Anyone who has been doing search optimization long enough would know that SEO is an ongoing strategy—not a one-time project. It requires long-term commitment and a great deal of patience because of the tedious nature of the tasks and processes it entails, ranging from keyword research to content generation all the way to link building and overall analytics.
One-time optimizations may cause a spike in your traffic and organic positions for the time being, but it is often difficult to find substantial and sustainable growth in rankings and traffic—and more importantly in actual conversions—without a commitment to a long-term approach. This is especially true since search engines constantly change and adjust the variables and signals within their algorithms in an effort to provide better and more relevant search results for end users. It’s therefore important for your search engine strategies to grow with your website and go with the times.
The tricky part about algorithmic changes and adjustments is that many of them come unannounced, leaving website owners and managers struggling to cope with the changes. This is where following the best practices come into play. If you want to be more proactive instead of reactive about search engine algorithm updates and changes, it is important to keep watch of critical technical issues regarding search optimization and ensure a flexible but consistent maintenance and management plan that involves crucial tasks that you must accomplish on a daily, monthly, quarterly, or perhaps yearly basis.
Daily Tasks
Staying current on industry advancements and innovations is a crucial aspect of search optimization—and one that you shouldn’t take for granted. Because the SEO landscape changes by the minute, being informed and staying informed is critical.
Monitoring key metrics in real time is also an important aspect of optimization. It has to be done on the daily, especially for businesses relying on ecommerce transactions or perhaps those that rely on online leads for sales. Recognizing top-level metric movements such as organic traffic drops, an increase or decrease in lead volume/sales, and aggregate positioning drop is also crucial in order to apply remedies and diagnose key issues. Make it a point to set daily goals and specific tasks or actions that must be done to make SEO more manageable. Break tactics down into specific action items that will make your campaign easier to track and monitor.
Monthly Cycles
In addition to daily tasks, monthly cycles should likewise be monitored. It’s important to keep track of your SEO performance beyond your usual daily/weekly KPI monitoring. By paying attention to your monthly cycles, you can distinguish more significant patterns in your performance and adjust strategies accordingly. This will likewise help you recognize deviations in your goals as well as celebrate successes in your performance.
Monthly monitoring will also help you prioritize tasks that need attention, such as those that are causing deviations in your monthly goals or perhaps some roadblocks that are hindering your progress. It is through these monthly monitoring activities that you can formulate strategies to drive your SEO performance. Monthly monitoring is also an excellent time to evaluate your current campaign and set more sensible plans for the future.
Quarterly/Annual Activities
Some SEO activities are best done on a quarterly basis to ensure impact. Search optimization is an ongoing process that requires a great deal of patience to ensure progress. As such, some milestones require some time to generate. It’s important to fulfill quarterly actions including auditing on-page and technical issues, link profiles, and local listings. Annual activities, on the other hand, should include performance measurement and reevaluation of tactics and strategies.
On-going SEO monitoring and management is crucial in a working search optimization strategy, especially with the long-term nature of the practice. Without a concrete plan for action, it can be difficult to see progress in different aspects of your optimization design.
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