15 Things you should be doing on Your Site about SEO Audit

Is it time for you to call a professional? What follows is a list of the most common oversights seen or discovered during site audits every week. Check the list and see how you're doing.

1. Hosting/Server

• Does Google think you are the only site on that server or are there N to the N more on it with you? 
• Does your site have down time? How much down time? 
• Does your site use caching and/or compression tools to serve the site quickly?

Hosting

·         You should have some version of dedicated, virtual dedicated hosting or your own server. These types of hosting mean that when the search engine spider hits your site it thinks your site is all alone.

·         Tip: You want to keep your site alone in its room. Google has been known to devalue sites based on the company they keep on a server. Don't let hanging out with the bad kids hurt your site.

·         Servers

·         Caching/Compression make sure your site is loading in quickly and only downloading what is needed. Also make sure your uptime is as close to 100 percent as possible.

Tip: If your site is down less than 24 hours, you are OK.

2. Domain Name Resolution

Check your domain name. Does it resolve to one domain or many? Do you use the www or non-www?

Does your site's www, non-www and homepagename resolve to the same name? For example, a site uses the non-www version of its site domainname.com, but has not created 301 redirects for its www and pagename versions. Google now thinks it has three sites.

Make sure you choose a domain version and redirect the other homepages to it.

Tip: There is no general use case in which you would choose the pagename version.

3. Sitemaps

Ask yourself the following:

• Does your site have a sitemap.xml that lists all indexable site pages
• Do you update it regularly? When you have new content? Ever? Never?
• Does your sitemap get uploaded to the server after creation?
• Do you let the search engines know you have a new sitemap?
• While we are talking sitemaps, if needed do you have separate ones for your images and on-site videos?

Sitemaps are important to help the search engines locate content on your site that it might miss on a simple crawl.

Tip: If you don't have a sitemap, your site will still get indexed, but this is the guide that tells the spider where all indexable pages are located, so make one (or two).

4. Robots.txt File

Do you use your robots.txt correctly? Do you get odd messages in the SERPs that show the page you thought was hidden from the spider, but shows in the description that it was not?

What you might not know: robots.txt files don't block your pages from being found. Robots.txt files are meant to prevent crawling and indexing of the site content, not indexing of page information.

Google Tip:

The issue lies in the fact that if the page is in the robots.txt and you wanted it blocked from the search results the no-index tag cannot be read on the page, so the page URL is indexed with the description that explains the robots.txt blocked it.

Tip: You can fix this by blocking folder level sections in the robots.txt and using the no-index page code on the page level.

Google Tip:

5. Page Speed

Are you checking your site's page speed? Do you know what rating you are given with Google's page speed tool? Have you checked your analytics values?

You may have heard that page speed is only helpful to 1 percent of site queries, but we've yet to meet a site that doesn't do better almost immediately by improving their page score to above a 90. Just do it!

Users who don't get their page downloaded in a second or less (3 to 4 is the max), are likely to abandon your site, so it helps you either way.

Tip: You want a 90 and above if you can get it. Make sure you don't go below 85. There is no hard and fast rules on this, just personal experience.

6. Site Crawl

Use a tool, such as Screaming Frog, to run a crawler through your site and complete a site-wide check for the following:

• Is your anchor text written properly?
• Are your redirects handling properly?
• Do you have site crawl issues?
• Do you have broken links (coming into your site, going out, or in images)?
• Are your meta tags too long, too short, duplicate or non-existent?
• Are your title tags too long, too short, duplicate, over-optimized, or non-existent?
• Are you using the alt text in your alt attribute correctly?

Tip: Using a large-scale site crawler like Screaming Frog helps you see site-wide issues quickly with one-click shareable reporting.

7. Duplicate Content

When is the last time you checked your site's content for duplicate content in the SERPs?

Your content may be 100 percent original, but that doesn't mean your content hasn't been duplicated somewhere or that someone hasn't scraped your site. You should do regular checks on your site content.

Tip: Use sites like Copyscape to check for scraped content, though you should also do a hand review. Some copy is scraped into Flash and can be read by Google, but not Copyscape.

8. Canonicalization

Speaking of content, have you checked your site to make sure you have properly implemented your canonical tags? Do you have canonical tags?

Canonical tags can tell Google:

• That the content you spent all that time writing is yours.
• That these N duplicate pages on our site are really copies of an original page.

Tip: Canonicalization is the only way, at this time, to tell Google you own said content. Don't let your site or anything for that matter, leave your site without it (includes syndication).

9. Content

Content is one of the most important parts of your site health and authority. Without great content you might find it difficult to position your site well within its term set and even more difficult to find quality users who want to spent time with your pages – and no one likes to be left alone on a Saturday night.

• Is your content informative? 
• Do you create original, unique, relevant content on a regular schedule? 
• Do you update content other than just the blog page?

You need fresh, unique, original, relevant content added to your site on a regular basis. While the blog is a great place to do this on a site, you need to add to the site in more places than just the blog.

Tip: Make sure your content is longer than 600-700 words (or at least most content) on your site. "Thin Content" will likely get you penalized and since that just makes for a bad day, don't skimp here, it will just make you sad.

10. Usability

Have you tested your site for usability? Is it easy to use? Can users find their way around simply? Do they know what your site is about in a "blink"?

• You have less than 3 milliseconds to establish trust with users.
• Your site design should pass the "blink" text. Close your eyes. Open them. You should be able to tell what your site does and where to go in that one second after you open them, if you can't re-examine your homepage and site pages for proper site pathing.
• Make sure your site highlights the most important site paths.

Tip: Before you add/change anything on your site pages or design ask yourself:

• Does this make my site functionally better for users?
• Does this make my site better for search engines?
• Does this help me make money?
• Does this inform users?

If the answer to these questions is no, re-examine why you are adding to and/or changing the site. It isn't likely that the add/change will be beneficial to you or the users.

11. Your Analytics

Your analytics can tell you a lot about your site health in terms of the search engines and users long before other data sources.

• How often do you check your site analytics? 
• Are you using Google? 
• If not, do your analytics give you granular data? 
• Are you comparatively checking your site metrics?

Aside from just your standard visit/page view graph some of the things you can review in your analytics are:

• Keyword Queries: Are you being found on the searches you think you should? Now for many this will be hidden in the "not provided", but it can at least give you an idea how you are being found and if that has changed dramatically since the last comparison period. Large changes here can indicate site changes elsewhere. Red flags are often found here.
• Organic vs. Non-Organic Searches: How are your organic searches and one what engines? Always check your organics, even when your numbers look OK. Other metrics such as direct, or referral sources could be sending in traffic large enough to hide a downturn in site visits.
• Branded vs. Non-Branded Searches: Are your site branded visits down? You might need to see if you have had a change in your offsite marketing or check your SERPs for ads trading off your brand listing. One client was losing 10% of their traffic from a site buying main keyword and branded terms, then displaying the ads for short periods of time over months. Their loss of traffic was due to AdWords, not a change in the algorithm as they had suspected.
• Conversion Pages (if you have them): Have your conversions gone up or down? Did you make a change to your site or marketing plan that would account for this variation? Check your conversion metrics. This is the canary in a coal mine, if your conversions are down significantly and it isn't just because it is 4th of July, this is a red flag indicating more review needs to be done.

Tip: There is a wealth of data in your analytics that can inform everything from market strategy to how go glean 100,000+ users off the Google logo on a holiday (true story). Don't just check site visits, they can be misleading and you might be missing out on information that will keep your site away from rocky shores and steaming nicely along.

12. Webmaster Tools

Are you using Google Webmaster Tools? And Bing's? If you are, do you know what the data is telling you? Are you paying attention to your messages?

Webmaster tools can provide some fairly immediate and valuable information about your site including:

• Messages from Google telling you why it just dropped your site down in the index.
• How many pages are being indexed.
• How many pages are being crawled, have ever been crawled, been dropped by you and are removed.
• What queries are used to find your site.
• What links are being used internally.
• What links are being pointed at your site (and even if they are redirected through another site).
• How Google views your site.
• What changes up/down there are to your page position on average.

Tip: Webmaster Tools should be checked every day and thoroughly once a week or more. The data in here can inform marketing strategy, prevent a negative site link attack, help you control how Google crawls your site, and much more. There is a wealth of information in these tools and proper use can be the difference between failure and success.

13. Social Media

Social media is less a direct ROI metric and more the assist to the basket. However, this doesn't make it less meaningful.

Studies show engaged customers make loyal customers and its effect on ROI is often much greater than thought. So make sure you have sat down and talked about your social media plan, how to implement it, what voice you will use and what your strategy will be.

• Do you have an integrated social media plan?
• Does it support your site goals?
• How have you implemented social on your site?

Tip: Make sure you allow users easy methods for sharing your site content, not just follow or like you, across all social media channels. Then use this in your integrated media plan to promote all your channels throughout your marketing activities.

14. Tagging

Are you using schema tagging? Do you use rel=author? Do you know what schema tagging is? Do you know how rel author can affect your site metrics?

Schema tags are tags that help the search engines pull data from your site and place it on their pages. In Google, you can see this in the "Knowledge Graph" display on the right side of the SERPs.

Author tags allow Google to associate a real person with your content. Are you using author tagging on your blogs, your site? When you do Google adds an image to the left of published content associated with the author, this image helps to increase user click-throughs from the search results. This helps your site metrics and your SEO.

Tip: Schema tagging feeds a new type of search in Google's toolbox called entity search. Make sure to implement schema tagging on your site; you risk getting left behind if you don't. The site schema.org has full documentation on how to use schema tagging.

15. Backlinks

When is the last time you ran a link profile check on your site? Do you know what your percentage of good links to bad is? Do you know how negative link SEO works on a site and what to do if it happens to you?

Links are the most scrutinized part of the Google algorithm today. How you acquire them, at what speed, from where and from whom can all affect your site health and yes a competitor can attack your site with negative links.

It only takes X percent (I know, but am not sharing) to cause your link profile to go from healthy to ill. Not keeping an eye on this part of your site is one of he fastest ways out of the engine at either the keyword, page or site level.

Tip: Many people have been writing that links are dead and just write good content to obtain links.

• Links are not dead (and social is not the new link building it is the cranberry sauce to the turkey dinner, nice to have, just not the meat.) 
• While you should never buy links, you will be waiting years to obtain the links a site needs to position in moderately to highly competitive markets, so you will have to find some method for acquiring them if your business model needs to have position along keyword terms.

The key to successful link acquisition: it must look natural. If you aren't sure how this works, don't attempt at home. Hire a professional.

Details: http://searchenginewatch.com/article/2283182/SEO-Cheat-Sheet-15-Common-Oversights-Found-During-Site-Audits

Google Penguin SEO Tips

Hello guys, on March 11 Matt Cutts declared next big penguin update, which is on the way soon. So my recommendation will be to begin working on your website right now in order  to get ready for this update in the future. The primary marks, Matt Cutts stated are key indicators of website quality and position in SERP – First is content, than social, user experience, building and SEO. Furthermore all of these factors are main components of SEO strategy. The question is how we utilize precisely our SEO understanding in content material, social media or link building. As we realize, online branding, reputation management and visibility functions in collaboration with SEO as well. What can be the primary Google penguin SEO tips in 2013?

1. Get rid of exact match anchor links

Leave your content on its own with some possibilities. If its is well crafted, it will do its job. Diversify links and make them brandable.

2. Get rid of harmful websites and domain names

Never buy low trust spam websites and domain names. I mean researching the history of the website at all times  before buying it.

3. Relationship matters – Build your identity

Go social, as it the highest rated priority according to Matts. Instead of building spammy links, think about  brand reputation and presence. Try to position higher into target audience minds. It really means more, than one sale or one boost in SERP.

4. Future is equivalent to mobile

Transform your website into mobile applications – there are plenty of cool mobile design templates and services online. Also mobile SEO varies in structure and composition – as the search strategy (the way consumers are searching) is different too.

5. Develop responsive and relevant design

Make the header elements telling the vision and mission of your website, always analyze the semantic structure, page content, outgoing links.

6. C .O .N .T .E .N .T

Creative – One and only-Never told-To the point -Exclusive -Non duplicated-Terrific. I have talked about the cosmic power of content for many times.So it should be your first and last tip-always create, check, analyze, publish, monitor, create, check… Invest in your uniqueness and competitive sides.
While google penguin SEO updates 2013 may  hit both black and white method users ,I have no doubt fair internet gamers will certainly win the competition .

 

10 basic tips for SEO

Monitor where you stand

You won't know if your SEO efforts are working unless you monitor your search standings. MarketingVox suggests that you keep an eye on your page rank with tools like Alexa and the Google toolbar. It's also important to check your referrer log regularly to track where your visitors are coming from and the search terms they're using to find your site, according to PC World.

Keywords

You should be conscious of placing appropriate keywords throughout every aspect of your site: your titles, content, URLs, and image names. Think about your keywords as search terms -- how would someone looking for information on this topic search for it?

The title tag and page header are the two most important spots to put keywords, PC World notes.

BEWARE: Putting ridiculous amounts of keywords on your site will get you labeled as a spammer, and search engine spiders are programmed to ignore sites guilty of "keyword-stuffing." Be strategic in your keyword use.

Link back to yourself

There is probably no more basic strategy for SEO than the integration of internal links into your site -- it is an easy way to boost traffic to individual pages, SEO Consult says.

You should make it standard to link back to your archives frequently when creating new content. MarketingVox advises that you also make the anchor text search-engine-friendly: "The more relevant words point to a page, the more likely that page is to appear in search results when users run a query with those terms."

As with all other SEO approaches, be sure your links are appropriate, and be careful not to cross the line into excessive linking -- you don't want your visitors to get annoyed.

Create a sitemap

Adding a site map -- a page listing and linking to all the other major pages on your site -- makes it easier for spiders to search your site.

"The fewer clicks necessary to get to a page on your website, the better," advises MarketingVox.

Search-friendly URLs

Make your URLs more search-engine-friendly by naming them with clear keywords.

SEO Consult explains: "For instance, it’s easy to understand what ‘www.puppyfun.co.uk/puppyhealth/vitamins’ would contain. It’s less easy to understand if the in-house classification system of the business is used, for example ‘www.puppyfun.co.uk/11789/s201.htm’. A dynamic URL is similarly off-putting, even if it contains recognisable words: ‘www.puppyfun.co.uk/search/?s=”health”’.

Avoid Flash

Flash might look pretty, but it does nothing for your SEO. According to the Search Engine Journal, "Frames, Flash and AJAX all share a common problem – you can’t link to a single page... Don’t use Frames at all and use Flash and AJAX sparingly for best SEO results."

"If you absolutely MUST have your main page as a splash page that is all Flash or one big image, place text and navigation links below the fold," the post continues.

Image descriptions

Spiders can only search text, not text in your images -- which is why you need to make the words associated with your images as descriptive as possible.

Start with your image names: adding an "ALT" tag allows you to include a keyword-rich description for every image on your site. Perfect Optimization explains an easy way to do this.

The visible text around your images is valuable for SEO: MarketPosition suggests adding captions to all your pictures and being descriptive with the text in immediate physical proximity to your images.

Content

Your content needs to be fresh -- updating regularly and often is crucial for increasing traffic.

"The best sites for users, and consequently for search engines, are full of oft-updated, useful information about a given service, product, topic or discipline," MarketingVox explains.

One way to ensure that your site gets new content on a frequent basis is to integrate a blog. "Get the owner or CEO blogging. It’s priceless!" the Search Engine Journal suggests. An executive blog is an excellent way to reach out to your clients, create more opportunities for internal and external linking, while giving your site a more personal voice.

Social media distribution

A CEO blog is just one element of social media distribution, an important SEO strategy according to SEO Consult. You should be distributing links to fresh content on your site across appropriate social networking platforms.

Whether displayed on your company's account, or recommended, re-tweeted, and re-distributed by someone else, this strategy exponentially muliplies the number of places where visitors will view your links.

Link to others

An easy way to direct more traffic to your site is by developing relationships with other sites.

PC World suggests that you personally ask the webmasters of well-respected sites if they'll include a link to your site on theirs. Be sure to return the favor -- then everyone wins!

Make certain that your partner has a good web-reputation, of course. MarketingVox warns against getting tied to a "link farm" whose bad SEO habits could bring you down.

http://www.businessinsider.com/10-basic-seo-tips-everyone-should-know-2010-1?op=1

How to get a website on the first page of Google

Any website owner would love to be on the first page of Google. But people who have been into Internet marketing can very well tell you that it is not that easy. It requires a lot of effort to accomplish this. The most important thing to do if you wish to achieve this feat is to learn SEO - Search Engine Optimization.

So you are wondering how to get on the first page of Google for any keyword? I can lay down a few very simple steps that can help you get this done. Many of my pages rank on the first page of Google because I use this formula.

The following steps if done judiciously will tell you how to get on the first page of Google for any keyword.

First of all, set up your website on WordPress. For people who do not know what WordPress is, it is a content management solution. You can Google it to find the details. The reason why I am asking you to do this is because optimization is extremely easy on WordPress.

Next, install the platinum SEO plugin. This plugin will give you the option of creating custom meta tags like title, keyword and description. This way each of your pages or, posts will have a unique meta tag and they can all rank for different keywords.

Next, do the following in each of the pages or, posts that you create-


Ensure that you have a keyword density of around 3.5%. Keyword density is the frequency of keywords used per 100 words in you page. There are a lot of websites that can help you do it. You can search for them on Google.
Create an h1, h2 and h3 tag each with you keyword in it.
Create a link to another page on the same website with the keyword as the anchor text.
Bolden one occurrence of your keyword on your page.
Underline one occurrence of your keyword on your page.
Italicize one occurrence of your keyword on your page.
Ensure your first sentence has your keyword in it.
Ensure that your last sentence has your keyword in it.

One you have completed all this, publish your page or, post and bookmark it with the major social media sites.

In 24-48 hours of completion of all this your website will be indexed and in less than 2-3 days you should see you pages on the first page of Google.

Another way:

There are 3 big steps to Search Engine Optimization.

1. Keyword research. Potential customers are typing certain words into Google to find your service or product. What are those words?
2. On Page SEO. Make sure that your current website mentions your keywords.
3. Off Page SEO. Make sure that other websites mention your website.

First we do keyword research.

A lot of research. Keywords are the backbone of how to get a website on the first page of Google, so this step is mondo-important.
You can do this right now for free.
Go to Google’s Keyword tool. (We also use Market Samurai. You can sign up for a free trial here)
Enter a phrase you think your customers might type to find you. For example, let’s say you sell lemonade in New York City. If people are looking to buy lemonade in New York City, they may type in ‘lemonade in NYC’.
So if you type that in to the keyword tool, you will get some other terms Google thinks is related to ‘lemonade in NYC’.
You will see a long list of terms, some of which are relevant to selling lemonade in NYC, some that are not. You simply pick the words and terms that show the most monthly traffic.
The next step is to find how many other websites are competing to be on page 1 for that term. The free way of doing this step is to simply take the term you like and put it into Google in quotations. Underneath the search results you will see how many other pages are competing.

Any term with 100,000 competing pages or less can be moved to page 1 in three months or less (with a couple more steps)
We repeat this process of finding great search terms with high searches and low competition over and over. Then, we make sure that your website mentions these terms.

Next is on-page SEO.

After all, if you would like to be found for ‘lemonade NYC’ but your site only talks about ‘coffee in NYC’ there is no reason for Google to think you also sell lemonade.
Our next step is to coordinate with the person who manages your website, and let them know about all the keywords we will be targeting. They can then make sure the on-page SEO is done correctly. (Don’t worry, if they don’t know how to do this, we’ll show them.)

Finally, we find other websites that are similar to our client’s site and get backlinks.

Here is an example of a great backlink.
If you clicked on that, you will notice it simply links back to our homepage. What you clicked is the backlink and the word ‘great backlink‘ is the anchor text.