When you’re part of a small SEO team – or running solo – you don’t have the luxury of endless hours, duplicated effort, or constant rethinking.
Every task matters. Every hour counts.
When you’re spinning plates between audits, content, reporting, and client management, systems are the difference between growth and chaos.
That’s why SOPs (standard operating procedures) are the not-so-secret weapon behind some of the most efficient (and profitable) small SEO operations I know.
If your team is still doing things based on “who remembers how we did it last time,” this one’s for you.
Every SEO team has repetitive tasks that are done time and time again, consistent delivery of these tasks can ensure you delight your customers.
That’s not to say they need to be so rigid that there’s no room for individualisation – we all know that SEO isn’t “one size fits all.”
The key is to give enough detail that the task can be completed by following the steps, but loose enough to allow for creative thinking.
And yes, it isn’t the most exciting topic, but having clear SOPs in place can increase productivity, reduce errors, and help to train new staff (or AI agents!).
‘But we’re small – we don’t need SOPs yet’
This is probably the biggest myth that holds small teams back.
The truth? The smaller you are, the more SOPs help.
SOPs get a bad rap as dull, overly corporate, or unnecessary.
But in practice, they’re the opposite. When done right, they make your SEO team more agile, more consistent, and far less stressful a place to be.
Here’s what SOPs really give you:
Consistency: Your audits, reports, meta descriptions, internal linking – all done the same way, every time.
Delegation: You can hand off tasks to junior team members, freelancers, new hires or even AI without endless explaining.
Speed: No more reinventing the wheel. The process is already mapped out.
Scalability: You can grow your client base without bottlenecking yourself at every turn.
Plenty of successful businesses credit SOPs as the backbone of their scalability.
Companies like Basecamp (now 37signals) have long advocated for clearly defined internal processes to keep teams small, focused, and efficient.
McDonald’s – the textbook example from “The E-Myth Revisited” by Michael E. Gerber – scaled globally on the back of meticulous, repeatable systems that ensured consistency across every location.
The takeaway?
SOPs aren’t just for enterprises. They’re the reason small, lean teams can succeed.
Dig deeper: How to build your own SEO ‘second brain’ (and why you need it)
Where small SEO teams feel the pain without SOPs
Have you ever:
Spent 20 minutes trying to remember how to structure your technical audit document?
Had a team member publish a blog post that’s missing schema, internal links or alt tags?
Onboarded a freelancer and had to answer the same questions four times?
Missed a recurring task because it wasn’t clearly documented anywhere?
Then you already know the cost of not having systems in place.
When you’re small, these inefficiencies are easy to dismiss. “It only takes five minutes.”
But five minutes multiplied by every client, every month, becomes hours. And when you’re operating on tight margins, time really is money.
What makes a good SOP in SEO?
The best SOPs are not 30-page documents buried in your Drive that no one reads. They’re short, clear, and practical.
Think checklists, annotated screenshots, Loom videos, and simple written steps.
Here’s a quick checklist of what a good SEO SOP includes:
Title: Clear and descriptive.
Objective: What this SOP helps achieve.
Scope: Where and when this SOP applies.
Tools required: List any logins, platforms, or resources needed.
Step-by-step instructions: Clear, numbered, or bulleted steps.
Tips and watchouts: Optional but useful notes to avoid common mistakes.
Last reviewed date: Helps track when it was last updated.
Owner: The person responsible for keeping it up to date.
Use visuals where possible: screenshots, videos, links to templates or documents.
The goal is to make this idiot-proof, not intimidating.
Once you have them, you need to ensure that people actually use them, and that comes with organizing them intuitively.
How to organize your SOPs
Creating SOPs is one thing, but if no one can find them, they won’t get used.
Here’s how to organize them for efficiency:
Use folders by function: For instance:
Content.
SEO audits.
Reporting.
PPC.
Admin.
Create a master SOP index: A simple doc with all SOP links categorised, ideally with search functionality.
Embed in your project management tool: Link SOPs directly into tasks within ClickUp, Asana, or whatever tool you use.
Review regularly: Build quarterly or monthly reviews into your ops workflow to keep SOPs relevant.
A centralised and accessible system means your team actually uses it, and you avoid the dreaded “Where is that document again?” spiral.
Or, even worse, no one even looks at them, and the quality and consistency of work suffer as a result.
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How to get started
Getting started with SOPs doesn’t need to be a huge project. There are a couple of different ways to get started.
First off, you could begin by identifying one or two tasks you or your team repeat regularly.
These are your low-hanging fruit – things like:
Blog uploads.
Monthly reporting.
Keyword research.
Choose one, and simply document the steps as you go.
It doesn’t have to be perfect. Even a rough version is better than nothing, and you can refine it later.
The other way is to map out an entire system and then create an SOP for each part of that system.
For example, it could be that the first three months of working on a new website are unclear, and you want to tighten that up.
Once the first set of SOPs has been created, you might find that some of them can be used across multiple systems.
Here are ideas for some of the most common SOPs for SEO teams to get started.
1. Monthly reporting
Define exactly what’s included, which metrics matter, and how the reports should be structured.
Include a link to your preferred reporting tool template.
2. Content publishing
From blog uploads to landing page updates, map out your steps for:
Formatting.
Meta data.
Internal linking.
Image optimization.
Preview checks.
3. SEO audits
Standardize your tech audit process.
What tools are used?
What issues are you flagging?
How is it presented to the client?
4. Onboarding
What gets sent after a discovery call with a potential client or an in-house meeting about a new brand?
What access do you need?
What does your internal setup look like?
SOP it.
5. Keyword research
List:
The tools and processes used.
How topics are grouped.
How findings are presented to stakeholders.
Once you’ve got these down, the SEO team will find they have more time (and brainspace) to do the real work.
Dig deeper: A 5-step framework to scale your content operations and SEO
Tools and techniques for creating SOPs
You don’t need fancy software to get started, but you do need consistency. Here are some of the tools that you can use to assist you:
Loom: Record processes while you do them, then link the video in the SOP.
Notion or Google Docs: Great for creating clean, structured documentation. You can create a menu of SOPs and link directly to the document and/or video.
AI tools: There are a number of platforms coming into the marketplace that use AI to assist in creating these SOPs. They automatically capture you completing a task in real time and turn them into step-by-step guides.
ClickUp or Asana: Turn SOPs into task templates with built-in checklists and recurring reminders. This will ensure that SOPs are followed.
Start simple and get started, you can always amend and adjust further down the line. The most important thing is to make sure that you are building out your SOPs.
Testing your SOPs
Once you’ve documented an SOP, don’t treat it as final.
The real test is whether someone else can follow it without needing to ask you five questions along the way.
Get a team member or freelancer to run through it and flag anything that’s unclear, missing, or assumes too much prior knowledge.
It’s one of the easiest ways to spot gaps in your process.
Make it part of your culture to periodically test and refine SOPs – especially when tools or workflows change.
A process only works if it’s usable by someone other than the person who wrote it.
Learn more: Books, podcasts, and resources that help
If you’re serious about building smarter systems into your business, these resources are worth a look:
“Work the System” by Sam Carpenter: A must-read for small business owners and agency leads.
“Built to Sell” by John Warrillow: Brilliant for understanding why repeatable systems increase business value.
“The E-Myth Revisited” by Michael E. Gerber: A classic that explores how systems are key to building a scalable business.
“Atomic Habits” by James Clear: Not SOP-specific, but great for building process-driven thinking.
The Agency Collective Podcast: Regular gems on agency growth, hiring, and operations.
ProcessDriven YouTube Channel: Bite-sized content for process mapping and SOP documentation in tools like Notion and ClickUp.
These won’t just help you build SOPs, they’ll help you build a team that doesn’t rely solely on one person to function.
SOPs for SEO: The key to scaling small teams efficiently
SOPs might not be the flashiest part of SEO, but for small teams, they’re one of the most critical.
They give you breathing room.
They protect your quality.
They free your team to focus on work that actually moves the needle.
If you’re feeling stretched, stuck, or stuck on repeat, it’s time to start documenting your processes.
Future you (and your team) will thank you.