So, when should you think about your online strategy? Ideally, before you build the website and pay for a domain name (it can be done after that, it just means a lot of changes).
What should it contain? Firstly and most importantly, it should be built around your business and what stands you out from the crowd. What makes you unique.
Customer analysis? Definitely! Who's your ideal fit ... what solutions do you provide to them? What are the issues you fix and why do you fix them better than your competition?
Competitor analysis? See above - without a doubt.
Now take what you know and think you know and go and look at that online landscape. Use the search terms you think you should concentrate on. What do you see? What's missing? What's wrong with those page 1 answers? Does Google understand your subject search? Is there confusion in the results?
Digging into all those questions and doing the research is key.
You may have a list of keywords ... but are they really relevant? Have you looked at the data? Have you checked the search volumes? Does Google have the subject matter correctly listed and indexed?
Digital Strategy built on what you know of the industry you play in is good and puts you where everyone else is.
Digital Strategy built on what you know of the search landscape is how you carve your path.
Traffic is nothing if it brings zero customers.
Digital Strategy is nothing without research and analysis, done by in-depth knowledge of the subject matter.
The Right Idea for Digital Strategy 🙂
PS. I know I have not mentioned social, that's been covered here.