Thinking about a website update? Don’t forget about SEO.

We are asked the same question time and time again from clients, “we just went through a site redesign and our Google Analytics stats are down — what happened?”

We usually come back with the question, “was search engine optimization part of your redesign project?” The answer usually is, “our web design firm said they performed SEO on our site.” But what we’ve learned is that typically means they simply filled in some basic metadata and that was it — far from the rigor SEO requires.

Unless search engine optimization is part of your project plan, it won’t get completed, or if it does, as we mentioned above, it is very limited. The problem with limited SEO is like building a pump or valve with missing or flawed components — the end or produced product is flawed.

What a lot of companies don’t realize is that SEO is a roadmap for search engines. It tells your site’s story and how to navigate it can be indexed and ranked for a spot on a search results page. In a nutshell, SEO is what drives visitors to your site and helps them easily find what they need.

If you’re not familiar with SEO, a basic breakdown of the elements are listed below. Our next series of blog articles will look at each element in greater depth, so you understand why it is important and best practices to apply it to your site.

SEO Elements

• Keyword research: understanding the search terms potential customers use to find your products and services.
• Backend data (metadata): applying keyword optimized information to the site’s backend code that meets search engine indexing and ranking factors.
• Sitemap submission: determining if your sitemap is correctly submitted to the search engines to ensure they understand how to navigate the site.
• Front-end content: ensuring each web page follows the rules of a well-optimized page (both from a customer and search engine standpoint).
• Internal linking: does your site’s internal linking follow a logical path and does it help educate and drive customers to conversion.
• External linking: determining how well your site utilizes external links from authoritative sites.
• Optimizing for local search: If local search is important to your business, determining how well the site is optimized for local search.

Need SEO planning before or after your website update or redesign project? We’d love to help. Give us a call at 360.834.2780 or send us an email at info@pumpmarketingsolutions.com to get started today.