Project page opened with the first research, the first optimization and the draft targets.
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SEO for Business Success
An open SEO project: how this new site goes after the first page for business consulting and project management in Utah and the United States, with the numbers and the mistakes.
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Overview
I tell clients that every goal should become a project with an owner, a plan and a number. This is that rule applied to myself. My goal is to become the business consultant and project manager that people in Utah and across the United States find first when they search for help, and I want to do it in the open.
The site is brand new, which makes it a clean experiment: it started in October 2026 with no history and no links. Everything I do from here, what I research, what I change and what happens afterward, is recorded below with its date. That includes the optimizations that do not work, because those are the ones other people can learn the most from.
The project runs in stages: foundation, keyword research, quick wins, a content engine of guides, templates and series, authority building, and a monthly review. Each month I will publish a short report with the real numbers from Google Search Console. Nothing here is a guarantee. New sites rarely rank quickly, and I will say so when the numbers are bad.
- Started from zero in October 2026
- Every change is dated and logged, with its result
- Failures are published too
- A monthly report with real Search Console numbers
- Built on research of 180 keywords, plus a read of the real search results
180Keywords researched
54Pages live on Oct 20, 2026
25Guides published
8Free templates
Draft targets
Where I want to be.
These are targets, not promises. I will revise them when the first real data arrives and I will report the misses.
In 3 months
Every page indexed and showing in Search Console, with impressions for 100 or more different searches.
In 6 months
A top-10 result for at least three Utah searches, and three template pages on the first two pages of Google.
In 12 months
500 or more clicks a month from Google, and ten quality links from sites I do not own.
What I have learned so far
What worked, what did not, and what I learned.
Honest and early. There is no traffic data yet, so the first lessons come from the research and the build.
What worked
- Reading the real first page for each keyword. For many of my target searches the top 10 includes Reddit threads, job boards, university and government pages, which suggests a focused expert page can compete.
- Researching in bulk: 180 keywords in two imports gave me volume and price for every one for very little research credit.
What did not work
- Trusting the tool's competition columns. The "allintitle" and "golden score" figures loaded as almost zero for nearly every keyword, even terms with thousands of competing pages, so I threw them out and judged difficulty by reading the results myself.
Lessons learned
- Local searches in Utah are tiny. "Business consultant utah" has about 40 searches a month and most other Utah phrases fewer than 10. Local pages are for turning visitors into leads, not for traffic. The volume is in national topics such as construction project management and templates.
- A brand-new site has no authority, so the first months go to long-tail topics, templates and local pages, and then to earning links.
- A host's CDN can serve old files for a year. Always check the live file, not only the local one.
- It is too early to conclude anything about rankings. The first full Search Console report arrives in November.
The log
Every change, with its date.
Newest first. "Pending" means I changed something and am waiting for data to judge it.
- Oct 20, 2026OptimizationPending
Rewrote the title tags of 12 articles to match how people search, for example "Scope Creep: What It Is and How to Stop It" instead of "How to Stop Scope Creep: Say Yes, No and Not Yet". Titles only: the headings and the web addresses did not change.
See the 12 title changes
How to Stop Scope Creep: Say Yes, No and Not Yet
Scope Creep: What It Is and How to Stop ItEarned Value in Plain English: Cost and Schedule
Earned Value Management (EVM) in Plain EnglishStakeholder Mapping: Who Can Make or Break a Project
Stakeholder Analysis: Power-Interest Grid GuideRisk Register for Small Business: A Simple Guide
Risk Register Template and Guide for Small BusinessProject Communication Plan People Actually Read
Project Communication Plan: Template and GuideAgile, Waterfall or Hybrid: Choose What Fits
Agile vs Waterfall vs Hybrid: Choose What FitsDashboards Without Vanity Metrics: What to Watch
Project Management Dashboard: What Leaders WatchProject Closeout and Lessons Learned That Work
Project Closeout Checklist and Lessons LearnedCapacity Planning: Find the Bottleneck Early
Resource Capacity Planning and BottlenecksBenefits Realization: When a Project Is Really Done
Benefits Realization Management: A Practical GuideContract Risks That Cost Projects Money
Contract Management Best Practices for ProjectsChange Management: Why Good Projects Fail on People
Change Management Process: The People Side
- Oct 20, 2026ResearchDone
Researched 180 keywords in WriterZen with Google data for the United States, and read the real first page for the main ones. Findings: Utah searches are tiny, national project management and construction topics have the volume, and template searches are a real opportunity.
- Oct 20, 2026TechnicalLesson
Found that the host's CDN keeps files for a year and was serving old versions of three videos. Fixed it with versioned file addresses.
- Oct 20, 2026ContentPending
Published a free toolkit of eight templates, a guides hub that groups the 25 articles into topics, a public roadmap and links between all of them.
- Oct 19, 2026ContentPending
Published 15 long guides (2,000 words or more) with images, FAQs, interactive tools and links between them. Internal link check: no broken links, and at least three links pointing to every page.
- Oct 19, 2026SetupDone
Verified the site in Google Search Console with a DNS record and submitted the sitemap.
- Oct 12, 2026SetupDone
Launched the site with clean addresses, a sitemap, robots.txt, structured data and a title and description on every page.
Roadmap
Where it stands.
- Foundation: site, sitemap and Search ConsoleDone
- Keyword research and content planDone
- Quick wins: titles and service pagesIn progress
- Content engine: templates, guides and seriesIn progress
- Authority: local profile, partners and linksNext
- Measure and publish a report every monthIn progress
Updates
Latest news.
Keep exploring
Related reading and services.
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06
12
Data & Decisions · 11 min read
Data-Driven Project Management: Measure What Moves the Result
Data does not manage projects, people do. How to pick the few numbers that change decisions, collect them without drama and act on them every week.
Interactive tool: Is your project data-driven?
08
Data & Decisions · 10 min read
Dashboards Without Vanity Metrics: What Leaders Should Actually Watch
A good dashboard answers three questions in ten seconds. How to spot vanity metrics, design one page per audience and keep it honest over time.
Interactive tool: Dashboard honesty test
06
Strategy & Results · 11 min read
Benefits Realization: A Project Is Only Done When the Result Shows Up
A project can finish on time and on budget and still deliver nothing. How to connect what you build to the result you wanted, and prove it.
Interactive tool: Benefits readiness check
12
Delivery & Governance · 10 min read
Project Governance for Small Teams: Just Enough Structure
Governance sounds heavy, but a small team needs five things: clear roles, a decision rhythm, decision rights, simple gates and a record of choices.
Interactive tool: Governance check
Next step
Let's find the project that moves your business.
Tell me where things are stuck. I will tell you which project I would start with.