Many business owners with websites think of website design and SEO as a one-shot deal: fix your keywords and your website and leave it alone to do its job. Unfortunately, SEO strategy is an ongoing project that must constantly be redesigned, tweaked and fixed to meet changing circumstances in the market and on the web.
SEO website design is not like painting a house, which can be done once every 10 years. Instead, it is like vacuuming or laundry; it must be done on a regular basis to prevent problems.
For this reason, many SEO experts that specialize in website design, charge a monthly retainer fee. This fee can include all the services that must be performed on a regular basis, such as checking competitor's sites, changing keywords, refreshing web pages, updating coding standards, browser compliance, and tracking metrics or analyzing performance. In some cases complete redesigns are necessary, as in the example of implementing a new responsive design from a former design.
However, randomly performing these tasks will not give the results you want. Website updates and other tasks must be scheduled on a regular basis with attention to best practices in SEO web design. Standards are available that help you know when to perform certain tasks and optimize web site performance, no matter who is doing your SEO.
Developing an Update Procedure for Your Website
Having a list of things that should be done and the frequency with which these tasks should be performed is a useful resource for website managers and business owners alike. With a well-planned schedule, everyone will be included in the decision-making process about how to achieve top SEO results. Developing a "style guide" can help everyone involved in your SEO process understand your goals and what you have already done toward building strong SEO. Some things that should be included in this list are:
- File naming. The naming conventions used for new website pages, image files, audio and video files and all other types of content should be clearly defined and checked on a regular basis. File names should describe the contents and ideally will include specific keywords.
Style guides can make ongoing website development and SEO a clear and straightforward process for new coders and programmers adapting to your needs for expansion. Make sure that everyone involved in your IT team is clear on company objectives, technology requirements, and equally as important, search engine trends.
For more information on search engine optimization and website design contact Tyler Collins at OC SEO.