If you haven’t been paying any attention to your website’s Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) this year, you’re really missing out. Even worse than not paying any attention to SEO is giving it half-hearted effort and seeing no improvements in your rankings. After all, SEO is an evolving industry that constantly requires an adjustment of strategy, lest you get left behind and lose potential leads.
Whether you’re new to SEO or just starting to pick things back up again, here’s a 5-point checklist to ensure your site keeps growing:
1 - On-Page Optimisation
One of the biggest factors playing a hand in your rankings is on-page optimisation. This point leans toward the technical aspect of SEO, but optimizing your page in layman’s terms just means making sure that your page is readable by both your users and Google’s bot crawler. This involves efficiently using title tags, good URL structuring, and relevant image alt text.
On-page optimisation also includes sweeping your site for page errors and bad links. This practice is important because if Google can’t read your website correctly, then it will not index it and your page risks not appearing in search results.
2 - Good Content Creation
As it was and ever will be, content is always king. The better you are able to answer queries and address issues faced by the people you are trying to reach, the more your website will show up in search results. This has never been more relevant than in 2019, with more and more people having access and turning to Google for daily information. This is where effective use of keywords comes into play as well, since using the right keywords as topics are the way to create good content. If you know what words people are using to address their issues (and hopefully discover your solution), then you are halfway there.
3 - Quality Link Building
Link building is a perpetually important part of SEO. Google views these backlinks as votes of confidence to your website. Be aware, though, that Google can distinguish which backlinks are relevant to your industry. Irrelevant links do you no favours as they can incur penalties from Google and as a result, hurt your rankings. If your SEO strategy still includes getting signed up for site directories that offer no relevance to your industry, then you should consider getting those links removed.
4 - Local Optimisation
Google searches are becoming more and more local. In 2019, nearly 46% of all Google searches were looking for shops, schools, and businesses in their area. A strong SEO strategy in 2020 will include making sure that your customers will find you locally, especially if you have a brick and mortar shop. How do you optimize for local businesses? Aside from using local keywords, you should also improve your information in Google My Business. According to Google, providing and more importantly, updating your business information will help you appear in Search and Maps.
5 - Social Media
Google has not confirmed whether or not signals from social media channels are impacting your search engine rankings, but they can definitely drive clicks to your website if you are curating the right content. While establishing a following on Social Media is a whole endeavour of its own, we highly recommend incorporating your Social Media marketing with your SEO efforts for maximum visibility.
Conclusion
Because SEO is always evolving, a good strategy will also include keeping yourself updated with the latest Google pronouncements. If you believe that you’ve done everything on this list, keep doing it consistently.
Updating your website and content is a crucial part of remaining relevant. SEO is and will continue to be an endurance race. Want to win? Be smart and consistent. With time, you’ll make your way to the top rankings!
Make us at Dab Hand Marketing your go-to web design service based in the UK. We’ll help you design your website and bump up your SERP rankings in no time!
