SEO Foundations: A Checklist for Websites
TL;DR
- Technical items such as https and mobile speed are the basis of trust, not something you can opt out of.
- Move from demographic-based targeting to psychographic based connections in your writing and website architecture.
- Do not track what you plan to do. Only count things that exist today.
- SEO is where you start, not where you finish. A solid foundation helps you qualify to participate. The factors that contribute to your foundation help you remain competitive.
Most of the information we read about optimizing for search engine results (SEO) begins with keywords. While keywords do matter, a checklist that just determines if you are using the appropriate words misses almost all of the other issues. Getting found is completely different than being worth finding.
In a competitive space, the technical baseline that these factors provide acts as a gatekeeper. Without a solid foundation for your SEO efforts, your content cannot compete and therefore does not belong in the race.
1. Establish the Foundation (HTTPS and Technical Trust)
Trust is a physical representation of security. Google considers https as a ranking factor due to its ability to prevent security warnings which increase bounce rates and damage the user experience.
Check: determine if each page of your website is loaded securely (https), and verify that there are no mixed-content warnings.
Impact: This is your first trust signal. This sends both the user and the crawler a message stating that your digital home is secure enough to enter.
2. Create Solutions for Mobile and Speed (Competence signals)
Mobile and speed performance are indicators of Competence. A website that either fails to load properly on smaller screens or bounces around while it loads states that you may not be prepared for the modern user.
Check: Test your main landing pages by going to pagespeed.web.dev and then running them.
Goal: Strive for "good" ratings on Largest Contentful Paint (less than 2.5 seconds) and Cumulative Layout Shift (less than 0.1).
3. Connect through Psychographics vs Demographics
Demographics state who someone is based upon written information. Psychographics state why they purchase. In order to create a true connection, you must identify the root motivators of humans.
Self-determination theory (SDT) provides us with 3 areas to concentrate on:
- Autonomy: Do visitors believe they have control of the path they take through your site?
- Competence: Does the content you produce create feelings of capability and effectiveness within readers?
- Relatedness: Are you able to create a feeling of belonging with your brand?
Check: is your voice consistent? If you utilize psychological triggers to get visitors onto your site and then change voices, you are breaking the signal.
4. Build with Structural Intention
Organized content categories direct your seo effort. Absent organization, content creates habits rather than strategies.
Check: Have you verified that your sitemap has been sent into Google Search Console and that none of your primary pages are being blocked in your robots.txt file?
Strategy: Organize your content into organized groups/sections so visitors and crawlers understand exactly what expertise you bring to the table.
If this article has helped spark a thought process or changed how you see things, please post in the comments section. Some of the best articles we write lead into some of the most interesting (and informative) comments.
And if you're currently trying to navigate a marketing or design issue - That is exactly what I am here for. Do you have questions regarding developing your company's branding? Do you need a Content Plan that reflects your business? Or simply a fresh perspective on something you've been staring at for so long? Let's Talk. No obligation; No Pitch. Just an open conversation about where you are now and where you would like to be.
If this article has helped spark a thought process or changed how you see things, please post in the comments section. Some of the best articles we write lead into some of the most interesting (and informative) comments.
And if you're currently trying to navigate a marketing or design issue - That is exactly what I am here for. Do you have questions regarding developing your company's branding? Do you need a Content Plan that reflects your business? Or simply a fresh perspective on something you've been staring at for so long? Let's Talk. No obligation. Just an open conversation about where you are now and where you would like to be.
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Lionel Lowery
Marketing Strategist & Creative Lead
Lionel works with small and mid-size businesses and nonprofits across the Triad, including Winston-Salem, Greensboro, and beyond, to clarify their message, strengthen their brand, and build marketing systems that actually hold up. Through LIONEL.MKTG, he brings together digital marketing, social media strategy, and graphic design for organizations that are done guessing and ready to move forward.
