What makes SEO so hard?
Google? The amount of time you have to spend learning how to do SEO? The time spent actually doing it? Staying on top of changes in algorithms, content, and keywords? The fact that you can’t tell immediately if what you’re doing is good or bad, right or wrong?
Well, yes, actually. All of that.
SEO is a long-term game where you can’t see the results of your efforts clearly for months and -- once you do get them -- you may realize that you’re doing something wrong and have to switch gears rapidly.
And you have another problem: your competition isn’t exactly sitting still. Back when only a few companies had ever even heard of SEO, it used to be a lot easier. Startups could exploit that fact and move up the rankings fairly easily.
Now that everyone has heard about SEO and everyone is using it, the competition is fierce. The algorithms have gotten tougher to understand and using the same methods you used just a few years (or months) ago to crawl ahead will get you penalized, not prioritized.
The SEO Audit and Why It Matters
Think about your own online experiences. When you want something, you probably start with a search engine -- which is exactly what 93% of the rest of the world is doing too.
And, if you’re like 70-80% of most users, you’re going to skip over paid ads and go straight for the organic results of your search because you trust them to more accurately represent what you need.
That means the best place to start getting a handle on this crucial aspect of your business is through an SEO audit to see where you’re doing well, where you’re struggling, and where you’re missing the mark entirely.
If you’re ready to get your toes wet, take off your shoes and socks, roll up your pant legs and let’s get started on SEO auditing for beginners.
Understanding Keywords and On-Page Optimization
The first thing that your SEO audit should address is keyword research. Keywords have been part of SEO from the beginning and they still have the same function: they help search engines understand what your website and business are about. That ultimately helps search engines categorize your page.
If you’re a jeweler that specializes in wearable art made from silver and dichroic glass, the more that your website discusses dichroic glass jewelry, the higher you’re going to rank in search results.
The trick is finding keywords that describe your business, get a significant number of searches each month, have low competition from other websites (meaning that your competitors haven’t caught on yet to the keywords they could be using to grab more of that organic search traffic), and making sure that they appear throughout your site.
Evaluating the Existing Data
Next, you need to pull as much existing data as possible about your website, page by page, and try to make sense of the information available. First, use a free website tool like this one. Then use Sites like Moz, Screaming Frog, and Schema.org which are all designed to help evaluate onsite SEO.
They will give you the data that you need to understand how your web pages appear in search results, meta descriptions that search engines use to make sense of your site, and what type of traffic you’re getting.
This is a great place to start reforming your site. If your site is under-performing, the odds are good that you are committing some major SEO sins without realizing it.
That can include having unnatural-looking links, poorly categorized pages or badly formatted URLs, and a lot of “thin” pages with little or no useful content.
Broadening the Formats You’re Using
You also have to take a look at the traffic that’s coming in from sources other than Google and other search engines.
Is there any? If not, you’re probably missing more than one golden opportunity to bring in prospects and convert those prospects into buyers.
YouTube is the second-largest search engine in the world -- handling over 3 billion searches each month. It’s also a perfect place to add information-rich pages and links back to your site.
For example, a YouTube video of you making a pendant with sterling silver and dichroic glass can not only fascinate viewers but convince them of the worth of your wearable art by showing what really goes into the process (simultaneously justifying the price of a handmade piece).
Depending on your business, you need to look at other alternative methods of getting prospects to come to your site. Artwork, jewelry, bakeries, and more can benefit from Pinterest pages.
Etsy and Amazon can provide secondary markets that might help you sustain yourself during rough times (especially if your market is fairly narrow and you need to reach a bigger audience than you can find locally).
Social media can help you raise awareness of your product and reinforce your brand identity. Facebook interactions, for example, can become a customer feedback tool and a way to entice new prospects with contests and shareable content.
If you haven’t made your content mobile-friendly by now, you’re really behind. People use their cell phones for everything and 88% of people searching for something locally to buy or use will search on their phones.
Deciding What to Offload
If you feel overwhelmed by the process of keeping up with SEO, that’s okay. In fact, it’s probably normal.
Search engines can literally change the way that they rank websites overnight. Google changes its algorithms roughly 600 times a year in minor ways. In 2016, however, there were 11 major changes -- some of which crippled businesses that weren’t ready for them.
Don’t be afraid to offload your SEO tasks -- or at least some of them -- to a professional. Just as you have a handle on what makes your product so much better than your competition, SEO pros have a handle on what it takes to stay abreast of the changes and make your business more visible to search engines and consumers alike.
Naturally, the biggest drawback to offloading SEO is the cost -- but you have to consider your ROI. While you don’t get the satisfaction of immediate results, you do immediately get back a lot of time you’d have to personally invest in SEO that might be better spent developing new products or strengthening your relationships with your network of customers.
Ultimately, recognize that the SEO requires long-term effort and goals -- you aren’t going to go from your first audit to the first page of Google overnight. You can, however, make steady, short-term gains that will add up in the long run.