While summer (or any off-season for a business) might represent a downtime, don't send your SEO strategy on a short-term vacation. Instead, take some of the downtime in your own business to re-evaluate your approach and determine what is and isn't driving new quality customers to your website and creating increased sales leads.
By using tools like Google Analytics and your CRM system you can identify trends, issues and opportunities when it comes to website traffic. Measuring unique visits, page traffic, lead conversion rate and the popularity of content like blog posts or landing page copy gives you the chance to make improvements.
Helping you send the right signals to Google for improved search visibility, Google's Webmaster Tools offer you diagnostic reports that let you improve your site's relationship with Google. This includes customizing important settings, specifying URL parameters, prioritizing sitelinks and more.
Based on these analytics, tweak content and keyword strategy as needed. If your website traffic is high but conversions are low, you should evaluate which type of Web searcher is actually finding your website. Make identifying keywords a part of your marketing strategy and ensure they appear on your website's homepage. However, remember not to abuse keywords, as search engines penalize websites that overuse keywords. If you are using keywords that potential ready-to-buy customer would use to search for your business, you are likelier to attract quality leads.
In order to boost website visibility and rank well in search engines, look at your link-building strategy. From a Google perspective, link building is about to shift entirely with the much-anticipated Penguin 2.0. Google is now discounting links if they don't find them relevant and trustworthy.
These low quality links might include overuse of keywords, link buying or heavy interlinking of your own website. If you are guilty of the previously mentioned, start cleaning up links now before Penguin 2.0 is released and refocus on authoritative links like contributed content, blog posts, videos and reviews. Otherwise, the negative links could hurt your page rank and visibility in search results making it difficult for customers to find you.
Also, review how social media sharing, infographics, earned backlinks, site blog distribution and other content is helping you move to top of search results. Informative content including blog posts, how-to articles or photos and videos has the potential to be shared and even go viral and can bring more exposure to your business. This combination of SEO, social media and content creation is needed to send positive signals about your business to search engines. Don't forget to share your earned links through Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and other social media for increased exposure.
Try to set up a system and a workable dashboard to look at the data on a regular basis. During the summer, reassess your website traffic by taking a close look at analytics available to you. Also, look at the technology and underpinning supporting your website to ensure code cleanliness and optimal site speed. Check that keywords and site structure are aligned with your business objectives and what products/services you are trying to rank well for in Google and other search engines and directories. With this analysis, you can create a plan to make any necessary updates to prepare for a busier fall and winter.
Regardless of your business type, different seasons might represent a lull but know that just because an SEO strategy worked in the past, it might not work in the future. It is important to continually reassess whether your approach to SEO is effective, reaching your targeted customers and making a strong impact on your bottom line.
CHRIS MARENTIS BIO
For nearly three decades, Chris Marentis, Founder and CEO of Surefire Social, has been responsible for driving innovation and sales growth for large media and ecommerce brands as well as start-ups. His notable career includes creating the foundational blueprints for online marketing, ecommerce and content branding for AOL's Interactive Marketing group, where he served as Senior Vice President. While CEO of Clearspring Technologies (now Add This), Marentis developed one of the most widely adopted venture-backed Web 2.0 content distribution technology platforms in the world.