Astek Academy checklist-(120224-final)

SEO Check List

By Tom Lynch VP ( ) Astek ( ) Reach through the web. 773.486.6666 ( ) [email protected] ( ) http://www.astekweb.com ©2012 Astek Consulting LLC - 1 -

Why is SEO so important?

Natural Search Drives 75% of most sites’ search traffic. Rankings and click-through rates (CTR’s) are directly related for the most part. Position one CTR’s are on average 50%. A number 10 position CTR is usually less than 1%. Search results with better headlines or titles and more relevant snippet text can skew results but not most of the time. An SEO job well done tips the odds in our favor that we will rank higher in search results, get more clicks that drive traffic to our sites and help satisfy our business goals.

Check off each box as you have completed the tasks.

1. Do you have Google Analytics installed on your website?

2. Have you signed up for Google Programmer Tools and synched the two?

3. Put site:domain.com in the Google search box and replace “domain” with your website’s domain name. Hit enter.

a. Do all your pages show up on Google? i. If no, make a list of the pages that should be there and

compare to your xml sitemap.

b. Do you have an xml sitemap running in your website? i. If not please get one. Fairly easy to install on most Content

Management Systems (CMSs). Ask your programmer to make this happen if you are not able.

ii. If you have pages missing from the Google index, compare

the list of missing URLs to the xml sitemap. If the URLs are not in the xml sitemap, present this to your programmer for help in fixing the problem.

SEO Check List


c. If the URLs are in the xml sitemap and not listed on Google you will need to log into Google Programmer Tools and see if they are flagged for any quality issues.

i. If not and your programmer can’t seem to fix it, time to call

an SEO expert.

While you are in Google Programmer Tools:

4. Confirm All Your Pages Have a Unique:

a. HTML Title?

b. Meta Description?

c. Meta Keywords?

d. Are all your pages unique?

e. Do I have duplicate content according to Google Programmer Tools?

Each page’s text, tags, and titles need to be unique as well. Google penalizes pages that are identical on the same website.

f. For every page that is a duplicate go to Google Analytics to see

which has more traffic. Either 301 permanent redirect the low traffic page or remove it altogether. See your programmer for implementation.

g. If the pages are unique but the tags are duplicated, update the

pages with new tags that are more specific to the page’s content and incorporate the targeted keyword phrase most appropriate.

5. Are all your titles less than 65 characters long including punctuation and spaces? If you see three dots (…) after your listing on Google you have too many characters.

6. Are all your meta descriptions unique and less than 150 characters including spaces and punctuation? Same visual reference here. If you see three dots … after your search listing you have exceeded the display limit.

SEO Check List


7. Are all your meta keywords unique for each page or none appear at all? Meta Keywords are not effective on Google and the other search engines can penalize you if they are not relevant. Make sure you either have unique ones for every page or none at all to avoid penalties.

8. Do all your directories and URLs follow a logical structure and include the keywords.

a. Good Example: BabyProducts.com/strollers/joggers/2012-jeep-

limited-jogging-stroller.aspx b. Bad Example:

BabyProducts.com/products/category1/item#?id=120221.aspx

9. Are all your images optimized?

a. The smallest file size for the required display?

b. Include the targeted keyword on in the file-name.jpg?

c. Include caption text near the image using the keywords?

d. Do I have relevant alt text that includes the keywords and usable info for visually impaired folks?

10. Are the links on your site using the targeted keyword phrase?

a. In navigation?

b. In the body of copy?

c. In the breadcrumbs?

11. Do you have a social/bookmarking widget on I site?

12. Do you have links to your site?

a. Use link:domain.com to find out

b. Do the links have targeted keywords phrases in them? c. Do the same test using your competitor’s sites. Contact the sites

that link to your competitors’ websites. Ask the link sites to link back

SEO Check List


to you, pointing to some unique content you have using your target keywords in the link text.

13. Local Listings

a. Does my site have a local listing on:

i. Google

ii. Yahoo!

iii. Bing

b. Have you claimed your listing?

i. Is it accurate?

ii. Is it filled out completely? 14. Keyword Research

a. Research and select at least one keyword phrase for each product and:

i. For each search lifecycle stage

ii. Use your low hanging fruit Excel sheet to keep track

iii. Pick the lowest of the low to use first

iv. Optimize existing pages

v. Publish new pages to support the new discoveries

b. Develop a regular publishing schedule

i. Using the “low hanging fruit” spread sheet ii. High search & low competition wins iii. The more you build the more they will come iv. But you have to promote it too

1. Social channels

2. Blog posts sites with backlinks

SEO Check List


3. Press Releases with backlinks

4. Publishing sites

5. Review sites

Technology

Astek Academy checklist-(120224-final)