Starting a new business or website? here’s a quick checklist to get you started:
- Sign up for a Google Webmaster Tools account
- Verify Ownership in Webmaster Tools
- Select www. or non www. and make sure there is a working 301 redirect
- Perform a background check on your domain and check if it was previously indexed in Google using a site search [Site:example.com]
- Submit your Sitemap in Webmaster Tools
- Use ‘Fetch as Googlebot’ to Submit new pages to index rather than waiting for Google to crawl the page.
- Setup a Google Analytics Account and link it to Webmaster Tools
- Include relevant keywords naturally in your website content. For example a Shoe Shop could include ‘Running Shoes’ – Find relevant keywords using Google’s Keyword Tool
- Make sure your website content answers visitor questions by showing reviews, refund processes and how to find support.
- Make sure every page includes:
- Unique topic
- Unique title
- Unique meta description
- Descriptive anchor text for every link(for example change links such as ‘for more information click here‘ to ‘for more information check out our product specifications‘)
- Make sure your website load speed is acceptable (under 2 seconds) by using Google’s Page Speed test.
- To rank well, provide an a compelling service or product and then attract traffic through natural links and social media shares.
- To outrank the competition separate yourself, product or service from the competition by providing something of value or that puts you above the rest such as:
- Free Shipping
- Low Prices
- Higher Quality Products
- Excellent Customer Service
- Detailed Product Descriptions
- Better Availability
- Determine your business and website goals and make sure your content is aligned with said goals.
