We often receive inquiries from businesses looking to kickstart Search Engine Optimization (SEO) efforts. Unfortunately, many of these businesses (and the websites in question) simply are not ready. If you don’t have the proper foundation in place, you are likely setting your SEO efforts to fail, wasting heaps of money, time and valuable research.
So how can you be sure that your business is ready for SEO? Let’s count the ways!
Multiple Page Design vs. a Single Scrolling Site
Single page scrolling sites have become popular over the past few years. They are often simple, function well and look very nice. Unfortunately, from an SEO perspective, these sites put you at a disadvantage: with only a single page to work with, ranking for a variety of keywords becomes impossible.
Solution: Expand! Use your single scrolling page as a starting point and build supportive pages around the keywords you’re hoping to rank for. Work with an SEO strategist to plan a solid sitemap and get the best possible result!
Site Speed: Tortoise or the Hare?
In the world of SEO (and positive user experience!) speed matters. If your website is slow loading not only will your customers get discouraged and likely bounce, but it will cost you valuable SEO points in the eyes of Google.
In other words, the Tortoise does not win this race.
Solution: use Google’s PageSpeed Insights tool and see how your site measures up. Google’s speed analysis will give you a sense of where your site lands on the speed spectrum and give suggestions what you can do to improve performance.
Have You Covered the Essentials?
Before you jump head first into hardcore SEO, let’s take a close look at the lowest hanging fruit: Google My Business, online reviews and claiming your listings across the web. These efforts can make a huge difference when it comes to visibility and brand awareness. And the best part? It’s free!
First, you want to be sure that you’ve claimed and/or created a Google My Business Profile. Learn more about how to do that here. By creating a Google My Business profile you’re putting your business on the map and boosting your ability to be found. In taking it a step further and optimizing this profile, your business is officially on Google’s radar and further validating your existence in the eyes of potential customers.
Second, you want to collect quality reviews via Google My Business. These reviews will give your rankings a boost and legitimize your business. Learn more about how to do that here.
Lastly, it’s important that your business information is consistent across all platforms and profiles on the internet. For instance, if you have several locations and those locations have changed over the years, you may have outdated information on the web. This incorrect information will confuse Google, affect your rankings and hinder your business’s ability to be found. You can take this on manually or hire a trusted digital marketing agency to audit and correct these listings. Please send us a message if you would like more information.
Is Your Website a Flower or a Weed?
Let’s face it: if your website isn’t built in a way that can support SEO and/or it presents an unpleasant experience for your visitor, then any SEO campaign is going to be a wasted effort. You can ask yourself the following questions in order to get a sense of how your website stacks up:
- Is your website mobile friendly?
In other words, when you view your site on a mobile device, does the site resize in a way that is easy to read, navigate and engage with? - Has your website been designed by a professional?
I should probably rephrase the question: does your website feature a professional design that is relevant to 2019? If you had a designer create your site in 2010, it’s likely no longer up to snuff for 2019 standards. - Does your viewer know what to do?
Is there a clear call to action? In other words, does the viewer know exactly what to do every step of the way when interacting with your site? Are you ensuring that this information is above the fold on each page of the site? - Are you making fresh content updates?
If you do not have access to the content of your website, there’s a bigger problem at work. If you do have access but you’ve allowed your content go stale, there’s no better time than now to get started with thoughtful content creation!
Adding fresh, relevant content to your website on a weekly basis is essential to driving traffic, building trust and attracting quality customers. Not sure where to get started with content creation? Check this out!
If you aren’t sure how your website stacks up, contact us to learn more about our Website Auditing service!
Getting found and attracting the right clients can be tricky, frustrating and time consuming. But with the right strategy and professional guidance you can launch an SEO campaign quickly, effectively and within your budget. As mentioned above, it’s important to do your homework and build a solid and informed foundation. Once you know you’re set for SEO, the sky is the limit!
