After your website layout and content is as wanted you’ll need to evaluate your website’s ability to be indexed well before it is submitted to the search engines, and then track it thereafter.

Initially you’ll need to ensure that your pages have a meta-title and meta-description that represents the content of that page. The “keywords” meta-tag is no longer factored into a Google ranking but some of the lesser search engines still use it. WordPress and other CMS websites will include additional meta-tags but the three noted above are the important ones for site ranking.

Google-Developers

Careful Keyword Selection is the Heart of the SEO Plan

Site owners who are on top of their SEO game have a list of top-priority keywords that they use on their site, with reasonable repetition, in strategic places. If a site’s focus or positioning changes new keywords are needed. Another important thing to note is that the most important keywords should be listed first where possible. The position is especially important on page titles (shown in the address bar of the browser) and the description meta-tag (shown in the Google search listing). The keywords in your meta-tags should be included on your page ideally 2 to 3 times (with variation) to achieve a good keyword density relationship. By relationship here I am referring to having the targeted keyword/s in the page title, the heading tags, the text copy, in page links, file names, and image names.

It is also important to know that the text content placed in the top 1/3 of the page (above the fold) will be indexed more frequently and fully than content below.   In this regard be wary of using large slideshow at the top of the page without a text overlay or Banner Ads at the top of your pages since they provide less room for important text and banner ads may also irritate your visitors.  Finally, it is a good practice to keep an SEO journal wherein you track when and where you submitted your website and every major site that links to you, and then periodically check to see if your site has been indexed, and its ranking per likely search queries. It will typically take anywhere from a couple of weeks to a couple of months to get listed, though in many cases your site will be crawled and indexed automatically.

Essential Assessment Tools

Google Analytics:
Analytics is a must for any business that wants to track their site’s online ranking, which includes assessment tools, dashboard tracking options, and documentation for site improvement.
Getting Started with Analytics | https://analytics.google.com

Google Search Console:
Submission features which are a must for web developers and site owners. You can add a sitemap, request to be crawled, request removal of outdated links (broken URLs), view inbound links, have a security scan done, etc.
https://search.google.com/search-console/about

Bing Webmaster Tools:
https://www.bing.com/toolbox/webmaster/

GTMetrix Performance Test:
https://gtmetrix.com/

Google Developers Page Speed Test:
https://developers.google.com/speed?csw=1

Google Mobile Friendly Test:
https://search.google.com/test/mobile-friendly

SEO Site Checkup:
https://seositecheckup.com/

Website Test:
https://nibbler.silktide.com/

Moz Local Check:
https://moz.com/checkout/local/check

Web Accessibility Tests:
https://www.w3.org/WAI/ER/tools/

Best FREE SEO Tools

Ubersuggest:
https://neilpatel.com/ubersuggest/

Google Trends:
https://trends.google.com/trends/?geo=US

Moz Keyword Tools:
(10 free searches per month)
https://moz.com/explorer
https://moz.com/link-explorer

Word Tracker:
https://www.wordtracker.com/search/

Answer the Public:
https://answerthepublic.com/

Keyword Sheeter:
https://keywordsheeter.com/

Useful Utilities

Whois Domain Lookup:
WhoIs Domain Look-Up

DNS Propagation Checker:
https://www.whatsmydns.net/

Optimization and Marketing Strategies

Following are the best organic techniques to help your site improve in its ranking. Please note that not all of these are easy to implement and some may not be needed or apply to your business. When we assist you with the marketing of your website we will consider which of these are effective and provide you an estimate based upon your site’s marketing needs, and only charge you for work that has been mutually agreed upon.

  • Keyword-Rich Page Titles: The page title should include the keywords (typically 8 words or less) that encapsulates the content of that page (60 characters maximum).
  • The Description Meta-Tag: The page description should be a sentence or two that represent the content of that page — descriptive, individualized, and include the keywords you want people to find you with (160 characters maximum).
  • Keywords in Headers: A page’s headings (H1 to H3) should include the keywords that are important to the page.
  • Keywords in the First Paragraph of Your Pages: Search engines expect that your first paragraph will contain the important keywords for the document.
  • Descriptive Keywords in the ALT Attribute of Image Tags: This helps your site be more accessible to visually impaired visitors and gives additional clues to the search engines.
  • Hyperlinked Keywords: Search engines look for clues to the focus of your web page. Hyperlinked words in your body text are consider potentially important, so hyperlink your important keywords and key phrases.
  • SEO Friendly Navigation: It is important for the search engine robots to find all the pages in your site.
  • A Site Map: A site map page with links to all your pages can help search engines (and visitors) find all your pages.
  • Keyword Targeted Web-Pages: Develop several pages on your site, each of which is focused on a target keyword or key phrase.
  • Local Business Promotion: If you have a physical address it is a good idea to create a free listing for your local business on Google My Business and Bing Local.
  • Backlinks: Links to your site from other reputable websites will help your authority ranking and drive additional traffic.
  • Directories Submission: A link from a well ranked directory will help your ranking, and get you traffic.
  • Trade Organization and Specialized Directories: If you belong to trade associations that feature member directories ask for a link.
  • Write Articles for Others: You can increase your visibility when you write articles in your area of expertise and distribute them to editors.
  • News Releases: Find newsworthy events and send news releases to print and Web periodicals in your industry.
  • A Business Blog: A business blog on your website that offers quality content and regular industry comment are likely to be linked to.
  • Participate in the Social Media Community: Some of the best online communities for business include Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter.
  • Online Forums and Discussion Lists: The Internet offers thousands of targeted e-mail based discussion lists, online forums, and groups made up of people with very specialized interests.
  • Ask Visitors to Bookmark Your Site: It seems simple, but this “call to action” can be effective to get someone to save your page.
  • Develop a Free Service: It’s boring to invite people, “Learn about our business.” It’s quite another to say “Use our free rate conversion calculator available exclusively on our site.”
  • Signatures in Footer of E-mails: A Signature in your E-Mails will help potential customers get in touch with you.
  • Publish an E-Mail Newsletter: While it requires commitment, creating a periodic newsletter is one of the most important promotion techniques.
  • Announce a Contest: People like getting something free.

If your business is new, or doing poorly in the searches, our suggestion is to search your top ranked competition by keyword search query, and then do a name search for them — copy the URL of the places they have been linked to. This is especially helpful to find service-specific directories and listings that only apply to a specific business or industry type.

There are many, many online options, and it isn’t worth your time to submit to all of them.