Housecleaning Your Way to Better Marketing
By Patrick Negrini
The SEO Maintenance Checklist
If COVID-19 has put your marketing in a bit of a holding pattern, it’s time to get to work. And this week, that work comes in the form of Search Engine Optimization (SEO). A common misconception about SEO is that it either exists or it doesn’t for your website. SEO, however, is a complex series of research, actions and processes designed to help algorithms better understand and serve up your content.
This post features a checklist for SEO maintenance on your website. The majority of these tasks can be completed at home (with maybe a quick Google or YouTube search for direction), though a few might require a call to an SEO pro for some assistance.
SEO Self-Help Checklist
Website Page Metadata
Have you looked at your webpage titles and meta descriptions lately? Be sure they are clear and concise. Don’t worry too much about keywords. Be sure they speak specifically to the purpose of the page, which should be addressing customer pain points.
Website Content
Be sure your website contains all the information a prospect would need to make a decision about your product/service before talking to a salesperson. Each pain point you address along a buyer’s journey is a potential keyword search your website will show up for.
Google My Business
Make sure your GMB profile is up to date. Start with the standard hours, phone, address, etc., to be sure potential customers can find you, but don’t forget to add images. These will show in the Knowledge Panel when someone searches for your brand, and is often a key touchpoint in the customer journey.
Set Up Google Search Console
Similar to Google Analytics, this free analytics tool will help you understand what keywords your website currently ranks for, thus helping you see your content creation strategy through an SEO lens. It’s also great at diagnosing potential technical issues with your site. Getting started is easy, and there are a ton of helpful resources online.
Check Your Website’s Speed
Page load time is a major ranking factor for Google. Use Google’s free PageSpeed Insights tool to diagnose any potential issues. Then call your web developer for help fixing them.
Use a Website Grader to Check for Other Issues
Technical issues with your website are the single largest barrier to good rankings. I like HubSpot’s free website grader. It looks at a variety of potential issues and scores your site according to best practices. Most digitally savvy marketers will be able to fix some of these issues, but your developer can help resolve the more complex ones.
Cleaning up your website’s SEO leads to numerous benefits, and can be done from the comfort of your home. It’s easy, it’s manageable and it’s valuable—so get on it! Stay tuned for our third and final part of this series next week as we discuss more website maintenance, including UX.
We’re always available to talk more about your marketing housecleaning—through COVID-19 and beyond. Follow our weekly series for more business and marketing insights to help you make sense of these surreal times.
