OK, before I start, search engine optimisation is never really done as checking and tweaking is always necessary (and the bigger the site, the more there is to do), but if you’ve a relatively small site and just gone through the first phase of optimisation, then you might be wondering what to do next while the search engines get around to indexing the changes.
A few years ago, one of the ‘what’s next’ was building links to the site, often through directory listings etc. Most directories don’t carry much value any more and unless they’re targeted to your industry, many aren’t worth bothering with as no one uses them, so you won’t get any traffic.
Social media is taking over as a new way of communicating, so one of the first things you need to do is plan which social sites to target and what information you want to relay. For most businesses, the top 3 sites are Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn. Get your profiles up on those sites and start communicating with people who may be interested in your offering, or certainly worth getting to know in your field.
A blog will bridge the gap between a static website and your social media activities. Whether you sell a product or a service a blog is a great way of communicating your product, informing customers of what’s happening in your business and industry and a great customer service tool. Updating it regularly will attract visitors to your site and also the search engines, so really make the most of it. The hard part is making the time and finding constant ideas for posts! For first timers, try WordPress or Blogger.
Your email newsletter is vital to keeping in touch with customers and prospects. Use your list to its full potential and ideally send out a newsletter each month. Not everyone uses social sites and if you’re only connecting through one channel, you could be missing out on potential sales through other channels. Email marketing I believe is still one of the best ways to remind people about who you are and what you do, definitely to the less tech savvy people who are the majority. If you’ve a small list (less than 500) a good platform to use is MailChimp which is free for lists of under 500.
Finally, bear in mind that all of the above activities will go a long way to helping with your SEO efforts anyway, everything you do online will impact in some way with the search engines – good and bad!
