SEO is a powerful marketing resource for today’s professionals.
It’s also an area that is constantly evolving at such a rapid pace that if you blink, you might miss something. Navigating your way through the latest SEO tips, tools and trends can be a challenge — even for the savviest of marketing pros.
If you want to stay on top of your game, then you need to know which strategies matter most.
Does your SEO checklist need updating?
In the world of SEO, just because your checklist was fresh a few months ago, you can’t assume that it’s still on point. To help you prioritize, we’ve put together this SEO checklist.
5 Things That Might Not Be on Your SEO Checklist (But Should Be!)
1. Insert Smart Internal Links
Internal links are a vital part of your content. They will help to generate leads to other areas of your site.
Linking to your site increases the number of visitors. It also boosts the chances of having your content shared and ups the amount of time that users spend on your site.
All of this will boost your rankings. So, internal links perform multiple critical SEO duties.
To make the most out of your internal links, you should get creative with URL placement. Don’t just link to the obvious phrases, such as “Click Here” and “Contact Us”. Use interesting statistics and bits of information from your previous content to draw clicks.
You can always go back to previously-written content and tweak it to create a connection with the current content.
Once visitors are convinced that your site offers consistent, useful information across the board, they will be more inclined to visit regularly. The more internal links that you include in your content that visitors find intriguing? Well, the more likely they are to regard your site worthy of repeat visits.
Don’t sell yourself short by giving away all of your links to outside sources.
2. Gain External Links
Here’s a biggie to add to your SEO checklist. It’s not always the first thing that comes to mind, but it should be.
Getting other reliable sources to link to your content is one of the most important SEO tricks of the trade.
Once you gain external links, your content will be spread across multiple platforms and read by more professionals. Additionally, once a credible source links to you, others will follow. Your brand will become increasingly trusted. It will be seen by others as expert advice.
This is the magic of SEO. Almost everything produces some sort of snowball effect.
3. Check Your Speed
If your site’s loading speed is lagging, then you are probably losing visitors by the second (literally!)
Not only are you likely to lose viewers if your site is not up to speed. Additionally, it has been reported that maintaining a faster site reduces operating costs. Who doesn’t love saving money while improving user experience?
On top of that, Google uses speed as part of their Algorithm to determine site rankings.
You can do a quick speed test at Google PageSpeed Insights.
One way to alleviate lags is to regularly declutter your site. Do this by removing all unnecessary non-essentials, such as widgets and plugins that are no longer needed.
4. Get Google Analytics
Google Analytics is just one type of software designed for web analytics. However, it’s also among the most reliable names in the biz.
Having your search engine optimization goals clearly in place will give you a measuring tool. You can track your success through the results analytics provides. So, setting clear goals is something that you need to do, now.
Ideally, web analytics should be in place before any visitors head to your site. If you have not yet done so, this definitely needs to be among your first priorities.
5. Plan Keywords Strategically
There is an art to using keywords skillfully.
First of all, make sure that you choose a quality keyword to focus on. How do you pick the best one?
Well, you need to use one that clearly represents your content. Also, find one that users are likely to search for. There are plenty of keyword tools available online, such as those offered by SEM Rush and Google.
You don’t want to skimp on keywords, but you can’t risk keyword stuffing, either.
You are probably well aware that your content needs to have keywords. However, your current SEO checklist should be revised to include the strategic placing of these.
Here are a few of the places where including your keyword will serve you best:
- In the title
- In at least one heading
- In the name/alt-tag of your image
- In your URL and your post
For the last point, this means that after the .com of your URL, you should use the keyword to define your post. When this is done correctly, you usually see the phrase separated by dashes. This is much more effective than the often-used string of random numbers that follow the .com of many URLs.
Not only will this boost your SEO score, it will also help viewers to understand what the page is all about.
Ready to Boost Engagement and Drive Traffic to Your Site?
Are you are ready for a site that works hard at helping you achieve your overall business goals?
Do you want to attract potential customers, establish your brand, and increase your visibility? If so, then you don’t want to leave these important tasks off your SEO checklist.
Part of effective marketing has always been staying up-to-date on the latest trending tactics.
However, in the world of SEO, it’s more crucial than ever to implement current techniques. You also need to be constantly on the look out for ways to improve your strategy.
Your Internet presence is as defining as how you present yourself in person.
In fact, establishing a professional and credible Internet presence might be the most important thing that you can do for your business.
Get started building a better website right now, and watch what putting your best online image forward can do for you!