SEO: ongoing work to improve your position on Google
Right now, we've all got a bit of extra time on our hands. We are currently lockdown number two, or is it three? I’m not sure.
What I am sure about though, is that it is still January. If you’re looking for something to do, that’ll benefit your business long-term, this guide is for you.
SEO feels a bit mysterious, doesn’t it? There's no definitive ‘how-to guide' that works for everyone, because if Google released that - the search engine wouldn't work.
The most important thing to remember is the purpose of Google’s algorithm. For them, every user must get the information they’re looking for, quickly.
Which means prioritising websites, based on the information they provide (and a few other factors). If the results weren’t what the user wanted, no one would use Google, and their business would no longer exist!
So keeping Google’s needs in mind, here are some things to keep working on:
1) Regularly ask your customers for Google reviews
Reviews signal to Google that your business can be trusted.
Great reviews also mean that prospective clients and customers are more likely to click on your website when it does appear, if they hang around once they’re there, that’s another positive signal to Google.
2) Keep writing blog posts
Google likes regularly updated websites, but that doesn't mean you need to redesign your website once a month.
A great way to update your website regularly is with a blog.
There are a lot of benefits to blog writing, here are a few:
It allows you to write about your keywords and phrases.
You can cover topics that are related to what you’re selling (such as benefits, frequently asked questions, tips and advice over on your blog).
It drives more traffic to your website.
If you’re talking about a trending topic or answering a question a lot of people want to know, you might find that people are discovering your website through Google and heading straight to your blog.
It’s extra content for social media
Which means you can share it a few times across your social media channels and it’s a great excuse to get your social audience onto your website.
3) Remove old, inactive pages
Old, inactive pages (like previous services you used to offer and don’t anymore, or old out of stock products) are a bit like keeping old credit cards and never cancelling your accounts.
They won’t have a directly negative impact on your SEO, but they don’t look good either.
Old blog posts are usually fine if they’re still getting the occasional visitor, but, I’d recommend having a good look through your Google Analytics to see what pages your users are looking at.
Word of warning: If you do decide to have a good clear-out of old pages, don’t do it all at once - this can signal that there’s a problem with your website.
Try and stick to a few pages at a time, and do it over a few months.
4) Give your website regular check-ups
During these check-ups, you’re looking for broken links that need fixing or redirecting, and you’re using Google Analytics to check how your audience is using your website.
As your business grows, your website audience will change too, so it’s important to check how they're accessing your website. What devices are they using? What information are they’re looking for?
To make sure your users hang around, you might need to update your navigation, add in links etc etc.
5) Work on getting referrals (links) to your website from decent sources
The best kind of links to your website are from press articles, the bigger the magazine/newspaper the better, but I know how difficult they are to get.
Reviews from bloggers are great, equally, so are mentions from other websites in your industry.
Even local business directories can be useful (but be careful with these - there are loads of spammy websites offering this, just to collect your data).
Another great option is writing guest blog posts for businesses in your industry (don’t forget to add a link to your website at the end!)
An important thing to note: never buy links to your website. It’s a shady practice and if Google discovers it, (which they’re likely to because you won’t be the only person that has paid for it) your website can be removed from Google.
I hope that was useful! If you’re working on your SEO right now,I offer power hours which are ideal if you need to talk it through and be pointed in the right direction.
As always, I love to hear from you, so if you have any questions or comments about this post, you can drop me an email here.