Four actions to undertake PRIOR to initiating SEO on your website

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The most frequently requested question is SEO or Search Engine Optimisation. “What is the method to achieve a prominent position in search engine results?” If I had had the definitive solution, I would have been affluent and likely would not have been composing this blog post. However, I have several concepts. The initial step in commencing SEO is not to search for keywords, write a blog, or draft your metadata.

  1. Establish your Google Business Listing
    A Google Business Listing is an online profile for your enterprise, administered via Google My Business (GMB), a complimentary feature. It functions as a digital shopfront, displaying on Google Search and Maps anytime an individual searches for your business name or related products or services in your vicinity. Local businesses must maintain a Google Business Listing, as it enhances online visibility and facilitates easier discovery by potential clients.

Establishing your GMB listing is uncomplicated. Navigate to Google Business Profile and follow the instructions to develop a profile. You will furnish critical information such as your business address, telephone number, website (if applicable), and operating hours. GMB enables photo uploads, customer review management, and the presentation of your business’s distinctive attributes. A comprehensive and optimized GMB listing significantly enhances your ability to acquire local customers via Google searches. If you are an established firm, you may already possess a listing obtained from other directories, and you will need to claim and authenticate it to implement modifications and manage it.

This listing is crucial for local enterprises, as local searches prioritize map results, and the absence precludes visibility on the map.

What if you lack a physical retail location?
Do not be concerned; you can still maintain a listing without a physical shopfront. Numerous enterprises cater to clients at their premises, yet legitimate organizations warrant a listing. You may conceal your address when providing your information and indicate that you serve customers at their location.

Establish Google Analytics
Many individuals approach me about SEO, asserting that their website is not discoverable. Nevertheless, they have never implemented Google Analytics. Google Analytics is a complimentary service provided by Google that assists website proprietors in comprehending how users discover and interact with their sites. It monitors visitor traffic and behavior, offering insights into the origins of visitors, the pages they access, and their duration of stay. This data is crucial as it enables organizations to make informed, data-driven decisions regarding their internet presence. By analyzing user interactions with their website, organizations may enhance the user experience, pinpoint areas for enhancement, and evaluate the effectiveness of marketing initiatives. You cannot make informed judgments on SEO without knowledge of your website’s data.

  1. Configure Google Search Console
    Google Search Console (GSC) is an additional complimentary tool provided by Google, but it has a distinct emphasis compared to Analytics. Analytics examines visitor behavior on your site, whereas Google Search Console focuses on how Google perceives your site in search results. It serves as a conduit between you and GooGoogle’sarch engine. GSC provides an array of functionalities to enhance your Search Engine Optimisation (SEO). This allows you to observe the keywords utilized by individuals to locate your site, assess the ranking of your pages in search results, and uncover any technical issues that may hinder GooGoogle’s search engine indexing of your site. GSC notifies you of potential problems and assists in their resolution, thereby enhancing your accessibility in search engines. This may result in heightened organic visitors, which is essential for any website pursuing online success.

Search Console provides insights into your site’s performance in search results and supplies Google with the necessary information for accurate indexing. Google employs sophisticated bots that continuously traverse the web in search of new pages to index; nevertheless, this does not guarantee immediate discovery of your content. Establishing a search console and including your XML sitemap ensures that Google knows the location of all your pages.

What constitutes an XML Sitemap?

An XML sitemap is a file formatted in Extensible Markup Language that informs search engines like Google about your website’s significant pages. It serves as a guide for search engine crawlers, facilitating your material’s quick discovery and indexing.

An XML sitemap may encompass the following elements:

Uniform Resource Locators of all your web pages
Last updated date for each page
Frequency of page updates (daily, weekly, etc.)
The comparative significance of a webpage on your site
An XML sitemap does not ensure that Google will index all provided URLs; nonetheless, it aids search engines in comprehending your website’s structure and prioritizing the crawling of significant information.

Instructions for submitting your XML sitemap to Google Search Console are as follows:

Log in to Google Search Console.
Choose your website from the sidebar.
Select “In” ex” f” on the left menu, followed by “Si”emaps”.
“elect “Ad” a new sitemap” a”d input the location of your sitemap file. This may refer to “si”emap.xml” o” the complete URL if it is hosted externally.
Select “Su” it,” a”d. Google will attempt to process your sitemap.

  1. Configure Bing Webmaster Tools
    Surprisingly, Google is not the sole search engine available. Despite its dominance, there remains traffic available on alternative search engines. Bing possesses approximately a 9% market share. Would you deliberately disregard 9% of the visitors to your website? Certainly not. Like Google Search Console, Bing Webmaster Tools is a complimentary service MicMicrosoft’sng search engine provides. It offers website proprietors and managers tools to enhance their exposure and performance in Bing search results.

Instructions for configuring Bing Webmaster Tools:

Establish an Account: Navigate to Bing Webmaster Tools to sign in or register for a complimentary account. You may utilize your current Microsoft, Google, or Facebook account for expedited registration. Sign in or register for Bing Webmaster Tools.

Incorporate and Authenticate Your Website: You may add your website to your account after signing in. Bing Webmaster Tools necessitates verification to establish site ownership. Ownership can be verified through four methods:

DNS automatic verification is the most straightforward method, provided your domain registrar accommodates Domain Connect. Bing will autonomously identify your DNS provider and incorporate a CNAME record for ownership verification.
Bing offers a meta tag that can be incorporated into the head portion of your web website.

Upload a file: You may upload a designated verification file to the root directory of your website.

CNAME record: You may manually incorporate a CNAME record into your domain name system (DNS) configurations.

Submit Your Sitemap: A sitemap facilitates search engines in locating all the pages on your website. You may generate and upload your sitemap to Bing Webmaster Tools. This guarantees that Bing recognizes all material on your website.


These measures will guarantee that your website is discoverable in search engines and that you can track visitors. Optimizing your website is crucial; nevertheless, Google must be aware of the location of those pages, recognize the existence of your business, and you must ascertain the identity of your visitors, all of which must occur promptly.

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