Check out these free SEO resources!
Free SEO (Search Engine Optimization) Webinar
If you missed our free SEO (search engine optimization) webinar, you can check out this video to hear what was discussed. Learn the basics of SEO within the framework of the garden metaphor and find out how to optimize a WordPress blog article for Google and other search engines using the Yoast SEO plug-in.
Grow Your SEO Infographic
Download the SEO infographic for “Grow Your SEO: Search Engine Optimization Concepts Even Your Grandma Could Understand” to post by your computer to remind you about the best practices for search engine optimization!
Download the Grow Your SEO 15-Point SEO Audit
Assuming you followed all the advice from the book, you may be ready for some slightly more advanced SEO. Before you start, you will need to gather your login credentials for the following: your web host, WordPress (if applicable), and Google Analytics (if applicable). You will also need a list of all the domain names you use or login credentials for your registrar. You may want to have a list of 3 competitors’ websites for comparison.
Here are the steps for an SEO audit:
- Check the authority score for you and your competitors’ websites on alexa.com for comparison. If you don’t know who your competitors are, you can go to http://www.alexa.com/topsites/category/Top to find websites in your industry. [UPDATE: Alexa now requires an account]
- Go to google.com and bing.com to perform a search for your brand name and/or brand name + location (i.e. Bizzy Bizzy Madison, WI). Before performing the search, make sure to log out of your Google/Bing accounts. It is helpful to take screen shot of first page of search results for future comparison.
- Also at google.com, search for site:yourdomain.com (i.e. site:bizzybizzycreative.com). The result will be a list of all the pages on your website that have been indexed by Google’s search engine.
- Check your Google+ page to be sure that it is verified (verified pages show a shield with a checkmark next to the profile picture) with a linkback to your website. Check that all the information is accurate and up to date.
- Test a Facebook share, Pinterest pin, etc. to see how social platforms are using the data from your website. When you share your website link on Facebook, does an appropriate picture, title and description automatically populate?
- If you have a WordPress website, log in and go to Settings>Reading. Make sure the box labeled “discourage search engines…” is NOT checked.
- Check your Google Analytics: are top keywords relevant, are landing pages and behavioral flow as your would expect, are there referrals and organic traffic, are there significant changes from the previous year(positive or negative).
- Check your page speed at https://developers.google.com/speed/pagespeed/insights
- Check to be sure your site isn’t infected with malware and/or blacklisted: https://sitecheck.sucuri.net.
- Are your URLs short and user-friendly? Does the URL include relevant keywords? Do you URLs have dashes between words?
- Check for keyword stuffing. Do not use excessive keywords in page titles, headings, or text that looks unnatural to a user.
- Are your page titles succinct? Do they effectively describe the pages’ content? Do they contain a targeted keyword? Does the keyword appear at the front of each title?
- Does your website have a lot of high quality backlinks/referrals? Check at majestic.com.
- To make sure your website is mobile friendly, visit https://www.google.com/webmasters/tools/mobile-friendly Go to your website on a phone. Is it easy to use? Is there anything broken?
- Does your website use Flash (an outdated technology not supported on most phones and tablets? Visit http://seositecheckup.com/tools/flash-test to find out.
Check Your Authority Score or a Competitor’s Score
Founded in 1996, Alexa is a global pioneer in the world of analytical insight. Alexa’s traffic estimates are based on data from their global traffic panel, which is a sample of millions of Internet users. [UPDATE: Alexa now requires an account]
See Where Your Users are Clicking on Your Pages
Crazy Egg shows you where users are clicking and where they aren’t. You can also see reports on how many people scroll down your pages. It also provides insight on where those users came from.
Find Out How Many Websites Link to Yours
Majestic boasts the planet’s largest link index database. Enter your domain to find out how many websites link to yours.
Check Your Site for Malware
Sucuri SiteCheck scanner will check your website for known malware, blacklisting status, website errors, and out-of-date software.
Even More Analytics…
Try a 30-day trial of Moz Analytics to track and improve your SEO, social, branding, link building, and content marketing efforts.
Woorank
Get an SEO audit of your site with suggestions of what to fix.
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