One of the most common mistakes made by digital agencies is the planning of complex digital strategies based on recommendations that don’t take into account a very basic matter: any website must be visible both to search engines and users in first place.
Priorities….
- Identify whether robots are properly set up. The robots.txt file and the robots metatags identify the directories and paths that are allowed and/or disallowed for crawling purposes by specific agents. A wrong set-up could disallow your entire site from being indexed by the search engines.
- Create and submit the sitemap files in the Webmaster Tool of each dedicated search engine that you are targeting. The use of the sitemap protocol does not guarantee that web pages are indexed, but helps web
crawlers do a better job when crawling your site. - Avoid duplication through the correct use of redirect techniques and canonicalisation.
- Enhance your site structure and analyse the site speed of your website.
Image source: SEARCHENGINELAND.COM
Once this is all done and dusted, ensure your on-page and off-page status is healthy. Only now you may be ready to define a digital strategy aimed at optimising your website.
If you want to discuss this topic further and/or you want to have a proper assessment of your website, feel free to email us at info@hedgingbeta.com