New Website SEO Checklist

There are a few things every new website needs right off the bat. If I were in the business of creating a new site every day, I surely would have a notepad on my desk that has certain things listed. It’s what SEO firms and web developers have been doing since the beginning. It’s called a “system.” I preach this all the time.

Every Site Needs a System

If you are launching a new website, you need to do a few things. These are the basics that can drive critical areas in the future, such as links and community involvement.

1. Include Text & Title Tags. First things first. Be sure you include enough text on every page. The search engines love text. I swear they gobble the stuff up. If you are an authority on an area or topic, start creating an outline for everything you write online. It should look professional and authoritative. Have confidence in what you write because others will learn to trust your judgement and will follow you into the future.

Remember, your website or blog is not a Twitter or Facebook page. It’s not meant for quick snippets of information. Your website or blog is your home base for fleshing out ideas with deep analysis. Write, write and write some more.

Be sure your title tags are up to snuff. Don’t repeat keywords and keep your titles short and succinct. You almost never need to repeat a keyword in a page title.

2. Research Keywords. If you have a Google AdWords account, this is very simple. You can use their keyword research tool to discover the more popular, least popular and most effective keywords to use in your pages or posts. Every word in the language you speak has a metric attached to it. Use that metric to climb your way to the top of the rankings. Please be sure not to over use keywords though. Do not, I repeat, do not stuff your titles and pages with keywords you want to rank for. The search engines defeated this tactic back in 1980, so you are only hurting yourself if you try to repeat and overuse your favorite keyword. Google has quite sophisticated algorithms to pick up on this type of thing and you may get your entire website penalized if you engage in it.

3. Write Unique and Compelling Content. Be yourself when you write. Don’t doubt yourself. Trust me, there are enough people out there who don’t know what they’re talking about – don’t be one of them. Pick your topic and become and expert.

When you write a post or a page, don’t spin something someone else has already written (slightly changing the content and passing it off as your own). Also, don’t copy from other websites. These tactics are old as well and unlike years ago when your page was just ignored, now your page or entire site will be punished.

4. Create a Sitemap & Post Social Buttons. This is easy and effective. If you are running WordPress, there is a plugin called “Simple Sitemap Plugin For WordPress.” You can see what the output looks like on their plugin page. Use this plugin. Create a new page for it and title it “Sitemap.” I’ve found that search engines love these pages and visit them all the time. If you have a new post or page that hasn’t been crawled yet, this is a great way to get it discovered.

Adding social buttons to your site is very straightforward. I talked about this topic a number of times in the past. I use a service called, “AddThis” to take care of this area. I just created an account, configured the buttons and then added the code to my sites. People use them all the time and I dare guess that they appreciate them. It’s also a great SEO tool for me.

5. Write Frequently. If you are a blogger, you need to be writing at least one post a day. If you are only writing one, you better make it good. There is a ton of information online that covers how to get yourself into a content writing system, so don’t be shy with looking that information up. The more posts the better. Years ago, the search engines started looking at how frequently your sites is updated or changed. Rankings soon followed. So if you’re serious, start learning how to write and write often.

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