How to Keep your Website’s SEO Machine Running
The Sprocket Report
Search Engine Optimization is never a one-and-done task. In fact, regularly tending to your website is one of the three most important parts of your SEO foundation.
We have been discussing why all of your SEO efforts should be built on three basic tactics. We already talked about how to establish your website’s authenticity and trustworthiness. Today, let’s talk about consistency.
Search engines – and the humans who use them – prefer the latest news. Our world moves too quickly these days to rely on the accuracy of stale content. When your website sits there untouched, it is losing relevancy and is less likely to be offered up as a result during a search. Consistently updating your site reminds the search engines to take you seriously.
Having a website with longevity gives you SEO points for trustworthiness. Posting new content gives you points for freshness. Posting new content on a long-lived web page may be the best of both worlds. Experts say you may be getting bonus points for the frequency of your updates as well, so it’s best to plan a schedule for posting content.
Of course you don’t want to just slap some nonsense on your page – poor content will chip away at your trustworthiness and authenticity – but not every update has to be War and Peace either. If you are focusing on information that is of interest to your readers, you can mix it up by offering shorter content, Q&As, guest opinions, news releases and sale notices. If you plan a lot of content changes, consider rolling them out gradually instead of all at once, to make the most of Google's freshness rewards.
Users who come back to your website repeatedly are also a signal to search engines that you are providing updated content. Consistently publishing a news or blog post and sharing the new content’s link on social media will encourage your human viewers to return to your site and rack up those points.
It sounds simple, but making sure your website is authentic, trustworthy and consistent truly is the best Search Engine Optimization advice to follow. Having these three important SEO basics in place may be all you need to boost your visibility online. Even if you choose to pursue other SEO strategies, (and there is much you can do) building this basic foundation will save you tons of time and money.
Curious to learn more about what Google’s algorithm may be measuring? Take a look at Hubspot’s infographic on the subject. We believe in taking advantage of low-hanging SEO fruit when building our websites, but of course the effort is ongoing. If you’d like to discuss how to keep your SEO foundation strong, just give us a call. We’d be happy to help!
Kate Gingold
I have been writing a blog with web marketing tips and techniques every other week since 2003. In addition to blogging and client content writing, I write books and a blog on local history.
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I have been writing a blog with web marketing tips and techniques every other week since 2003. In addition to blogging and client content writing, I write books and a blog on local history.
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