Congratulations on your new website!
While we have done everything we can to ensure your website is optimized and ready to be found, SEO is not a set-it-and-forget-it application.
Maintaining and improving your search engine optimization (SEO) or Search Everywhere Optimization is essential to ensure your site continues to get noticed, drive traffic and help you grow your business.
This guide outlines some ongoing SEO tasks you should perform to keep your website optimized and competitive.
SEO Guide for Business Owners
Firstly
Be patient.
Once your website is live, Google needs to 'crawl' it to read all of the information and decide where it belongs (much like a librarian assessing where a book belongs). It does not crawl immediately but is put into the cue to be crawled, so you may have to wait for that.
Once it is crawled and Google assesses the information, they will then use information gathered from the people visiting your site; this will tell Google how good your content is, the number of visitors staying vs leaving and whether you are a good overall site or not.
What to Do:
Read below:Â SEO Guide for Business Owners.
1. Update your site, keeping your content relevant
Why It Matters:
Search engines prioritize websites that regularly update their content. Fresh content signals to Google that your website is active and relevant. It does not have to be huge updates, even small ones show Google you are maintaining relevant content.
What to Do:
Blog Regularly:Â Post new articles or updates related to your industry that affect your clients (seasonal, lifestyle, news) or offer insight (much like this post).
Update Existing Pages:Â Refresh product descriptions, service pages, and your homepage with new information. What if you have nothing new? Consider updating the language or adding more (you can get cues and ideas from what your clients tell you).
Add New Pages or Expand:Â Add new pages to reflect new services or locations as your business grows. Other common page add-ons include a FAQ page, growing your About Us page with new team members or expanding.
2. Optimize for Keywords
Why It Matters:
Keywords help search engines understand your website and match your site to relevant search queries by your customers. Customer queries change over time, no longer do we search single words but entire sentences. Make sure you are updating as these trends change as well.
What to Do:
Research New Keywords:Â Use tools like Google Keyword Planner or Ubersuggest to find trending keywords in your industry.
Update Content:Â Integrate keywords naturally into your content, titles, and meta descriptions.
Avoid Keyword Stuffing:Â Focus on providing valuable content, not just inserting keywords.
3. Monitor and Improve Website Speed
Why It Matters:
Ain't no one got time for that! Customers hate to wait! Slow-loading websites result in higher bounce rates and lower search rankings.
What to Do:
Use Speed Testing Tools:Â Regularly check your site speed using tools like Google PageSpeed Insights.
Compress Images:Â Large images can slow down your website. Use tools like TinyPNG to reduce file sizes.
Watch Animation and Videos:Â Animations and videos take time to process, so consider how many you use on each page.
Minimize Plugins:Â If you use a CMS, limit the number of plugins to improve speed. Any time your site needs to communicate it can use time.
4. Check your Mobile-Friendly version periodically
Why It Matters:
More than half of web traffic comes from mobile devices. Google knows people are increasingly relying on accessing websites from their smart phones and mobile devices and therefore prioritizes user-friendly mobile-friendly websites in search results.
What to Do:
Use Responsive Design:Â Ensure your website adjusts to different screen sizes. As updates come out or new phones are designed, check to make sure your website still maintains ease of use for your consumers.
Test on Multiple Devices:Â If you are an iPhone user, check how your site works on a Samsung; not everyone uses what we use. Also check your website's appearance on phones, tablets, and desktops periodically to ensure it still looks great.
Fix Mobile Usability Issues:Â Since so much traffic comes from mobile devices, fix any issues that come up.
5. Build High-Quality Backlinks
Why It Matters:
Backlinks from reputable websites signal to Google that your site is trustworthy and has authority.
What to Do:
Directories:Â Make sure to list your business on directories and, especially, Google My Business.
Reach Out to Partners:Â Ask business partners, suppliers, or clients to link to your website.
Create Shareable Content:Â Publish content others want to share and link to.
Avoid Spammy Links:Â Focus on quality over quantity; spammy links will depreciate your website's authority.
6. Regularly Update Meta Titles and Descriptions
Why It Matters:
Meta Titles and descriptions are what is shown to users when they search for you. Meta titles and descriptions help search engines understand your content and influence click-through rates. These are done for you when your website is built but as your page content changes (if it changes) it should be updated.
What to Do:
Write Unique Titles:Â Each page should have a unique and descriptive title. Consider including information your customer is looking for precisely and makes your business stand out.
Include Keywords:Â Incorporate your primary keywords in the title and description. Remember, these are not single words but combinations (strings) of words that users may type in to find your website.
Keep it Concise:Â More is not always better. Titles should be under 60 characters, and meta descriptions should be under 160 characters.
7. Monitor Your Analytics and Performance
Why It Matters:
Tracking your website’s performance helps you identify what’s working and needs improvement. Look at the pages customers are landing on, what keywords seem to be used most commonly, who your visitors are (demographics, age, gender, etc), and ensure they match your service area or proper demographic (ie: you don't want to be attracting too many visitors from a country you don't serve).
What to Do:
Use Google Analytics:Â it's FREE. Monitor traffic, bounce rates, and conversions. Adjust if these numbers are poorly ranked after a few months (it will take time).
Set Up Google Search Console: Track your site’s performance in search results and fix any errors. These can happen over time and are of no fault, as Google changes, sometimes your website will need adjustments.
Adjust Your Strategy:Â Use the data to refine your content, SEO, and marketing strategies.
8. Keep Your Website Secure
Why It Matters:
A secure website protects your users and builds trust. Google also ranks secure sites higher.
What to Do:
Install an SSL Certificate:Â Ensure your site uses HTTPS.
Keep Software Updated:Â Regularly update your CMS, plugins, and themes to prevent vulnerabilities.
Use Strong Passwords:Â Protect your website with strong, unique passwords.
9. Focus on Local SEO (if applicable)
Why It Matters:
People like to visit locations near them by default. Optimizing for local SEO can drive more foot traffic and inquiries if you have a local business.
What to Do:
Claim Your Google Business Profile:Â Ensure your business is listed and optimized on Google Maps.
Use Local Keywords:Â Include location-specific keywords in your content.
Encourage Reviews:Â Ask satisfied customers to leave positive reviews on Google and other platforms.
10. Regularly Check for Broken Links
Why It Matters:
You know how frustrating it is to navigate a website with broken links or things that do not work. Broken links hurt user experience and SEO rankings.
What to Do:
Use Tools:Â Periodically go through your website and fix broken links.
Update Links:Â Ensure all internal and external links are working.
Finally
Be patient, after a website is submitted to Google it takes a bit of time for Google to know where to put it and to assess how visitors respond to it. If after 6-12 months you are not finding any benefits, let's reassess and review where we can make improvements.
Julie Boake
Awedity Creative
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