effective SEO

Effective SEO has many parts

Performing regular audits of your website is essential if you want to ensure that your SEO efforts are paying off. What you uncover can make a big difference in conversions. Get started on your first audit with these practical steps.

Check Visibility

Search your brand name by itself and along with your location using all major search engines to determine your current page rank. A high ranking is indicative of successful SEO practices. The higher your brand appears, the more likely people are to click through to your site. You should also check the information displayed when your business is searched to make sure that all contact and location listings are correct.

Pinpoint High-Performing Keywords

Log into your analytics dashboard and check your keywords. Note which short tail and long tail searches are generating the most traffic. Relevant pages within your site should be optimized for these phrases, and these are the keywords that you want to focus on when creating new content. Check your site to see if the search terms that rank best are being used in title tags, meta descriptions and image ALT tags. Determine if deeper pages within the site, such as product pages, are optimized to draw direct traffic when users perform more specific searches.

Clean Up Content

Duplicate content, domain conflicts and indexing of irrelevant pages can undermine your SEO efforts. Conduct a “site:rootdomain” search to see what pages search engines are indexing and if any content shows up that shouldn’t. Check for domains that erroneously point to your site or use redirects, since these will take traffic away from your main domain and cause rankings to suffer. Archived or orphaned pages should be updated, linked to or removed as necessary.

Do a Speed Test

Page speed not only determines how long visitors will stay on your site but also how high your pages appear in search results. Search engines take load time into account because they’re looking for sites that provide a good user experience as well as relevant content. Choose a speed assessment tool that tests load times and provides reports showing what elements may be inhibiting optimal performance.

Ensure Easy Navigation

Usability is another component of the overall user experience that search engines are looking for. By assessing linking patterns and how people engage with your site, search engines get an estimation of how easy it is for users to find their desired results. Look for problems with link structure or broken links, and check to see how easy it is for users to complete purchases or follow through on calls-to-action. Your goal should be to make every path as simple and straightforward as possible.

A comprehensive technical audit can take some time, but with the right tools and a little help from a knowledgeable professional, you’ll wind up with a list of actionable steps to take to improve your website’s rankings. Repeat your audits on a regular basis to maintain the visibility necessary to drive conversions.

If you want to have experienced search engine optimization specialists evaluate your website, call Bill at 262-820-9520. We can enhance your visibility on the web!