The start of an organic SEO content campaign should almost always start with a review of content that already exists on the site with a content optimization checklist. Optimizing existing content is the best ways to make sure Google is indexing your site for the best keywords and new content added to the site will help increase page ranking. Taking a look at existing content and determining what’s valuable will also help give you a better idea of what’s working to build page rank for specific terms.
Here are a few ways you can optimize existing site content for SEO
Review Traffic Data in Analytics
Taking a look at Analytics for the site to determine which pages are driving the most traffic to the site is a great place to start. Analytics will help you identify pages that are already bringing visitors to your site and which pages people spend the most time on.
After figuring out the best performing pages on a site, adding links to places that are easy to get to like the main navigation or a homepage callout, is a great way to ensure the pages are featured prominently. The pages can also serve as a template for new pages that are added to the site.
Include Important Keywords in Main Navigation
Making sure your site is organized in a way that makes it easy for visitors and search bots to find info directly related to important keywords is important. Any pages related to valuable focus keywords should be clearly labeled and added to an appropriate location in the main navigation. A link in the main navigation will be accessible from all other pages on the site so only the most important content should be linked from there.
Use Unique Page Titles and Headings
Ensuring the site organization matches the focus of your SEO content plan is a good time to update page titles so they use important keywords as well. Each page on your site should use a unique page title so it’s seen as a distinct part of your site.
Headings on pages should also be unique so they’re providing the most SEO value. Including only one <h1> heading on a single page and structuring your pages so subheadings use a clear hierarchy also makes it easier for visitors/search bots to scan and determine what’s most important.
Any pages that have the same page title should have content consolidated onto one page. Redirects can be configured for any urls that are removed so they don’t lead to pages with 404 errors if they’re already been indexed in Google’s search results.
Optimize Images
Google knows people love looking at webpages with images so it’s essential to optimize images on your site for SEO. Updating the filenames of images so they use relevant keywords and include alt tags that use a variation of the keyword is the best way to let search engine bots know what an image contains. Making sure images are saved at an appropriate size for the space they’re being used in on the site is also important.
Interlink Existing Content
Adding links to pages connected to valuable keywords that appear in the body text on your site is a great way to make the most of content that’s already been published. The links that get added will get picked up by search engine bots and help strengthen the connection between the page and the valuable term a link is added too.
Links should be added with search intention in mind and can be added to anchor text that includes focus keywords. It’s also important to remember that internal links should always be relevant to the page they’re being added to. Links to non-relevant pages can confuse site visitors and search bots which can hurt search rankings instead of help them.
Add Sections Where New Content Will Be Displayed
Adding new sections to your site where new content will be displayed is one of the most exciting parts of optimizing a site for SEO. New content could be anything from a new featured blog post widget, a new homepage callout section highlighting a popular service, a new product in an online store, and more.
New content is the life of any organic SEO campaign and will help keep your site fresh and focused on the most important terms. New SEO-focused content should be added in prominent locations on a site so it’s easy for visitors to pick up on and get excited about something new.
Optimize Site Content to Increase Organic Search Traffic
Going through the list above will give you a good feel for what’s already working for SEO on your site and what isn’t. The initial optimization process requires an in-depth look at a site to make sure it’s set up in a way that makes it easy to rank for valuable keywords. Optimizing existing content for SEO will ensure your organic SEO campaign has a solid foundation to start from and pay dividends as your search rankings increase and your site becomes an authority for your most valuable terms.