SEO strategy: how to build one in 6 steps, with real data from Chile

An SEO strategy is the plan that defines which Google searches a company wants to win, with which pages and in what order. Without that plan, SEO becomes a list of loose tasks: fix titles, publish articles, buy links. With it, every action points to a search that brings customers. This guide explains how to build an SEO strategy in six steps, with real search data from Chile and what studies say about how long it takes.

What an SEO strategy is and why you need one

SEO stands for search engine optimization: optimizing a site so it shows up in Google's organic (unpaid) results. An SEO strategy answers three questions: who you are talking to, what that person searches for and what your site needs to show up when they do.

The reason to plan is that competition for clicks is very uneven. An Ahrefs study of 14 billion pages, published in December 2023, found that 96.55% of pages get no traffic at all from Google. And according to Backlinko, which analyzed 4 million results, the first organic result gets an average 27.6% of clicks and the top three get 54.4%.

96.55%of pages get no traffic from Google

27.6%of clicks go to the first result

54.4%of clicks go to the top three

1.74%of new pages reach the top 10 within a year

Source: Ahrefs search traffic study (2023), Ahrefs, how long it takes to rank and Backlinko, Google CTR

View the data as a table

of pages get no traffic from Google	96.55%
of clicks go to the first result	27.6%
of clicks go to the top three	54.4%
of new pages reach the top 10 within a year	1.74%

In Chile, Google is still the front door: according to StatCounter, it handled 89.75% of searches in October 2026.

Step 1: set business goals, not traffic goals

The goal of an SEO strategy is not "more visits". It is selling more, getting more quote requests or showing up when a customer compares suppliers. So the first step is choosing the metric that matters: forms submitted, ecommerce sales or calls. Visits are a means.

For a marketing manager, this changes the conversation with the agency or in-house team: instead of asking how many keywords went up, you ask how many customers came from Google and what each one cost.

Step 2: research searches and separate intent

Keyword research shows what people type into Google and how many times a month. The most important part is separating intent: whether the person wants to learn something (informational) or wants to hire or buy (commercial).

A real example. Take a Chilean company that sells payroll software. We checked its searches with Google Ads data, via DataForSEO, on November 6, 2026:

The lesson is clear: the search that sells ("payroll software") gets 140 searches a month, but each Google Ads click costs more than 26 dollars. Informational searches have a hundred times the volume and are worth cents. A good SEO strategy uses both: a service page for the commercial search and a calculator or guide for the informational ones, which brings visits, links and trust. To go deeper on this step, see our guide to SEO ranking.

finiquito cálculo (severance calculation)27,100

liquidación de sueldo (payslip)18,100

calculadora de finiquito (severance calculator)12,100

gratificación legal (legal bonus)4,400

libro de remuneraciones electrónico (electronic payroll book)390

software de remuneraciones (payroll software)140

software rrhh (HR software)50

Source: Google Ads via DataForSEO, Chile, November 6, 2026

View the data as a table

finiquito cálculo (severance calculation)	27,100 · CPC US$0.15 · informational
liquidación de sueldo (payslip)	18,100 · CPC US$0.67 · informational
calculadora de finiquito (severance calculator)	12,100 · CPC US$0.13 · informational
gratificación legal (legal bonus)	4,400 · CPC US$0.13 · informational
libro de remuneraciones electrónico (electronic payroll book)	390 · CPC US$3.10 · informational
software de remuneraciones (payroll software)	140 · CPC US$26.06 · commercial
software rrhh (HR software)	50 · CPC US$14.11 · commercial

Step 3: assign one page to each search

With the list of searches, the next step is assigning them to pages. Each important search should have one page that answers it. If two pages compete for the same thing, Google hesitates and neither rises (this is called cannibalization).

In the payroll software example, that means one page for "payroll software", one free severance calculator for the high-volume searches and a guide on payslips, each targeting its own search and all linking to the service page. Splitting it this way also makes it easier to measure which page brings leads.

The most common structure is pillar and satellites: a main page (the service page or category) and several articles that answer related questions and link to it. Those internal links tell Google which page is most important in the group.

Step 4: optimize the site and the content

Before creating new content, review what already exists. An SEO audit shows the technical errors holding the site back: pages Google can't crawl, duplicate content, slow mobile pages. Then comes on-page SEO: titles, headings and copy that answer the search well.

Google sums it up in its SEO starter guide: the goal is to help search engines understand content and help users find it. The same guide warns that the keywords meta tag is not used and that keyword stuffing goes against its spam policies.

Step 5: build authority with links and mentions

A well-made page competes against other well-made pages. What breaks the tie, in most cases, is authority: how many trusted sites link to it or mention the brand. That work is called link building, and in a business SEO strategy it is usually the step that weighs most for competitive searches.

The most effective ways are earning articles in national and industry media, publishing studies with proprietary data that others cite, and appearing in industry directories and comparison sites. The same links do something else: the outlets ChatGPT and Gemini cite are largely the ones Google considers trustworthy. To see how it is done in Chile, check the service at esbuenisimolinks.com/link-building-chile.

Step 6: measure, adjust and be patient

SEO takes time. Google's own guide says some changes show up in hours and others can take several months. Ahrefs data puts numbers on it:

That is why an SEO strategy is evaluated in three-to-six-month cycles, with Google Search Console as the base tool: it shows the searches the site appears for, its position and clicks. The data from the Ahrefs study on how long it takes to rank is from the United States, but the pattern repeats in any market: older pages with authority dominate.

How to know if your SEO strategy is working

There are three signals worth checking every month. First, that the commercial searches you chose move up, even if only from page three to page two. Second, that clicks from Google to the pages that sell grow, not just to the blog. Third, that leads or sales come in from organic traffic.

If after six months none of the three moves, the problem is usually in step 2 (wrong searches) or step 5 (lack of authority). To work out whether the investment pays off, see our guide to link building ROI. And if you prefer to delegate it, an SEO agency that works toward business goals can build the plan with you.