BUILD YOUR WEBSITE FOR USERS, NOT SPIDERS!
This is an updated checklist.
GENERAL WEBSITE SETUP
- Log in to your Google account and create a new google analytics property for your website
- Add your website to Google Webmasters Tools and Bing Webmasters Tools - do not forget to verify your website
- Add www and non-www to your Google Webmasters account. Verify both and select your prefered domain
ON-PAGE SEO CHECKLIST
Follow these on-page ranking tips
OFF-PAGE SEO CHECKLIST
BACKLINKS
- Spy on your competitors and find their backlinking domains and sites. Input competitor domains at Link Diagnosis, Open Site Explorer, Ahrefs and Majestic SEO.
- Diversify your backlink anchor text (http://www.yoursite.com vs. Dog training tips vs. click here vs. yoursite.com etc.)
- Do not buy anything related to link building, social likes or similar. You`ll get caught.- it takes time to get rid of negative spam backlinks (disavow tool) and hurts you in the long run.
- Find related content on the web and ask the webmasters if they are interested to add your high quality resource
- Local Business: get links from local listings (YellowPages, Foursquare, Yelp etc.)
SOCIAL RANKING FACTORS
- Create social media accounts (Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Google+) for your brand and connect them with your site.
- The more people share and bookmark your content on social networks the better.
MORE TIPS TO IMPROVE YOUR SE RANKINGS
- Google knows how long a visitor stays on your site. How would you rate a site's content if the visitor leaves within 2 seconds? Lower your bounce rate by improving two main factors: The visitor didn't find what he\she was looking for or the website was too difficult to use.
- Use Schema Microformats when required (Google Richsnippets)
- Create a good 404 Error page and help the user find what they are looking for. Also include a searchbox
- Make your website easy to use and barrier-free. A user-friendly experience is key. Make your website useful.
- Regularly update and add new content to your website
- 5 useful pages will rank better than 50 low quality
- Build trust and authority
- If you just registered the domain do not expect much within the first 6 months