Fredrik Norrbin 10 October 2014

Categories Content, Search Marketing

Your SEO To-Do List

SEO (Search engine optimisation) requires time. To get to the top on a competitive keyword can take a very long time, but when you get there it could be very profitable.

SEO (Search engine optimisation) requires time. To get to the top on a competitive keyword can take a very long time, but when you get there it could be very profitable.

To reach the goal you need to constantly improve your chances. I here by challenge you to improve one thing everyday on your SEO for the next 30 days. To help you I have put together this list, you can easily improve one step every day. See this list as a well thought “SEO to do list” for the next 30 days.

SEO To-Do List for 30 Days

1. Check your titles. The SEO title needs to be somewhere between 55-61 characters, including spaces, for Google to show the whole title in the search results. Screaming Frog can help you.
2. Locate the pages with the highest bounce rate. Use Google Analytics to find the pages with the highest bounce rate from search traffic. Why do your visitors leave the site and not click to another page? Identify the problem and correct them.
3. Find and correct misspellings and other grammatical errors in your text. If you have several pages this might be very time consuming but the text is very important when it comes to good SEO. Choose at least your most important pages, read them again and make sure everything is right.
4. Find and eliminate the 404’s. You do not want to give Google, or anyone else, a 404 response.  Use Webmaster Tools to find 404’s and do something useful.
5. Find more Long-tail. You can get suggestions and find words and phrases in Webmaster Tools and Google Keyword Planner, find 3 or 4 word combinations. Create content that is optimised for them, but don’t forget Panda when you do it!
6. Write a useful guide. Write a guide on your topic. It may include answers like; “This is what you should consider when you buy our product”. Useful guides is often a great way to find clients that are interested in your products but haven’t decided yet.
7. Tag your products or articles. If you use tags in a smart way to sort similar articles or products, you can get a good push in the search results. Make sure that similar products or articles link to each other, but do not over do it!
8. Create XML sitemap. To create and upload an XML sitemap to Webmaster Tools. It helps Google to index your site.
9. Improve and highlight old articles. Do not let old articles or products be forgotten at the end of a category. Improve the pages, add new content and let your visitors read them again.
10. Remove unnecessary links from navigation. Less is more in SEO, at least when it comes to navigation. Rethink your navigation, is there anything you can do without?
11. Imitate a competitor. Use Seolytics (or similar tool) to find keywords that are important for your competitor.
12. Write, write & write a little bit more. I’m doing it right now. If one of the leading SEO consultants can sit and write long blog posts there must be something in it, right?
13. Find important bloggers. Actually, this is something you should do every day. Links are the bloodstream of the internet and it is no wonder that Google use links as the single most important factor in their algorithm. Make sure you get to know people that might give you a link back to you.
14. Check your positions. Use a good tool to measure and check your positions. Advanced Web Ranking, Seolytics or Wincher is great options.
15. Check your images sizes. Images that are to large or to small don’t make sense. Make sure the images have at least the same size as shown on the page.
16. Speed ​​up the site. Cache solutions, minimize CSS and so on. You can often do lots of things to speed up a site and speed does matter in SEO. A site that loads quickly is good for both Google and visitors.
17. Make sure to have your keywords in a heading. This is something that is often missed. Some want a catchy slogan in H1, but it’s often bad for SEO and bad for conversion. Tell us what it is on the page and make sure you include the keyword.
18. Check your descriptions. Google recently changed the font in the search results so it is no longer certain that your meta-descriptions can be seen properly. Check them and make sure to use the keyword while you’re rewriting. Screaming Frogcan help with this.
19. Make sure no one copies your content. Check a sentence here and there and do a search with quotation marks in Google. Copied content can create problems for you.
20. Locate any 302’s. Some CMS creates 302 redirects or other strange redirects. Find them and change to 301 redirect. Screaming Frog can save you a lot of time.
21. Add Google Places for Business. By putting your business on the map, more customers can find you.
22. Add a video. Some niches use video very well. Try adding a video on any page to see what results it gives.
23. Get a good link. A really good link can make a major difference nowadays. Find a good source on the web within your niche and be sure to get a link.
24. Pay attention to those who link to you. By giving attention to those who link to you, you show the world that you think it is important and that you are prepared to give credit to those who do. It is a signal that is worth sending.
25. Write a press release. Google has argued that press releases are not very good anymore, they are wrong. A well written press release with a good link to your website will improve your SEO.
26. Anchor texts, warning! Use MajesticSEO to control your anchor texts of inbound links. If you have been doing SEO for a while there is a chance you are using anchor tests to aggressive.
27. Anchor texts, sweet! Check your internal anchor texts. On internal links you are allowed to be more aggressive. Make sure links to pages have the keyword in the anchor text.
28. Remove irrelevant information. If you have a blog or a forum that focuses on a lot of different things that are no longer useful, take a moment to think if the content really belongs to the site.
29. Make sure all your images have ALT and TITLE. To tag images properly is just good manners. Not only is it good for the visually impaired but also for the search engines that otherwise have difficulties to understand images.
30. Use synonyms. Make sure to use synonyms for the keyword you want a page to rank on. Add more text and use the most important synonyms, inflection or other variations on the words.

This article first appeared on SEO Iberica