In the ever-evolving digital landscape, a successful SEO strategy isn’t a one-and-done deal; it’s a continuous journey. Once you’ve laid the groundwork with an optimised site and great content, it’s time to turn your attention to ongoing stuff.<\/p>\n
The good news is, you don’t need to spend tonnes of hours on your SEO each month to see results. There are a handful of easy tasks that, when done consistently, can have a big impact over time.<\/p>\n
So if you’re a small business owner who wants to up your online visibility without burning a hole in your pocket with those fancy SEO agencies, you’re in the right spot. I’m about to spill the beans on how to keep your website shining in the Google spotlight.<\/p>\n
Because getting to the top is just half the battle. Staying there and thriving? That’s where the real magic happens. So, if you’re up for learning how these simple ongoing SEO tasks can keep you on your ideal customers’ radar, let’s dive right in.<\/p>\n
Keeping an eye on your keyword rankings helps make sure your SEO is on the right track and gives you an opportunity to spot any areas that might need tweaking.<\/p>\n
A successful SEO strategy is all about getting your business visible for the keywords that your ideal customers are searching for. So if you notice your ranking positions on Google have improved month on month, you can be confident that your SEO strategy is working.<\/p>\n
On the other hand, if your keyword rankings have dropped consistently each month, it might be time to optimise your website some more or update your content to provide more relevant, useful info.<\/p>\n
There are plenty of fancy\u00a0SEO tools<\/a>\u00a0out there that’ll help you track your keyword rankings, but if you’re looking for a free option, you can use\u00a0Google Search Console’s<\/a>\u00a0Performance report<\/strong>\u00a0which shows you which queries (keywords) are driving clicks to your site, as well as their average ranking position.<\/p>\n Just keep in mind that daily or even weekly fluctuations in your ranking positions can be normal, so you’ll want to watch out for consistent improvements each month to know your SEO efforts are having a positive impact.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n This is often overlooked by small business owners, but regularly checking your website analytics is critical to the success of your SEO strategy (and your overall digital marketing plan).<\/p>\n Just like tracking your profit and loss can tell you how well your business is doing, your website analytics will tell you how well your website is performing. You can be ranking on page 1 of Google for all of your important keywords, but if no one is clicking through to your website, or your website visitors aren\u2019t converting into leads and sales, then your SEO isn\u2019t doing its job!<\/p>\n Google Analytics<\/a>\u00a0is free to use and gives you all the info you need to track and optimise your SEO performance. Once you’ve got the free tool set up on your site, you\u2019ll be able to see how many people are visiting your website, where they are coming from, how they\u2019re engaging with your content and what actions they\u2019re taking on your site.<\/p>\n The most important metric to keep an eye on is your\u00a0organic search traffic<\/strong>. This number tells you how many people visited your site after finding your business in Google or another search engine.<\/p>\n Once you\u2019ve implemented a solid\u00a0SEO strategy<\/a>, it can take 4-6 months to start seeing an increase in traffic, but once you\u2019ve got some momentum you can expect to see your traffic increase each month as your business becomes more visible in search results.<\/p>\n On the other hand, low, declining or fluctuating traffic can be a red flag signalling potential issues with your keyword targeting,\u00a0website content<\/a>\u00a0or even\u00a0technical SEO issues<\/a>.<\/p>\n To achieve next-level success with your SEO, I recommend spending some time each month digging into the details to see which pages are driving the most traffic (and which are getting no traffic), how long people are spending on your site (time on-site), how many people are taking action (conversions), and how many people are leaving straight away (bounce rate).<\/p>\n Then use these insights to inform your SEO actions for the following month, whether that\u2019s creating a new blog post, updating an existing one, or tweaking your keyword targeting for a specific page.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Website errors can seriously damage your SEO efforts by preventing your web pages from ranking on Google and keeping potential customers from ever seeing your website content.<\/p>\n The main errors to look out for are 404 errors, which happen when someone tries to visit a page on your site that no longer exists. These broken links provide a poor user experience for your site visitors and prevent Google from discovering and ranking your content. In some cases, a high number of 404 errors can also signal to Google that your website isn’t being maintained, which is bad news for your SEO.<\/p>\n But the good news is, there\u2019s a super simple way to keep on top of this!<\/p>\n Set up\u00a0Google Search Console<\/a>\u00a0for free, and the tool will send you an email alert every time you have a new 404 error on your site. I also recommend logging in on a monthly basis to check and fix any other errors that may be affecting your\u00a0SEO visibility<\/a>.<\/p>\n This should only take you a few minutes each month, but it can have a huge impact on your SEO, so make sure you schedule in the time.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Creating fresh, relevant and useful content is the best way to continually improve your SEO. And the easiest way to do this is with a blog.<\/p>\n In fact, 95% of businesses with a blog rank higher on Google, and businesses who actively blog get around 7 times more traffic than those who don’t.<\/p>\n Makes sense right? A blog helps you target a wide range of relevant keywords, build trust and authority with potential customers, and position yourself as an expert in your industry. It\u2019s a no-brainer when it comes to getting your business found online.<\/p>\n If you don\u2019t have a blog, you could be missing out on hundreds (or even thousands) of new visitors to your website each month. But it doesn\u2019t have to be hard work!<\/p>\n Set aside five hours a month – whether that\u2019s on a single day or spread across a few days – and dedicate this time to researching, writing and publishing one new blog on your site each month. Or save time by doing your\u00a0keyword research<\/a>\u00a0and planning in one go, and map out 6 months’ worth of blogs in advance, so you have a clear plan of action when you sit down to\u00a0write your SEO content<\/a>\u00a0each month.<\/p>\n Aim for one blog a month, which you can repurpose into content for\u00a0social media<\/a>, Pinterest, a podcast or an email newsletter, and once you\u2019ve got some momentum you can try to increase this to two blogs a month.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n2. Check your website analytics<\/h2>\n
3. Keep an eye on website errors<\/h2>\n
4. Create regular blog content<\/h2>\n