Don't Make SEO an Afterthought
Posted on 21st May 2020
So, you’ve had a spangly new website built, complete with front and back-end optimisation packed with all the right keywords. You can sit back, relax, and forget about SEO for a few months, right?
Well, actually - no. You can’t.
Taking this approach, sadly all too common with new websites, just won’t work. Your ongoing SEO activities should start as soon as the new site goes live, not an unspecified length of time afterwards. Otherwise, you’ll lose crucial ground in the search engine rankings from day one, and find yourself struggling to make it up later.
Put simply, SEO should be ‘designed in’ from the start. During the web development process, you should put a plan together to keep momentum going post-launch and make it as easy as possible for customers and prospects to find you online. The right SEO activities will vary by business size and type, but here are some ideas to get you going.
1. Keep the site content fresh
Don’t leave your main page content to rot after your new site has launched. Even if you don’t have new products and services to add, which would naturally help generate new content, you should still revisit and add to your pages on a regular basis.
For example, you could add in extra content that wasn’t included in the original site, such as team member profiles or a company history page. Or, simply reword and update existing content every now and then.
If you have an it’seeze website, our unique website editor makes this process quick, simple and hassle-free.
2. Write useful, relevant blog articles
Regular blogging is great for SEO as you can add new, keyword-rich content without overwhelming the reader with too much main page content. Just make sure you go about blogging in the right way.
For maximum impact on the reader and on search engines, your articles need to be interesting, relevant and, ideally, useful. One thing they shouldn’t be is ‘salesy,’ as this will have a negative effect on your rankings.
If you’re not sure what to write about, AnswerthePublic is a great free tool you can use to identify questions that people have about your products and services. It’s also good for identifying keywords. You simply enter some words and phrases relevant to your business and the tool generates a series of questions that people are asking online around the subject. You can then use your blogs and/or main page content to answer these.
3. Make the most of social media
Linking your social media accounts to your website at the development stage is a no-brainer, but isn’t enough on its own. You’ll need to post regularly on your chosen platforms, linking through to relevant pages or blog articles on your website as appropriate. Social media is another tool you can use to find out what your audience wants to know about, by asking questions or running quick online surveys. This information can then be used to shape your online content.
As well as writing your own posts, make the most of what other people have to offer. Keep a look out for relevant and interesting content which you can share on your own platforms. Known as ‘curated content,’ this is a powerful tactic for boosting your authority levels and establishing your business as an expert in its field. The search engines like it, too.
One word of warning about social media. Don’t replicate content across platforms and don’t reproduce content from your main website or blog articles verbatim. These are ‘no-nos’ when it comes to search engine rankings, and a poor digital marketing practice to boot.
4. Give email marketing a go
Sending out emails won’t help much with SEO by itself. But by encouraging people to forward your messages to their own contacts or share them online, you’ll help spread the word about your business and, hopefully, drive more traffic to your website. Email marketing platforms like Mailchimp make this easy with ready-made ‘social share’ and ‘forward’ buttons.
A simple but effective email marketing tactic is to take your two or three latest blogs and write a tantalising synopsis for each one, with a ‘Read more’ link to the full article. With an email template and bank of blogs in place, this is a quick and easy way to communicate with a (compliantly opted-in) audience and push more visitors to your website.
5. Analyse, review and update
As with any marketing activity, you’ll want to know if your SEO strategy is working. So, keep an eye on your Google Analytics and social media insights, and use tools like Google Search Console to find out who’s looking at your content and where they’re coming from.
It’s a good idea to carry out keyword research every so often, too, as trends constantly change. Use the results of your analysis to review and refine your SEO strategy.
No time (or inclination) for SEO? No problem! it’seeze Web Design Nottingham can help
Here at it’seeze Nottingham, we know SEO isn’t everyone’s cup of tea. That’s why we offer a choice of SEO packages that take the pain out of maintaining and improving those all-important rankings on Google, Bing, Yahoo!, etc.
Our SEO Boost service is designed for businesses happy to take on their own SEO, but who’d like advice and support to get maximum benefit, whilst SEO Accelerate is an end-to-end solution that takes care of everything.
To find out more and discuss your SEO requirements, please contact it’seeze Nottingham today on 0115 777 3001 or fill in our online form to request a call back.
Tagged as: SEO
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