WebsitesInCrisis.com

A very common question we get from small business website owners is, “How Do I Optimize My Website for Search Engines?” When optimizing a website, it is important to remember to focus not only on making your site better for the search engines, but to optimize your site for your visitors as well.

The next common question is, “How Does Your Website Optimization Service Work?“. The best way I can think of is to demonstrate our website optimization service by SHOWING you. Follow along as we show a real clients small business website being optimized by WebsitesInCrisis.com. You can read our actual notes from this optimization project and also click the links to view the actual ranking reports sent to this small business website owner.

(please note: These results are not shown as an example of guaranteed results for any website. Each client is different… Each website is different, each market is different, and the search engines are always different. While this IS a real client, results are not typical for ALL clients. If an SEO company offers guaranteed ranking or results, please use caution. )

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How We Optimize Websites for Search Engines and Humans

 

Client: TheMoldProfessionals.com

Website Overview

Age of Domain - 4 years
PR1
Average Daily Traffic - 5 page views per day

The Mold Professionals are a New Jersey Mold Remediation company located in the Southern part of NJ. The clients and I started talking about their website in a casual conversation after I was asked what I do for a living (VERY common in my world). The client and I worked out the details and I was granted access to their site on March 8th. I was retained to work on 9 pages of the website and to increase their over-all online exposure.

Initial Website Assessment -

Upon first assessment, I could see definite opportunities for improvement that would surely lead to advancement in the search engines and improved over-all online exposure. For all new clients, one the many things I do before touching anything on their site is back up all pages I will be working with and run a ‘baseline’ ranking report based on my keyword research and market research.

This keyword ranking report includes a list of targeted keywords that the client and I agreed the site needed exposure for. These keywords remain constant through-out all ranking reports I have shared with you here.

** You can view the baseline ranking report here.

Baseline Ranking Report Overview - March 8th

• 11 Keywords visible within the first 5 pages of Google.
• 0 Keywords ranked #1
• 3 Keywords with Page 1 ranking.

I immediately set to work on the site getting it ready for Google and the other search engines. This part of the optimization process takes some time. It is also a bit of a left brain/right brain scientific art form (if that makes sense). While actual optimization of a website is never actually finished, I did get the site to a place where I was satisfied and ready to move on. I know I will be back on the site ‘testing and tweaking’ many more times in the two weeks I will be working on it.

I usually prefer to let Google index the site after I’ve made changes to it in order to track the effect, but in this case, we had a real website in crisis on our hands and opted to keep moving. I then initiated the processes to begin off-site optimization for this website. This process is gradual and happens slowly over the time I work with a client, and continues to build after our time together is through.

Website Assessment - One Week

I was pleased with the changes in the rankings and performance of this website after only one week.

** You can view the one week keyword ranking report here.
(note: On these reports, blue arrows indicate improved ranking, red arrow indicate declined ranking, boxes with a red x are keywords missing since the last check, and blue boxes are new keywords that are now ranking)

One Week Ranking Report

• 51 Keywords Visible in the first 5 pages of Google and Yahoo!
• 4 Keywords Ranked #1 (1 on Google, 3 on Yahoo!)
• 24 Keywords With Page 1 Rankings

Even if the entire optimization project stopped right there, I have to admit that going from 11 keywords found to 51 keywords found would make me quite happy. The client felt the same way…but we are far from finished!

Website Assessment 10 Days

At this point, things are moving quickly. The off-page processes were going smoothly. I also talked to the client about installing a blog as an addition to their site. This was agreed to and a WordPress blog was installed, activated, designed, and optimized. We also added a few posts to get it going and educated the client on how they can easily add content to their site. If you can use an email program, you can post to a WordPress blog.

The ranking check at 10 days was very good.

** You can view the 10 Day ranking report here.

10 Day Ranking Report

• 75 Keywords Visible in First 5 Pages of Google and Yahoo!
• 6 Keywords Ranked #1 ( 3 on Google, 3 on Yahoo!)
• 34 Keywords with Page 1 Rankings ( 19 on Google, 14 on Yahoo!)
• 27 New Keywords Showed on Google

Now we’re talking! From 11 Keywords in the search engines to 75 in ten days. I also noted on this ranking report that the rankings on Yahoo! were down. This is not unusual for a search engine to get ’skittish’ when changes are made. I assured client and made note to run another ranking report in a few days to see if things ’settle in’ or need further attention.

Website Assessment 12 Days

Off-page optimization activities are rolling along nicely. Things are being set in place that will continue to build long after we close this contract at the end of two weeks. Organic traffic to the site is definitely improving, too. Considering this site had been lost in the search engines for so long and had an average page view count of 5 views per day for so long,this traffic trend was a very nice change of pace.

Based on my notes, I went ahead and performed another ranking report to check in with Yahoo!

** You can view the 12 day ranking report here

12 Day Ranking Report

• 86 Keywords Visible
• 12 Keywords with #1 Ranking
• 54 Keywords with Page 1 Ranking
• 12 New Keywords Found (mainly Yahoo!)

All in all, client and I are both happy with the results. The majority of my ‘hands on’ work is complete, but I will spend the next few days tweaking the site for ‘gaps’ in the keyword ranking reports and continuing our off-page exposure processes.

I will also spend time preparing my “What Now?” website optimization guide for the client to use as a guidebook as they continue the work we have started. Having your website optimized professionally is very important to set the roots for long-term success however, quality SEO is a process that must be continued for these changes to continue showing improvement and to remain competitive in your marketplace. Unless a website owner retains the monthly services of a professional SEO consultant, the client must continue to perform optimization techniques. To make this a bit easier, we leave our clients with our “What Now?” guide designed to assist our small business website clients with continued optimization of their site.

Does Your Small Business Website Need Optimization?

If your website suffers from low traffic volume and it is also hard to find ( or UN-findable) in Google or other search engines, your website might benefit from our small business optimization services.

Feel free to contact us - or request a free small business website evaluation.