1. Do a physical check of the pages and site structure. This could be done with a database tool or by hand, thus giving you a chance to review the copy of your site, because most likely you haven’t done that in a while.

2. Run a XML sitemap of domain.com to get a list of the URLs present on the site. It is important to use a web-based or desktop application to do this and not rely on an internal tool that generates the sitemap from a CMS database. Why you ask? External sitemap generators (Web-based or desktop) do not have access to the server so they must crawl the site from link to link, just like a search engine. This will give you a better understanding of what content is accessible and what is not.

3. Check your Analytics program. Run a report of all content on the site that has received non-paid Search Engine traffic over a period of time (how long depends on your site traffic levels).

4. Query “site:domain.com” in any Search Engine to get a list of the URLs from that domain that are included in the index. Also, check the www version of the site to see if there is any variance. Theoretically, these numbers should be near identical.

Now that you have this data, what do you do with it?
Now that you have this data, compare them to each other. In Step 1 you identified all the pages/URLs that exist on the site. Now, compare this list to Step 2 – if not all pages that physically exist on the site are present in the sitemap, then you have some investigation to do. This indicates that there may be some issue with the structure of the site that is preventing crawlers from reaching those pages.

Next, compare Step 3 with Step 1.
Are there pages that are present on the page but have never received any traffic from Search Engines? This is an indication that these pages may not be indexed by the Search Engines.

There are pages that you don’t really want traffic to, like your refund policy, or your list of pending lawsuits (note: if you have this on your site take it off). If your product or services page is not receiving traffic this is something that should be addressed.

Finally, compare Step 4 with Step 1.
What pages on the site are not indexed? If you see that a large number of pages are not included in Step 4, you may have an indexation issue. As a method for double-checking this issue, compare the pages missing from Step 4 with Step 3. If there are pages that are not currently in the index, but have gotten Search traffic in the past, these pages may have gotten de-indexed for some reason. Investigate why this might be, especially if you consider them mission-critical pages. Don’t overlook checking your robots.txt file. It is not uncommon to see large sections of a site disallowed, when they shouldn’t be.

How well is your site performing, contact us today to conduct a Technical SEO Site Assessment and start improving or rebuilding your online presence for maximum visibility?

Turkey Mishap teaches SEO

1. Due to appropriate preparation and continuous basting, the turkey browned nicely. It looked good from the outside but this was merely on the surface. Similar to optimizing your web site for search engines, optimizing your titles and metadata isn’t enough. Make sure all elements of your site are optimized, from site architecture to content and multimedia to alt tags. Some of these elements are proving to be more influential and are often overlooked by many so-called SEO practitioners.

2. Once the turkey was in, it was on the “set it and forget it” method. Like cooking a turkey, SEO is not a “set it and forget it” initiative. Just as I should have been monitoring the progress of the turkey, your SEO efforts need to be monitored continuously for progress and adjusted accordingly to achieve desired results.

Turkey Mishap teaches Social Media

1. Although I was mortified by my mistake, I assembled the appropriate team to help me deal with the situation and I didn’t hide from my mistake (although I wanted to). In your Social Media communication it is important to remember that your customers know you will make mistakes, but it is how you handle them that they will be watching. Remember, be human. People make mistakes and don’t be afraid to get others involved to help you solve the issue.

2. There was no mistaking that the turkey was undercooked when we cut into it. Same for your Social Media communication, people will see through the golden brown coating if you don’t have a well planned and executed social media strategy. A good product and great customer service are only two of the ingredients in a recipe for social media success.

3. If at first you don’t succeed, fail fast, and then re-evaluate how to resolve and respond to the situation. Then, move forward quickly, the side dishes are getting cold and people will start to leave if you are unable to respond to the situation or provide an adequate solution.

4. Don’t try to do too many things at once, but if you do, have a plan. Most importantly surround yourself with people who can help you implement and execute your plan seamlessly.

Gobble Gobble Lessons for SEO and Social Media

1. Track and monitor progress; adjust along the way. Don’t get to the end to find out only half the plan worked or yielded you half the results you were expecting.

2. Check to see if the oven is on. Review all elements and components of your Social Media Plan and on-site and off-site SEO. Sometimes it can be the most simple and obvious things that can foil your plan.

3. Share your experience. Mistakes create an opportunity…for content! Case studies, articles, contests, etc. How can you share your experience to benefit your customers or provide added value to others?

Happy to say this year the turkey was juicy and delicious…and cooked all the way through. Picture above. Happy Holidays.