Does Your Website's SEO Need Spring Cleaning?

If you're like the majority of us, you've got that one area in your house you never want to clean...

The upstairs closet, the basement, the garage -- they're all bad, and we ignore it.

You know the entire house would function better if these small areas were given a spring cleaning. You'd love to have the extra space, a few valuable items for the upcoming yard sale, and the peace of mind that everything is running smoothly at home. Yet it still goes untouched.

Many small business owners around Lansdale treat their website the same way they treat that pesky upstairs closet. They know the problems that exist, but choose to ignore them year after year.

Here is the harsh reality, if your old website hasn't had a proper spring cleaning, you're losing out on some powerful SEO ranking ability. If you've had the same website for a long time and haven't been making any changes or updates, you are slowly falling down Google's search rankings.

So what can you do to avoid this SEO clutter?

One major problem we see most often in old, dormant websites (especially in small business) is broken links. When you first had your website designed, you may have had links going out to promotional brochures or partner websites that have since been moved or taken down - so what's left is a broken, out-of-date link. To Google, as well as any visitor who happens to click on this link, it's a glaring red flag that the owner of this website does not care about their web presence. Can you think of any pages on your website that contain broken links, or simply no longer exist? How does that reflect on your company?

Another outdated website issue we see hurting SEO and slowing down websites both old and new is confusing navigation. Having a strong, well-researched navigation on your site is key to high conversion rates.

For example: If you sell clothing on your online store and 60% of all sales is slip-on sneakers, have an obvious main navigation link for 'slip-on sneakers.' This may seem obvious, but too many business owners would have a link like this buried under links to Products --> Clothing --> Shoes --> Slip-On Sneakers, creating a maze of drop down menus and endless clicking. 

Here's a simple way to structure your main navigation: Write down the 3-5 most important pages on your site, or places you'd want a new visitor to your website to go, then make sure those pages are placed in the design of your navigation. The less your customers need to think, the better the website design.

A great sample of this is the Vistaprint website, take a look at their main navigation...

Your small business is going to rely on impressive Search Engine Optimization if it hopes to compete with the big players in your industry who can afford to pay Google and the other search engines thousands of dollars every year for their high rankings. Don't continue to let a cluttered, old website get in your way. Many sites have the SEO upper hand in longevity but lose out when it comes to their functionality.

And of course, enact a strong content marketing plan that includes social media, blogging, and the occasional press release.

If you know you need to de-clutter but don't have the time to do it yourself, or have web design needs that extend beyond a simple spring cleaning, give us a call at (215) 256-9286 or contact us online using our easy web form for more information on how small business SEO can work to your advantage. You can even get a free quote if you're ready to grow with us!