Quick links
Going back to school for kids can often mean an element of rustiness, a few bits forgotten and a need to jog the memory on topics which were being covered before the summer break. As website owners, it can be easy to fall into similar routines – parts of websites are updated, left and forgotten and revisiting them (Sometimes years later) can feel like we’re looking at hieroglyphics with no idea why we put certain elements on a page or made the decisions that we have.
There’s rarely anybody to job the memory – but a few simple SEO practices can ensure a website is always maintained.
Here are the basics – going back to SEO school!
Keeping on top of a website and maintaining a strong presence is essential in the world of SEO, as a result we’ve broken our suggestions into weekly, monthly, quarterly, half year and annual tasks to ensure your website is maintained efficiently.
Every Week
Analytics checks
Check over Google Analytics using data from the last 30 days, note any major trend changes and the performance of tagged campaigns. Keep a spreadsheet or documentation of each investigation to begin to build a long term knowledge of site interactions.
Google Search Console Checks
Carry out checks on health and changes in indexing, this should include sitemap errors, mobile loading and 404 pages. This simple five-minute job will help avoid any nasty surprises.
Paid checks
Look at budgets, spend and most importantly search terms driving clicks. Negative match as much as possible to remove wasting budget/clicks on non-business terms.
Key page overviews
Any targeted pages should be checked each week, this includes calls to actions, forms working and page tracking. Also elements such as indexing and ranking on of the page for target terms can be monitored.
Every Month
Reporting
Work with your SEO agency to ensure you are getting the right level of reporting on the account. Identify what is important to your business and what you consider success.
Technical Reports
Consider technical reports, whether these are technical crawls and reports, site speed and also server audits to ensure the website is technically sound and safe for purpose.
Every Quarter
Strategy Updates
Carry out a current strategy audit and update, with a view of getting together current successes, failures and changes that need to be made.
Quarterly On-Page Reports
Audit key pages, website performance, user experience and any changes made in the last three months.
A website that works well is like a well-oiled machine that has been maintained and cared for.
Log any changes and how they have impacted rankings.
Use both of these to put together key changes and stepping points within the strategy over the next three month cycle.
Every Six Months
Off Page Audit
If you’re carrying out link profiles, get together an audit of anchor texts, links built, trust flow and domain authority – as well as any bad links.
Doing this everything six months is much better than quarterly or monthly, it allows for links to bed in and impact your link profile.
Annually
Review Everything from the above, match data and plan for the coming year ahead!
POLARIS is an SEO agency based in London. For a free audit contact info@polarisagency.co.uk and one of our account managers will be in touch.
