intake information
Complete the minimum intake fields using the SEO Client Intake Checklist.
2. Determine website state
Classify the opportunity as:
- existing website;
- new/no website;
- existing website with major rebuild;
- specialized case requiring additional routing.
3. Confirm business intent
Understand the outcome the client is actually trying to improve—such as qualified organic traffic, leads, sales, bookings, local visibility, product discovery, or another business outcome.
Do not scope SEO purely from a keyword/ranking request without understanding the business objective.
4. Select the starting path
Choose the minimum diagnostic/planning work required to define a responsible SEO scope.
The default logic is:
- Existing site → audit first
- No/new site → architecture & SEO planning first
- Rebuild → audit current site + plan new architecture
5. Identify required downstream inputs
List what the next phase needs, which may include analytics/search-console access, CMS access, crawl data, competitor examples, target services/products, markets/locations, existing research, migration context, or other relevant information.
Do not request privileged credentials before they are actually required. Use approved secure access methods when access is needed.
6. Define quotation/scoping direction
Record the recommended starting service/assessment and the likely scope areas it will clarify.
Do not quote detailed execution work as confirmed if the diagnostic/planning stage is still required to determine that scope.
7. Hand off to the next canonical process
Once routing is confirmed, follow the relevant canonical SEO SOP when available. Until a downstream SOP exists in the library, clearly record the chosen workstream and owner without duplicating an entire process inside this intake SOP.
Completion Criteria
Intake/routing is complete when the team can clearly state:
- client/website state;
- primary business goal/problem;
- recommended SEO starting path;
- required next-step inputs;
- responsible owner;
- quotation/scoping direction;
- next SOP/workstream.
Exceptions / Escalation
Escalate to the SEO Lead when:
- the client's request conflicts with the apparent business/technical need;
- the website has a suspected penalty, hack, severe indexing loss, or migration failure;
- platform/access limitations may materially change the scope;
- a rebuild/migration could create significant organic-search risk;
- the team cannot responsibly estimate the work without deeper discovery.