SEO Self-Evaluation
Contents: I. II. III.
Purpose & Introduction How effective is my website’s SEO? What is SEO?
IV. V. VI. VII.
Why SEO? / How do I improve? Easy SEO Strategies Report Card Next Steps
Why bother with SEO? When done correctly, SEO can turn your web presence into a digital storefront that's open 24/7, every day of the year. That means constant access to new customers without having to seek them out. The purpose of this whitepaper is to give you the basic tools you need to improve and expose your digital storefront to your ideal customers. We'll explain the basics of SEO and lead you through a 20-point self evaluation the gives you a clear guide for where to get started. Let's begin!
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How effective is my website’s SEO? This is the question we will help you to answer in the next 9 pages. If you’ve spent much time on the Internet lately, you know that it can be overwhelming: there are new design trends, new social media platforms, Google updates, and more. How can you possibly keep up with it all and stay relevant to your customers? Luckily, investing time in simple SEO strategies is the best way to make sure your business’s web presence stands the test of time. With just a few minutes each day, any business can improve their SEO even without costly website tools or a dedicated webmaster.
> That’s where this self-evaluation comes in. This informative guide is a framework for assessing your website’s SEO; it is an opportunity be as honest as you can with yourself about your brand’s online strengths and shortcomings. Effective SEO can turn any website into a powerful marketing tool. This guide will reflect on whether or not your website is meeting its SEO potential, then offer tips to expand on your areas of success and tackle your shortfalls head-on.
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Let’s Begin. You will need: ❏ Internet Access ❏ Something to write with & write on ❏ Patience & perspective
What is SEO? SEO stands for Search Engine Optimization. SEO is a process ― sometimes a long process ― with the goal of appearing #1 in web search results. Like many worthwhile endeavors, great SEO takes time, dedication and careful planning.
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The biggest and most important search engine is Google. Google writes ever-changing search algorithms that determine where your website ranks for each keyword. If your website has good SEO, it will appear at the top of search engine results when someone searches for a keyword in your industry. Let’s say your friend George is a trusted foodie. I f you’re looking for the latest, greatest spot to dine locally, you ask George. “Where can I find the best tacos?” you ask. So George thinks about all the places he’s eaten tacos, articles and reviews he’s read, pictures he’s seen, and he makes a recommendation. Google is like George, except that Google knows everything about e very industry in every locale, and can access millions of search results instantaneously. SEO is about making sure that Google will recommend you to users, the way your friend George recommends the best tacos.
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Why is SEO important? You want your website to be #1 in search results because it means that Google is recommending you as the best choice for your ideal customer. This means that more of your ideal customers will see you first and choose you over your competitors. Good SEO = improved search visibility = more potential customers = more sales
How do I improve my SEO? If we assume that a #1 rank from Google is SEO’s end goal, the first thing we need to do to improve SEO is get Google—and thus, new customers—to trust us. Building that relationship must be strategic, consistent and deliberate. Google bases trust on many different aspects - but they all seem to come back to one key factor: user opinion. What do people think of this business? Are they talking about it? What are they saying about it? Are they recommending it to each other? Google’s algorithm updates usually focus on new ways to assess and rank these metrics. User opinions can be tracked in many different ways: website visits, Yelp reviews, Facebook likes, Pinterest shares, links from local directories, recommendations on your friend’s blog page, and much more. With so many factors affecting trust, how do we know which ones to focus on without getting overwhelmed?
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How do I map out my SEO strategy? We will broadly describe a content-focused SEO strategy, which is the easiest to do without a dedicated web team or expensive web tools.
1. Research a. Customer research: What are people saying about our business? Can we respond to their concerns? Can we do more of what they love and less of what they hate? Where are the gaps in service or communication? Tools: Facebook, Yelp, Google Reviews b. Keyword research: What are people searching for in our industry? Does our website meet their needs? Tools: Google trends, Google keyword planner, Twitter hashtags, Facebook trending topics c. Competitor Research: What are our competitors doing? Which of their techniques can we mimic and improve on? Tools: Google search, Competitor Facebook, Twitter, Reviews & Blogs
2. Optimization SEO doesn’t always have to mean creating new content. Improve your existing content by incorporating keywords on your website’s main pages, especially your homepage. Tools: basic web design & CMS access
3. Creation
a. Customer-targeted content: Let customers know you hear them! Write a blog post that addresses a common concern or trending topic, answers an unanswered question, or fills a gap in service or communication. Tools: copywriting, social media outreach, blogging platform b. Keyword-focused content: Create a landing page or blog post that includes the popular industry keywords you found. Show your ideal customers that you are an authority on the subject by teaching them something they didn’t already know. Tools: copywriting, social media outreach, blogging platform, basic web design & CMS access c. Competitor-inspired content: Draw from your competitors successes and failures by mimicking their triumphs and catching the fall-off from their missteps. This could be anything from a promotional landing page to a witty Facebook post. Tools: copywriting, social media outreach, blogging platform, basic web design & CMS access
4. Repetition Make Research & Creation part of your weekly—if not daily—schedule. Try to treat your web presence like an extension of your office or storefront, and commit to bettering it every day using the first 3 steps.
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SEO Report Card These are the easiest aspects of SEO to identify and evaluate without special web tools. Give yourself 10 points for each Y , 0 for each N .
On-Page 1. Does your website have contact information (email / phone number) in the header or the footer? Y / N 2. Does website have social media icons in the header or the footer? Y / N 3. Compile a list of keywords related to your business. Start with 10. One-by-one, use Google.com to search for these keywords. How many of the keywords show your website on page #1 of search results? 0
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4. Take your most important keyword from step #1, and visit the homepage of your website. How many times does it appear on your homepage? 0
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5. On your homepage, how many times is your most important keyword larger or bolder than the rest of the text on the page? 0
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6. Does your brand name contain a keyword? Y /N 7. Does your homepage have relevant images on it? Y /N 8. Does your website have a sitemap? Y /N 9. Does your website have a blog? Y /N 10. How many blog posts have you published in the last 3 months? 0
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Off-Page 11. Does your business have a Facebook page? Y / N 12. Does your business have a Twitter account? Y /N 13. Does your business have a Google Business page? Y /N 14. Is your business on Google Maps? Y /N 15. Does your business have an overall rating of 4 stars or higher on Google Reviews and Yelp? Y / N 16. Does your Facebook page have 200+ likes? Y /N 17. How many times do you post to Facebook each month? 0
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18. Are at least half of your social media posts linked to your website? Y /N 19. On average, how much engagement do each of your your social media posts receive? (Likes, shares, retweets, etc.) 0
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20. Visit Moz’s Open Site Explorer at h ttps://moz.com/researchtools/ose/links and paste your domain name into the s earch bar. How many established linking root domains does your website have? 0
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Total: _ __________ / 200
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Conclusion Are you satisfied with your score? In our opinion, anything less than 200 shows areas of improvement—and that’s great! Be proactive about your content strategy and befriend trial-and-error. Much of SEO is about figuring out what works for you and your brand, and sometimes that means exploring many possible options.
Okay, where do I start? Look at the areas of the Report Card where you answered ‘No’ or less than 10 on the scale, and tackle those items first—these should be easy first steps. Next, move on to the content creation methods outlined on page 7 of this guide. Your brand’s perfect SEO strategy is within reach. Use your report card as a tool for making progress towards perfection! Keep an eye out for upcoming guides to Digital Marketing and User Experience strategies.
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