Which SEO Tasks Should You Do First?
When planning an SEO strategy, it’s quite easy to get lost to the endless tasks needed to be done. The problem with SEO is it’s composed of too many things that it’s hard to decide where to start.
The rule of thumb is to prioritize SEO tasks that your website needs. As much as everything can be done, not all of it will be beneficial for your website.
By aiming to get dozens of things done at once, we end up accomplishing too little. The frustration it brings will make the situation worse.
Instead of wallowing in confusion, you can easily identify what to do first with the help of experts. Each website will have its unique SEO needs. Here’s how you can start:
Don’t jump into the bandwagon right away
Every year, new SEO recommendations come up. However, some website owners tend to overreact. They ditch their old plan and embrace the latest thing without thinking if it will suit them.
Just because Google says so doesn’t mean you’re going to do it right away. For example, when Google rolled out its mobile-first algorithm, lots of website owners went gaga over it. They started making separate mobile websites and so on.
But the question is this: is mobile traffic really impactful for your website? If not, you can exhaust your energy to other important SEO strategies.
Check the impact of each task
Not everything should be a priority. There’s only so much your dev team can do in a day. The rule of thumb is to start with the basics. Does your site have alt tags, meta description, title tags, and other basic SEO stuff?
By checking what’s holding back your site, you can identify what needs to be done first. Sure, canonicalization is a crucial task but that can wait until you’ve settled the little bits and bobs included on basic SEO.
Consider your resources
It can be exciting for a website owner to implement as much SEO strategies as possible. However, you should also check if you have the resources to perform the task.
Do you have someone to manage it? Can you acquire the tools to get it done? If not, you can write it down lower on your list.
For example, if you need fresh content, check if someone in your team can write, edit, manage, and publish these outputs.
Align it with your business goals
This one can go without saying since all SEO efforts are targeted to improve your business’ footing. You can have SEO recommendations that will make an ideal SEO plan but not one that will improve your ROI.
You may like the idea of creating more content but it may not be the pressing need your business currently has. Content is king in SEO, but it may not fit the goals of your business at this very moment.
It’s easy to fall prey on the sweet SEO recommendations. The key is to understand your objectives in contrast with what you’ll get from implementing a certain strategy.
At some point, many of us got obsessed with the idea of getting all things done. However, this will just exhaust your team and your precious resources. It’s important to prioritize so nothing will be put to waste.
