How to rank higher (organically) on Google?
Those words. ” We just need to rank on Google ” We hear them often at JumpStart Matrix.
Ranking on Google’s Page One is something all online businesses want- usually fast.. and cheap!
(SEO no longer works like that)
Along with those words ” we know the site needs ” .updating/refurbishing/transforming/help/work (fill in your reason) ”
Usually followed by ” but WHY do we need to pay you for a Site Report?”
So, I thought I would try to lay out some of the Audit Process/Reasons and why you need to pay us to “pull the current site apart” to analyse, BEFORE we can make (data driven NOT guesswork) decisions on what to change, where and when!
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I had one recent case where the client had an established online business with a eCommerce Shopping Cart.
They knew the site was ‘outdated’ but all they wanted to talk about was getting (almost) instant results on the SERPS (Search Engine Results Pages)
I dutifully went to this Client’s Home Page and immediately found 7 Broken Links!
A Broken Link is a hyperlink (a link (often in blue) that you click on to go to another site or Page) that doesn’t work but takes you instead to a 404 or “error” page
Often the link points to a web page that has been deleted or moved.
Why is a Broken Link a Problem on a Website?
- Links that are broken will effectively stop Search Engines (like Google!) from completely indexing your website.
- Do you want the Search Engines like Google to think that your website is being neglected? NO.
That IS what they will assume if broken links are left unfixed - Not to mention if you are doing any form of advertising on Google Ads – the Ads will NO Longer go where you sent them originally!
- Google takes a DIM view of broken anything on websites.
Back to the clients site…. I noticed a “Request a Quote’ button.. that went nowhere UNLESS you were in Internet Explorer!
(I pause .. to let all the other Online Marketers shudder as we ponder WHO still uses IE!)
No one using Firefox, Chrome or Safari could Request that Quote..
“Houston, we have a Problem”
Next, I looked at the Page Source Meta Tags/Keywords and found a few.
But many of those same keywords were NOT ON THE ACTUAL PAGE ITSELF. Another Search Engine” No No”
There were no Internal links on the site from Page to Page, though there were many cross references.
Internal links are hyperlinks that point to different pages on the same website and are basic ” foundational” SEO
(External links (also important) link to pages on other websites).
Onto Images….There was little Alt Text for the images in the Galleries they had on the site.
Lots more issues that I could see as I navigated around the site… this all takes time.
We get paid for our time as Online Marketing Strategists!
To deliver a Site Audit Report that we can use as a place to start to make a website ” Google Friendly” to rank and perform, we need access to the dashboard or back end -.
Then, hours to go through everything that IS currently in place ( or NOT in place).
I hope this helps anyone looking for troubleshooting advice see why we do a Site Report before making ANY changes to any website.
We look at the data and what in place- we do not ‘guess’ or male random changes.
(Updated December 2022)