The web is always changing. New pages are being created, and old ones removed or changed, at a pace that is hard to comprehend. In addition, search engines like Google are always adjusting their algorithms to keep up with changes on the web.
It’s not too surprising then, that the keywords your rank for, and where exactly you rank, are going to be in a state of constant flux. It is possible to maintain certain rankings long-term, but to do so generally requires some preparation.
In order to maintain good rankings for your top performing keywords you need to continue to develop content around those keywords, update and maintain your internal links within the site, and continue to draw in links from external sources.
How exactly do you do that!?!
- Draw on your collection of related keywords to create new content. In our last email about blogging we discussed motorcycle helmets. You could write multiple posts that include several keywords from your collection. Ex: “How Much Should a Motorcycle Helmet Cost?” and “How Safety Features Affect Motorcycle Helmet Prices”.
- Periodically review your site to make sure your internal links are accurate and functional. That won’t take long for small sites, but if your site is larger, you may need to use a tool like Screaming Frog SEO Spider (sounds scarier than it is). The SEO spider can crawl through all the content on your site and help you identify issues.
- Promote your site online and offline (getting press certainly never hurts).
- Share your content on social media, using relevant keywords, as always.
Tracking your keyword rankings and which pages are being ranked, is an important part of ongoing keyword maintenance.
One issue that you can run into as you add content to your site is that two pieces of content can step on each other’s toes. It is possible, for example, to have your ‘motorcycle helmets’ category page ranking for ‘mens motorcycle helmets’ instead of the ‘men’s motorcycle helmets’ sub category page. Of course, that’s still in the right ballpark, but ideally you want your visitors to land right on the exact products they are looking for.
Potential ways to resolve such issues:
- Update page titles to be more clear and differentiated.
- Add or remove keywords from one page or the other.
- Adjust the wording of your internal links.
- Add meta data or other clarifying information to the page (check out schema.org).
It’s likely that whatever your industry, there are going to be new buzzwords, new product types, and new language that will be used to describe your offering.
Beyond simply maintaining your existing keywords, you need to periodically return to your keyword research to make sure that you aren’t missing out on any opportunities that have come up since you last checked.
How to Track Your Keyword Rankings
AuthorityLabs allows you to track rankings in Google, Yahoo, and Bing. Most people are concerned with Google rankings, but keyword rankings are hard to track yourself because results given to users are based on several factors – location, search history, being logged in, etc.
This is where the AuthorityLabs tool can help. Users can add keywords and have the tool track their keywords by country, city and zip code. Also, users can track mobile results as well. By seeing where you rank before marketing and SEO efforts and seeing where you rank after you can determine what is working and what is not. Additionally, you can determine which rankings return an ROI via analytics.
Track, maintain, then expand.
The process of tracking and maintaining your keyword rankings by adding additional content to your site has a side benefit. Not only will you preserve your existing rankings, but you will probably start ranking for related keywords, as well as others you did not anticipate. In the next email we will explain how to find out what those new keywords are so you can target those as well.
0 comments:
Post a Comment