I had the opportunity to make two presentations about blogs and websites in May, and one of the questions in the second one wanted to know what initial steps I would take to improve the SEO ranking of a website. As most visitors here know, SEO refers to search engine optimization, a series of strategies to improve where your website’s pages rank in search results. I did not have to think long for an answer, because it was something I was already doing for clients. Let’s look at how you could take initial steps to improve where your site ranks in search engine results page rankings.
How long will it take to see my SEO ranking improve?
Before we dive into the answer for the original question, let me share this: Search engine optimization is a long-term strategy. It is not a quick fix or an overnight solution. Prior to my first presentation with members of Adventures in Northeast Ohio, a marketing group, which was held at Lehman’s in Kidron, Ohio, someone approached me and asked if I was involved in search engine marketing, and I told him I was not. SEO focuses on free, organic search. SEM focuses on paid search. With SEM, you pay to get on a search engine’s results page. With SEO, you continually improve your website and its pages to rank higher. Either way you will pay someone to rank higher, but SEO focuses on a long game and provides a strong foundation. SEM gets you there quicker, but its benefits do not last as long.
Both SEO and SEM have places in a company’s marketing strategy. I just focus on SEO techniques. So, as we move ahead, keep in mind, improvements in SEO ranking will take a little time.
This one quick step will help improve your website’s ranking
The question arose during my presentation for members of the Wooster Area Chamber of Commerce. The one, quick step? Optimize and update your Top 10 pages.
If you are using Google Analytics, then you will be able to see what your Top 10 landing pages are. These pages will be the ones people visit the most, so you already have a leg up in improving your SEO ranking. I have already written a tutorial on how you can optimize a blog post or a web page, and I would encourage you to read it. This will let you know the basics: Page titles, headers, word length, keywords, using bold and italics tags for readability … and more.
Here are some things you want to focus on when it comes to updating your blog content:
- If you didn’t focus on a keyword (or keywords) the first time, now is a chance to do so.
- Check all of your links to see they are still valid.
- Make sure references to time are updated. (For example, if you originally wrote: “I made this recipe yesterday” … You might want to update the time element and write: “When I first made this recipe ….”
- Optimize the post based on the best practices.
These steps should help improve your website’s page ranking over time.
Is your website optimized?
Wooster Media Group LLC performs search enginge optimization audits, consider these like a diagnostic run on your car to determine what is not functioning properly. If you want to see if your website is helping or hurting your business, then schedule a free consultation today.
