Online Marketing exec seeking internal SEO advice - Large org. Many verticals. Where to start?

[ARMofficial]

Hello!

I'm an Online Marketeer who's taking on some SEO responsibility internally (after months of researching - information overload) and will be working with an external agency.

I'll get to the point here. The difficulty I have is in getting my head around approaching our SEO strategy.

I have what I would class as a beginner-intermediate understand of SEO and the tools and techniques available for assistance (many great articles available on this forum and others). I feel that there are some real opportunities for our company that has already placed investment into SEO previously. The difficulty I have is working out how to approach the whole campaign.

We are a recruitment consultancy with many many vertical markets, the sheer amount of keywords could be staggering. For some short insights we have a homepage PR 4, Alexa 338,361, PA 56, moz Rank 4.61.

I've started by using the SEOmoz pro tool to identify problems with our sites optimisation and improve them. On reflection our site is doing OK, but we really need to show some significant results in search rankings, increases in traffic, and ultimately conversions.

I'm a keen user of G-analytics and love the SEOmoz tool (a selection of the tools I will use to measure results).

Are there any basic frameworks to devising a strategy that could help point me in the right direction?

E.g.

Keyword Research
Identify Keywords
Optimise Site for keywords
Setup campaign to measure keywords SERP's
Perform internal & external SEO techniques
Wait and see what happens and continuously improve

I appreciate there could be no simple answer to this project. If you would like any more information about who we are please let me know by comment.

Best Regards,
Sam.

[ARMofficial]

Perfect. thanks Dan!

I know that I asked quite an open question that is likely a frustrating one to experienced SEO professional. But that kind of structure in your response really helps me to organise what in my head is a chaotic task :).

[DanSpeicher]

"...and will be working with an external agency."

The external agency should have their own consulting strategy.

If you need information about how to view your website from a consultant perspective, Danny Dover's book is a good resource:

http://www.amazon.com/Search-Engine-Optimization-SEO-Secrets/dp/0470554185/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1313596634&sr=8-1

Everyone has their own method.

-I'd start with a quick site audit. Make sure you have content that people will link to, a solid graphic design, and a good UX.
-Determine who is your target audience.
-Decide who are your main competitors.
-Research what your customers are calling your services.
-Research what keywords your competitors are targeting.
-Find out what variations of these receive the most traffic with the least competition (SEOmoz Pro Tools/AdWords Keyword Tool/Others) 
-Pick your metrics to track. Have a way to separate web conversions from other sources (a separate email, phone #, feedback form, etc.)
-Fix your internal site issues (canonicalization issues, Meta Robots, no Meta Description, etc.)
-Optimize your site for your targeted keywords and a strong UX.
-Start gaining external links
-Continually test keyword variations and add new content
-Compliment organic campaign with a PPC campaign (optional, but it's a  good way to quickly test keywords).

I'm sure I left out several steps. But that gives you an idea.
And there are many ways to complete each step. Many ways to build links, do competitor analysis, perform keyword research, etc.

If you ask ten people, you're going to get ten different answers. I'd find an external agency that you can trust and let them do it their way.