One of the first things you need to consider when it comes to fixing onsite SEO issues, is that you probably don’t want to make wholesale onsite changes without first understanding the consequences, and knowing that it may raise a red flag! Changes to URL structure, page or site title changes, even just adding new links to your already indexed page content, is likely to have a short-term negative effect on the specific page! There… you’ve been warned! :-)
Now with the warning out of the way… what can you do?
The changes you can make probably have nothing to do with rewriting your titles as you might think at this point! Instead, there are probably some structural changes that will increase the relevance of the site content, and make our titles more relevant!
First – Accept the Change!
I will be the first person to say that there’s never a convenient time to experience a traffic loss! Of course, you never want to tear apart a site in the 4-6 weeks prior to your busy season (aka Xmas, Halloween, Travel season, etc) but once you identify that areas need to be changed, you do have to do it sometime!
Acceptance is the hardest for me too… just look around this place! :-)
Review Your Keyword Funnel and Site Silo!
One of the better site optimization articles I’ve read in the past few months was about how to silo your website from Micheal Gray. The reason it deserves a good read from anyone who builds or manages their own website, is that it covers one of the basics of site building, the core site architecture!
It’s also worth mentioning that the article is written in such a way that you get a pretty clear understanding of how google, or anybot may crawl through your website and through those logical branches of the Silo, learn what your website is meant to be about!
Take Advantage of Your Own Popularity!
Ryan Cramer has a great article that describes several on-site seo practices! Pay particular attention to Tip #8, talking about your internal link structure and developing a set of best practices! We all spend countless hours trying to build quality backlinks to our best content… when in reality, we already have the best content, easiest to get, and highly relevant backlinks on our own websites!
Keep your list of targets nearby whenever you write new content, consistently linking to it, and funnel your traffic and onsite authority to the right places!
Don’t Change a Single Thing Without a Plan!
Even a house of cards starts with a plan and so should any changes you make to your website! Get out your trusty pen and paper, start a new draft of changes page within your own site, or draw it on the wall in front of your monitor… whatever you do, do something to plan and track your changes!
- Define Your Goals
- Map out your Changes (what, why, where, when, how)
- Put the Plan Into Action!
- Track Your Efforts
What Has Mayday Taught You?
It’s been more than 4 months since Mayday… what trends have you spotted on the sites you manage, and how have you worked to overcome the Mayday Effect?
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