---
name: seo-growth-stage-strategy
description: "Use when the user asks to choose a growth stage, new client SEO plan, build pages or fix pages, thin site or mature site. You get: A one-sentence call: this client needs new pages, or this client needs fixes to pages that already get clicks."
---

# Growth stage

## You get

A one-sentence call: this client needs new pages, or this client needs fixes to pages that already get clicks.

## Why use it

That call comes before any task list. A new site and a site that already ranks should not get the same plan.

## Ask when

- choose a growth stage
- new client SEO plan
- build pages or fix pages
- thin site or mature site

## Steps

1. Read what the site already earns before you write a task list. If the project is in the account, use saved rank data. If the domain is new, say a domain overview costs 4 credits and wait for a yes, then call lookup_domain.
2. Call the site thin when few pages rank and organic traffic is small. The job is coverage: the pages buyers need, one URL per distinct job.
3. Call the site mature when important pages already earn clicks. The job is fixes: titles, freshness, indexation, internal links, and queries stuck on the wrong URL.
4. Write the stage in one sentence and the reason. Later skills read that sentence.
5. Do not recommend a large content program and a large fix program in the same week.

## Hold back

- A task list that skips the stage.
- A recommendation to publish and rewrite the same URLs at once.


## BudgetSEO data

Keyword, competitor, and domain figures come from the budgetSEO MCP only. Do not use another SEO data source for those three.

Use saved data first. Those reads are free:

- A keyword already tracked: get_keyword_action_plan, find_quick_wins, or get_rank_changes.
- A competitor already saved: get_competitor_overview.
- AI citation gaps already stored: get_ai_visibility.

A figure that is not already in the account is a new lookup. Tell the user the credit cost and wait for a yes before calling it. A cached result stays free.

- lookup_keywords: keyword ideas from a seed. 6 credits.
- check_keywords: volume, difficulty, and intent for named keywords. 2 credits.
- lookup_domain: organic keywords, estimated traffic, and ranking URLs. 4 credits.
- lookup_backlinks: referring domains and link totals. 3 credits.

research_keywords is a separate paid AI run for idea generation on Starter and Pro. It is not the tool for a single lookup.

Crawl checks, robots.txt, sitemaps, and primary-source fact checks are your own work. budgetSEO cannot fetch an arbitrary page.

A bulk edit, a disavow file, or a URL change waits for a person on the agency side to confirm that package.