Search engine optimisation is very much like a Grand Prix race – you have weeks of testing, an action packed first stint, a pit stop, a team behind the scenes analysing every available statistic, a final push and then… the only difference is that with organic search there is no chequered flag and no champagne spraying podium. Why? If you sit back and celebrate when your site hits the first page of the search results, you’ll quickly be overtaken by mid-pack runners and be sent to the back of the grid.
Tempting as it is to ease off the gas when you reach a respectable search position, you must continue with ethical SEO activity on a regular and sustained basis in order to maintain that visibility. Although you may want to spend less time optimising your web site when your positions have improved in order to safeguard funds or divert man hours elsewhere it’s essential that some work is still carried out. The pared down campaign must still divide attention between both on and off page elements to be effective.
By making any of the following changes on a regular basis, you’ll avoid that sinking feeling when your web site starts to drop from page one to page two and beyond.
1. Add New Content Regularly
Even if you don’t have a big new announcement to make, adding fresh new content to your site will encourage the search engine spiders to keep re-indexing. As always abide by the standard rules of ethical white hat on-page SEO;
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· Keep page content a minimum of 250 words
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· Ensure that primary and secondary string keywords feature
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· Use bold text to pick out important points
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· Use optimised anchor text to point visitors to useful internal pages where appropriate
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· Ensure new pages are added to the site map
2. Update Old Content
If you really can’t think of a single reason to update your blog or add a new page to the site, go back and refresh some of the old content that hasn’t been changed in a while. Chances are you’ll have new keywords to include and can think of a better way of structuring this core information including new headlines, sub headers and meta tag details. Even refreshing old content can lead to new ideas, with some of the points perhaps deserving their own page or article? This is also a good opportunity to revise the must have on-page elements bullet pointed above.
3. Update The Site Map After Search Engine Optimisation Updates
You should have added a site map right at the beginning of the optimisation process but if it got overlooked, now is a good time to introduce one to the site. Both HTMl and XML versions of the site map will need to be updated each time a new page is added to the web site and then the new XML map submitted to the search engines. On Google, this can be done easily via the web master tools interface.
4. Link Build Make it your mission to add a certain number of relevant links from external sources each week. You can do this by adding thoughtful blog content, sending out a press release or otherwise requesting a link from a third party source. Remember that relevance is key when building links for search engine optimisation purposes. If you haven’t tried any directory listings, it’s also worth browsing around for industry relevant directories and considering adding a listing in an appropriate category. Some sites do charge for submission reviews so consider the marketing budget fully beforehand.
If you’re stuck for link building ideas, now is also a good time to do some competitor research using the same link report tools you have used to track your own site’s link building progress. Look for new referrals, anchor text and article ideas when browsing inbound links to rival sites.
5. Add Alt Tags
Alt tags are a very small part of search engine optimisation but play an important accessibility function. If your images have generic alt tags, rename them to something more meaningful.
6. Update Page Names and Titles
If you’re serious about optimising your site, it’s time to stop being lazy with page names and titles. Each should be unique and relevant to that page. Rather than calling a product page ‘Product1’ for example, use the name of the item in the page title.
Even if you carry out these activities each week and don’t see any drastic improvements, remember that SEO is a long term commitment. If you need to see faster results or just don’t have time to dedicate to search engine optimisation, contact Top Position and find out more about our SEO packages.
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