6 Ways to Improve Your SEO in Less Than 60 Minutes
So, you want to drive more leads and sales through Google? We hear ya!
Google is a fantastic place to generate leads because users have a problem they want to solve. We often talk about Google like looking something up in the yellow pages (this is really showing our Millennial age!) – you know what you want; you just need to find someone who can do it.
What is SEO and Why Should I Care about it in My Business?
Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is the process of making edits to your website to improve where you rank on Google. Here, the lower the number, the better. We want to rank #1 (first!) on Google for our services or products.
There are 4 different types of search intent, meaning when a user googles a term or phrase, it could be because they are looking for one of four things:
Informational - they want general information about a topic. Example: Buffalo Chicken Recipe
Commercial - they want more information about a product they are considering purchasing. Example: Average wedding photographer cost
Transactional - they want to make a purchase. Example: Wedding Photographer for Hire Near Me
Navigational - they are looking for a specific website or have visited that website before. Example: FlyDog Digital
Not all searches are because a user wants to buy. Take this blog post, for example. You may have found it because you Googled “How to Improve My SEO.” You’re not necessarily looking to buy (although we do have bomb.com SEO packages), but you did an informational search.
Implementing SEO best practices can feel overwhelming and techy! There are many rules to remember, and everyone has their own strategies for yielding the best results. Here’s a secret, though: Nobody actually knows Google’s algorithm, and anyone who tells you they do is lying. We would be millionaires if we knew Google’s secrets!
However, we do know there are easy edits you can make to your website today to help improve your search rankings. We implement these changes as part of our clients' SEO strategies—the same ones that yield a 5x ROI.
If you want a totally hands-off, full-service SEO approach (we wouldn’t blame ya!), check out our full-service SEO management offering. But if you’re just starting out or don’t have the money to hire an agency, here are 6 small tweaks you can implement in the next 60 minutes to improve your SEO and stats.
Small SEO Tweaks for Big Results
Don’t have much time to focus on your website’s SEO? Here are 6 SEO tweaks you can make in under 60 minutes to positively impact your overall analytics and increase your Google rankings.
1. Check Your Site Speed
If you’ve already implemented SEO measures but still haven’t seen results after several months, you might be overlooking a really crucial component – your site speed! If your site isn’t loading quickly, Google won't prioritize it in the search results, which means fewer potential customers will see it.
The first step to improving your site speed is to check it using Google PageSpeed Insights. Most individuals now view websites on their phones, so you’ll want to ensure your website gets a good score on both desktop and mobile. If your website isn’t scoring well, look at the recommendations from Google PageSpeed Insights (they give some great suggestions!). Small tweaks you can make include:
Uploading smaller-sized photos (resize before uploading – 1500 pixels wide is MORE than big enough for a standard photo)
Limiting the number of plugins (you won’t have this issue if you’re using Squarespace)
Check your hosting company and ensure it runs fast (once again, this is not a problem if you have a Squarespace website – it’s all included!)
Having a faster website will also help decrease your bounce rate, or how often a visitor comes to a website and immediately leaves without taking action or going to another page. Google favors a lower bounce rate in terms of a website’s rankings.
2. Implementing Keywords for On-Page SEO
You know it’s important to use keywords, but are you using keywords in all the possible spots on your website? While it’s essential to implement them in your on-page copy, it’s also important to use them on the backend and in places people don’t usually look. Make sure you’re using keywords in the following spots on your website:
URL slugs: This is what comes after the .com on your site and should include keywords for the specific page. If it doesn’t, that’s okay – you can go in and change them! Just make sure to set up 301 redirects so you don’t have broken links (something that negatively impacts your SEO).
A URL Slug like .com/new-page is BAD for SEO.
File renaming: Whether it’s a photo, video, or some other file, it should never be uploaded as “IMG1234.jpg” on your website. Instead, rename the file to describe what it is or the page that it is on. Photos and videos can appear in Google searches, so you'll want to ensure everything is named correctly. This also strengthens the SEO for the page where they’re located.
Backend keywords: Whether you’re filling out the description and title for specific pages or your website as a whole, make sure to insert keywords into all of these sections and not leave anything blank!
3. Verify Your Site with Google Search Console
Assuming you already have Google Analytics, it's important also to verify your site with Google Search Console! This process will recognize you have ownership of the site and kickstart the process of Google crawling your website (aka pleasing the Google Gods)
Don’t have Google Analytics? This should be step number 1!!! Download our free guide to Google Analytics 4. It will teach you how to set up Google Analytics for your website so you can start tracking your numbers.
Google Search Console is a really valuable tool when it comes to increasing your performance and numbers. You can see exactly what people are searching to reach your website and where your website ranks for that search result on Google. Using this information, you can strengthen your keyword research and start targeting keywords people are already searching to reach your website! You can also use this to drive other marketing efforts by understanding the services or information your audience is most interested in.
4. Fix Broken Links
A broken link is a link that produces a 404 error page. It could be because you have the wrong URL linked on a button or because you changed the name of that URL (like we suggest in Tweak #2!) Google doesn’t recommend a website unless it provides good and helpful information. A broken link makes a website look less trustworthy to Google and thus appears lower in search results. That’s why it’s important to ensure that all the links on your website are live and point to a valid website.
Check your website every few months for broken links and fix anything faulty. It's important to ensure your website doesn't return any internal or external 404 errors (this means the page no longer exists).
Using a broken link checker, you can check if your website has any broken links.
If you do find broken links, make sure to set up a 301 or 302 redirect. You will do this differently on different website platforms, so the best way to find where to do this is to Google it! PS - Googling “How to create a 301 redirect on Squarespace” is an example of an Informational Search 😉
We used it to check for broken links on FlyDog Digital!
5. Create Internal and External Links
Implementing internal and external links on a website signals to Google that the website is trustworthy and authoritative. This also helps to transfer SEO rankings between pages and between websites.
Internal links: If you create Website A, internal linking means linking between pages on Website A. For instance, this blog post discusses SEO, so I will link to FlyDog Digital's SEO management throughout this article to "connect" the SEO between the two pages.
External links: If you create Website A and your friend has Website B, external linking means inserting a link from Website A onto Website B. It helps Google recognize that Website A is authoritative and knowledgeable if other websites link to it. You want to ensure that these links are as natural as possible – Google also looks unfavorably on websites that try to stick as many random links as possible on other websites. If you link to Instagram, you have an external link on your website! Your Website is Website A and Instagram is Website B.
If you only have an hour, try inserting a few more internal links to increase your website's “SEO juice.”
6. Refresh Older Content
While it’s recommended to have as much evergreen content as possible on a website (this is content that isn’t seasonal or time-specific), websites inevitably will end up having some content that does depend on a certain period of time or season. Review each page once or twice a year to ensure all the information is current and correct. Google doesn’t want to recommend incorrect or out-of-date information to users.
Here are a few things to check when updating pages:
Fixing Dates: If something has a date or occurs at a particular time each year, ensure the date is updated and correct.
Services & Products: If you’re a service- or product-based business, ensure that your Service page has correct details on exactly what you offer and that your products page has up-to-date products. When creating new service pages, pay attention to those URL slugs!
Photos: It’s always nice to refresh your website with new photos once or twice a year to make it visually appealing to visitors. Don’t forget to name those files with keywords!
Contact Information: Ensure your contact information is correct and people can easily reach you. You don't want to lose potential business because people have the wrong email address or the contact form doesn't work!
FlyDog Digital SEO Management
While you can make all the above tweaks on your website if you’re looking for a more comprehensive and robust SEO strategy but just don’t have time to dive into all the particulars, let’s chat about how you can work with us to implement an SEO strategy that will put your website in front of potential customers.
Our goal? Get your website on the first Google search results page to turn potential customers into loyal clients. When you work with us on SEO, we include the following:
Monthly reporting and traffic analysis
Google Analytics, Google Search Console, and Google Business management
On-page, off-page, and technical SEO optimizations all meant to drive more users and leads to your website.
If you’re interested in leveling your website’s SEO and don’t know where to start, let’s chat about how we can help!
