Using playbooks

What a playbook is

A playbook is a ready-made starting point for a common kind of SEO engagement: a draft strategy with objectives, workstreams and, if you want them, 10 to 12 starter tasks. It saves you the blank page. It is not a locked template. Everything it creates is a normal draft that you edit, rename or delete.

A playbook is careful about what it does not do. It adds a new draft strategy and never touches anything that already exists. It leaves targets and figures blank, because those belong to the client. Nothing is shared with the client until you share it.

Apply a playbook

1. Open the client and choose Create strategy, or use the playbook picker in the client onboarding wizard.
2. Pick the playbook that fits. The picker shows what it is best for, how long it usually takes and what it will create.
3. Choose whether to add the starter tasks. If you give a start date, the tasks get due dates spread by week.
4. Review the draft strategy, change what does not fit and add the client’s real targets.

The four playbooks

Technical SEO Audit

Best for: a new or one-off engagement that starts with a health check. Usually: about 4 to 6 weeks.

Objectives: find and fix what blocks crawling and indexing; improve page experience and speed; deliver a prioritised roadmap the client approves.

Workstreams: crawl and indexation; site architecture and internal linking; page speed and Core Web Vitals; reporting and roadmap. Starter tasks: 12, from getting access and running a full crawl to writing the audit and requesting client approval of the roadmap.

Informational Website

Best for: blogs, resource centres, publishers and brochure sites that grow through content. Usually: ongoing, with the first 6 weeks setting the foundations.

Objectives: build topical authority; grow organic traffic; improve rankings for priority topics; appear in AI answers where relevant.

Workstreams: topic and keyword strategy; content production and refresh; site structure and topic hubs; internal linking; authority and links; AI and LLM visibility; technical foundations. Starter tasks: 11.

Local SEO

Best for: businesses that serve a local area, such as trades, clinics, shops and professional services. Usually: a monthly programme, with the first 6 weeks setting the foundations.

Objectives: appear in the local map results for core services; increase calls and direction requests; strengthen reviews and local trust.

Workstreams: Business Profile optimisation; citations and consistent business details; location and service pages; reviews; local links; local markup and technical. Starter tasks: 10.

eCommerce

Best for: online shops with categories, products and filters. Usually: ongoing, with the first 6 weeks setting the foundations.

Objectives: grow organic conversions and sales; win visibility for the main category pages; remove technical issues that waste crawling; improve the quality of organic traffic.

Workstreams: category-first keyword strategy; filters, pagination and canonicals; category and product content; category structure; conversion improvements; links and PR; internal linking. Starter tasks: 10.

Measures to track

Each playbook suggests the measures that suit it, such as Search Console clicks and GA4 organic sessions. Measures that need a connected source show Unavailable until you connect one, and a few are entered by hand, for example open crawl issues or map-pack rankings. See Measures and data sources.

After you apply one

• Creating a strategy
• Creating tasks
• Importing a crawl

Common questions

Can I use more than one playbook for a client?

Yes. Each application adds another new draft strategy. Nothing already in the client is changed.

Can I add my own playbooks?

No. The four playbooks are built in. For repeatable lists of tasks of your own, build task templates.

Is a playbook the same as a task template?

No. A playbook creates a whole draft strategy (objectives, workstreams and tasks). A task template creates one set of tasks and subtasks, such as a technical audit checklist.