Is it Time for an SEO Check-up?

Ongoing search engine optimization efforts are essential if you want your website to be found in organic search engine results. Every website owner does some form of SEO when they create a website, but over time they often forget all about it. They feel that since they have made it to the SERPs, their website will keep appearing regularly when people search for the specified keywords. However, this is not the case as algorithms, particularly Google’s, change frequently. Competitors also optimize their websites in an effort to move up the charts, so it is imperative to stay on top of the search game. Here’s where frequent check-ups will prove useful.

A review done periodically of all your content, code changes, plugins and other factors will help you considerably as it will ensure your efforts are not working against yourself. Since Google is the main search engine that everyone targets, it is essential to stay abreast of algorithm updates and learn what steps need to be taken by a website owner to stay in compliance. By all means follow Google on Twitter and Google+, subscribe to their webmaster updates, and even tune in to third party tools like Mozcast since the big G is often mute about major changes until long after they’ve rolled them out.

In doing your view, pay particular attention to branding. We’ll assume your business is growing, and as that happens and your audience grows, it pays more attention to things like what your brand says about you. Consistency is key. You should not look one way on your website but differently on social media. Logos, slogans, fonts, colors, tone-of-voice all mean something to consumers. If you don’t already have one, it might be time for an official branding guideline document to be shared among all who create content for you including freelancers and agencies.

There is a school of thought that feels that meta tags are obsolete. This is a terrible assumption. Google has certainly been clear that certain tags like meta-keywords haven’t figured into ranking factors for years, but other tags still carry importance. Adding meta tags is not very difficult and having them should be a part of your SEO strategy and if you find missing meta tags while doing your SEO check-up make sure that you add them. Consider both humans and search engines - don’t employ inconsistent Page Title tags, and make sure meta-descriptions follow proper length and include calls-to-action. Similarly alt tags are also still important and all your images should include them.

This includes everything, both text and image based. Search for any duplication issues across blog posts and articles. Use Copyscape or something similar to check if your work has been plagiarized by others, is it’s not only theft, it could actually penalize you if Google doesn’t know the real author. Likewise, do reverse image searches to see if people are using your infographics or other images. If they are, fantastic, but they need to throw you an accrediting backlink at least. Do the same with your videos. It’s also a good time to check out what your competitors are creating. Who’s being more resourceful? Remember that Google is moving in a direction where the most helpful content wins - make sure yours answers the questions your prospective customers are likely to have.

If you have created a mobile version of your website, or converted to a responsive design, then it is important that you move up any scheduled website analysis to immediately prior to launch. For that matter, all redesigns should require an SEO review prior to going live. If you have changed your website platform from WordPress to Joomla or any other CMS, then it is essential to do a complete diagnostic rundown to check for bugs and to ensure that it is in complete working order as search engines take into account these points and you don’t want the wrong pages getting indexed.

There’s a few compelling reasons to make frequent inspections part of your ongoing optimization efforts. How does this list compare to your current practices? What else would you include?