Just How Lazy Has Your Website Become?
5 Ways to recognise that it’s Google Finds you Sloth-like:2017-03-01 21:17:00
As seasoned Content Generators, we’ve been presented with all types of websites; some polished, some merely needing a clean and rehash and sadly, some (usually designed in the early Noughties) that are so out of date and rusty, that their owners have all but given up on executing their initial best intentions.
However one fact that the overwhelming majority of our website owners do understand is that lazy websites without fresh content are penalised and relegated by Google. With over 2 Trillion (Yes, Trillion) annual worldwide searches made via Google in 2016 alone, catapults Google to be by far the most popular search engine and by a factor of 6! So we get how critical it is to have Google reward us and essentially, we want to create Google friendly content.
But how can you tell if your website content is truly out of Google shape, or merely needing a sprinkle of new materials and a regular commitment of your time for content engagement? Take our 5 step test to see if it’s a whole new website revamp or merely existing content invigoration that could amplify your site up the Google rankings.
1. Frequency of Content Uplift - When was the last time you actually added new blogs and content to your site? If it’s over a month, then it’s time to reverse the trend and take back control by adding engaging articles of worth. (checkout our separate blog on Tips for Writing Engaging Content).
2. Don’t Rely on Social Media Uplift – It’s a popular misconception that Google likes Social Media to feature heavily on your website. Whilst it may give you satisfaction to have your home page showing your ongoing tweet feed with fresh materials and images, keep in mind that Twitter and Facebook feeds have no impact on your organic Google search. (And with good reason, Google was inherently designed to reward Google Plus). That said, there is a benefit for prospects and customers to have fresh materials daily when they check back in to your site. So use it, but don’t rely on it as the sole content refresher!
3. Check that metadata targets are added and that your website code is clean: Here’s the technical one-off housekeeping tip that it’s wise to hand back to your website creator. Ask them to check one-off that the appropriate metadata targets are present (so in the case of On Your Case Ltd/ContentMakersAU, our web designer Robbie checked at build for phrase targets such as ‘case studies’; ‘content marketing’). Also, note that Google dislikes coding errors, so when you next update your site, ask for a quick clean and code health check. If you can, elect to convert your site to WordPress. Google hearts WordPress.
4. Link to Reliable Sites: Google gives recognition if you link to other authoritative sources via a system of trustflow scores. Put in simple terms, the greater the trustflow score the higher you’ll go. It’s important to remember that it’s not just volume of linked sites that Google rewards. It also recognises the highest value links, ascertained by a number of criteria including how long sites have existed (5 years or more gains extra brownie points); how steady the linked to site is; the number of sources or forums that the linked site exhibits. Lots to consider, but without becoming an SEO expert, a good general rule of thumb is to build links with other reputable, established sites to give yourself a continual boost up the Google ladder.
5. Content Needs to be Fun: All this said, don’t be a slave to the Google rankings. If you design your content to solely play to Google, you will lose the human touch and produce robotic creations which don’t lead to real engagement once prospects have located your site. A pointless and frustrating exercise. Keep your content compelling, fun, human and regular and you won’t go far wrong! Blogging is one great way to do this. You can write about any topic at all that you can share and will benefit others. It’s a great way to create traction, followers and be rewarded by our Google engine friends at the same time.
About the Author:
Sharon Munday is the owner and lead content maker for On Your Case Ltd and for the past ten years and has authored and presented extensively on all aspects of ‘Expandable Content’ across the European IT vendor circuit. She is the proud owner of one crazy Weimaraner puppy; two beautiful children and one large Australian husband.