No matter how experienced you are with running a website, a term you must become familiar with is SEO (Search Engine Optimization). Trust us, it’s easier to know what SEO is before creating a website.
However, if you created a website a while ago but are only becoming serious about it now, that’s okay too! This has happened to several people who now have successful websites. It just means a bit of editing may need to be done.
No matter what your history is when it comes to websites, here’s some information about SEO practices and how to benefit from them.
What Is SEO?
To put it in basic terms, SEO is the practice of getting targeted traffic to a website from a search engine’s organic rankings. Websites are created every day. This is why it is extremely important for your website to utilize SEO in order for it to be ranked properly. The following are the Top 3 ways to strengthen your website’s ranking with SEO:
- Optimize Your Website
- Link 101: Link Building & Dead Links
- Old Content Review
Rather than have this be daunting, let’s take this one step at a time. It’s time to get excited about the future of your website again!
Optimize Your Website
An important thing to ask yourself, is “How does my site present itself to its visitors and/or possible clients?” Take a step back for a moment, and visit your website as though it’s the first time you’ve come across it.
Ask yourself these questions as you look at your site:
- Is it loading so slowly that it makes you want to leave the page?
- Are images taking a long time to load?
- Is the font so small that it makes articles difficult to read?
- Is it easy to find what you’re looking for?
- Are any pages freezing?
- Is this content outdated or no longer relevant?
If you say yes to any of the questions above, you now know what needs to change. Take it one task at a time, and remind yourself of what drives you to have a website in the first place. Passion is fuel!
Link 101
From building links and maintaining proper link use to cleaning up old content, the links found on your website are indicators of a larger image. What that image says about your site, is up to you.
Link-Building
It’s not an industry secret that link-building is needed in order to rank higher on Google. However, what is important, is that your link-building is done properly and authentically. By this, we mean you shouldn’t add several random links to outside sources just for the sake of having a link in your text. It is so important to only include links that will add substance to your writing.
For example, let’s say you’re doing a paper for school, or a report for work, and the topic is the theory of relativity. Would you back up your information with words you took from your best friend? Hopefully, your answer to this is “No” and you would use a quote by someone more credible, among the likes of Einstein.
People want to know that what they’re reading is of value to them. If it’s not, then why should they even be reading it? Be careful of the links, sources, and any information you choose to use on your site. It only takes one link, in one article, to have your site seem untrustworthy and it takes a LOT more than that to regain trust.
Dead Links
While we’re on the topic of links, it’s also important to stay on top of the links you use to ensure they’re still active. Having a “dead link” on your site is harmful to your rating, and extremely disappointing for your readers. Run your website through a dead link finder and see what suggestions you get from it! You’d be surprised at what it finds, even when you’re careful with what you post.
Sometimes, people delete pages, posts, or their site altogether, but you’re still using their links on your site. It’s not your fault if they delete their content, but you are in charge of what your site contains. Therefore, you must get these links fixed to keep your site ranking as well as possible.
Look at Old Content
As you go through your posts, you’ll probably run into some old friends- the posts that you did at the beginning of your journey as a website owner. While these posts are dear to your heart, they need to be looked at too.
Is the content still relevant or is your site sharing old news? Have things changed since you posted it? Are there new findings relating to the topic? Are you wondering what in the world you were thinking by posting a certain article altogether? There are solutions to all of these possible situations.
Your first instinct may be to delete the post altogether. If it has old information, why have it on your site at all? Don’t be too quick to press that garbage icon. There are a couple of other options.
Depending on the post, and what you’d like to do, some other options to look into are:
- Post Archives (if you’d like a dose of nostalgia, visit archive.org)
- 301 Redirect: this will bring the visitor to a related page that may be more current
- Simply reshare it! As long as you’ve looked it over beforehand, simply share the post again. It doesn’t have to be shared as a stand-alone post, but perhaps a quick link Tweet or Facebook post, with a new call to action will do the job.
These are just a few ways to strengthen your website’s ranking with SEO. You may feel more comfortable with some methods than you do with others and that’s perfectly normal. Perhaps talking to a professional will put your mind at ease when it comes to certain ideas, or they’ll have even better recommendations.
Along the way, it’s also possible that a hundred other issues will be brought to your attention. For example, your website’s security may become a priority. Make a list of everything you wish to tackle and start by doing one at a time. It’s okay to even go back to basics! Only you know what will bring you peace of mind when it comes to the health of your website and its security. No matter what route you decide to take, you should feel good that you care enough about your site to have this be something you’re wondering about!