Launching a Website: 7 SEO Things You Need to Do
It’s a dream for both big and small business owners to launch a website that will drive sales and bring endless amounts of traffic.
While some of us are able to perform that task easily through years of practice and knowledge, there are people who seek help.
After all, launching a website is not enough. You have to navigate through the unchartered waters of digital marketing and search engine optimization (SEO) to have your website appear in the search engine result pages (SERPs).
Here are 7 effective nuances of Search Engine Optimization that you must perform on your website before launching it for the Google bots to crawl.
#1 Write Great Landing Pages
You cannot win over customers with poorly written landing pages. You have to understand that your website is the link that connects both you and the customer. Since content is king, make sure that you write landing page content that sells and provides value.
What does this mean? Well, it’s simple – you have to generate content that is concise, engaging, and speaks volumes about your business. As for value-added content, all you have to do is add trust factors to your website.
Trust factors include customer reviews, comments, and feedback. You can also add other trust factors like BBB+ A accreditation and business accolades.
Once that is done, ensure that you focus on the material you add to your landing page. Your landing page will only add value when you are talking more about the benefits your customers receive than the services you provide.
#2 Optimize Images and Videos
Your website is the face of your business. It represents your business and you as an entity. You can’t leave it to chance. You have to make sure that every image and video placed on your website is high resolution and sized appropriately.
To accomplish this you should add images that do not have a high upload time nor come out as massively published images. You should find a balance between load time and quality.
With the help of resizing and compressing tools, you can expect good results as long as the images do not invoke a copyright issue. Resizing your images will also allow your website to load faster.
If you have video content, you are most likely to reducing the loading speed of your website. However, you can get past that roadblock by doing either of the two things:
- Use a third-party video-sharing host to carry the load for you.
- Or else, you can create a YouTube and Vimeo channel.
A channel will help you add a simple URL to the video you want to showcase or present on your website. In addition to this, you can also embed the video on your website. Also, if you have the right budget, consider purchasing a large server – the ones used by Amazon and other big e-commerce giants.
#3 Perform an In-Depth Keyword Research
Without the presence of keywords, you don’t stand a chance at winning in the SERPs. You have to add keywords related to your niche. And before you add them to your content, you have to strategically find the right keywords using the right tools.
For example, Moz, Ahrefs, KWfinder, SEMrush, etc. You can use these tools to conduct thorough keyword research of your true competitors. The process of research must focus on the type of content you’re generating because keywords for search engines such as Google and YouTube are completely different. So, make sure you set the filters according to the content you’re marketing. Rest assured other filters as keyword volume and density will further make things easier for you.
Additionally, you also need to take note of the following points:
- Identify the key terms and phrases your customers largely search for while seeking the products or services you provide.
- Ensure that you find a sweet spot between making your content keyword rich instead of stuffing keywords.
- Calculate the keyword density in your content and keep it below 2%.
- Add relevant key phrases in your write-ups. In particular, those that naturally match your topic.
#4 Make Your Website Responsive
It’s a given fact that the majority of the users access online services through a smartphone. We no longer use desktops, laptops, or even tablets to constantly search for services and products online.
It is one of the biggest reasons why you need to make your website mobile responsive. And to do the same you have to test your website for mobile responsive issues such as:
- Paragraph structure
- Dropdown menus
- Icons
- Banners
- Image structure and;
- The entire website design
In other words, you have to design your website as per the user and mobile discretion – small screens, enabled touch, and a less precise user interface.
Not only this but you should also test your website for laptops, tablets, android, and iPhone screens prior to the launch day. After all, unfixed bugs will deteriorate the user experience.
#5 Secure Your Website
You should take security very seriously from the start. The Admin area, in particular, should be made as secure as possible to prevent malicious bots and hackers from entering.
Even if your website does not host any sensitive information, having outsider access to the inner workings of your website can be embarrassing at best, and a total disaster at worst. Before you launch your website, make the following preparations:
- Check that all of your passwords are secure, include a variety of characters, and are case sensitive. LastPass, for example, can be useful in keeping track of multiple passwords.
- Whatever CMS you use, keep it up to date, and make sure any plugins you use are up to date as well.
#6 Check for Possible Indexing Issues
Indexing issues are anything that hinders crawlers from accessing your site pages and content. This can directly affect your ranking and should not be prolonged. Below are some of the areas you can look into to make sure there are no indexing issues left on your website.
- Check your Pages for Noindex Tags
- Check your Robots.txt File
- Check your .htaccess File for Errors
- Test your Canonical tags
- Monitor Your Server Availability and Status Error Messages
- Check your XML Sitemap
#7 Setup Analytics
Do not forget to install certain tools such as Google Analytics (It’s free) on your site before you launch. It will help you track and monitor the activity of your website’s users. If you’re using WordPress, there are a few plugins that make it simple to integrate Google Analytics.
While you may want to give the site some breathing room before making any major changes, it is critical to have an analytics tool on your site from the beginning.
This will allow the tool to fully comprehend how users interact with the site, allowing you as the site manager to have the most amount of usable data possible.
Final Thoughts
From the above-mentioned points, applying SEO and other marketing techniques to achieve success in the digital world is necessary. If the need arrives you can also strategize ad campaigns (PPC). Or even better you can take the help of social media influencers to market your products. But for organic traffic and reach, these SEO steps are crucial. With a bit of practice, knowledge, expertise, help, and smart work you will definitely be able to launch your website successfully.
About the Author
Sunit Nandi I'm the leader of Techno FAQ. Also an engineering college student with immense interest in science and technology. Other interests include literature, coin collecting, gardening and photography. Always wish to live life like there's no tomorrow.
