Search Engine Optimization is a great way to get better ranking results. It is a rather slow-paced one, but if you are doing it right, you are likely to get rewarded for your hard work. So, this is not something that you can do or have done at once and then sit back and enjoy the fruits of your labor. The thing with search engines is that they change their algorithms quite often, and you need to follow suit. That is just how SEO works. But, the main question is – How often should you evaluate your SEO efforts?

It all starts with keywords

The proper choice of keywords is one of the most important steps in your SEO strategy. The tools that helped you choose the right ones for your website when you started optimizing are the ones that can help you now too.

Keywords are the phrases that your audience is searching for online, so consequently they are the ones you should be using on your pages to attract them. But, even though you might be selling the same product and services as you did several months ago, it just might happen that your target audience has changed their searching habits.

KEYWORDS written on wooden blocks
To evaluate your SEO efforts, you need to start with your keywords

A keywords tool can help you keep track of your keywords, whether their ranking is going up or down. Check the average search volume for the words chosen at least four times a year. If trends in your niche change rather quickly, you should do this check on a monthly basis.

Once you decide that you need a change of keywords, you will have to take some time and revise the meta titles on relevant pages for them.

Extra tip: Once a week, check your SERP, and if you notice that your position keeps dropping, maybe it is time to change the keywords sooner than you thought.

Update your content

Google likes when content is fresh. Whenever you add a new piece of content, Google’s bots visit your site to check it out. The more often they visit, the better chances you have that your ranking is reassessed.

Now, when it comes to the dynamics of your posting, there is no one-size-fits-all answer. Some industries require your constant attention and in such cases, you have to post at least once a day.  On the other hand, if your niche is not changing that quickly, you should probably add some new content once or twice a week. It’s only logical that a marketing approach applicable to the moving industry can never be the same as the approach practiced by a celebrity or a popular blogger followed by millions of people.

Updating your content doesn’t necessarily mean adding new pages or posts all the time. It is recommended that you take a look at your older content from time to time. If you have changed your keyword strategy recently, you should be changing content to fit it. Or, you can update some of your pages by adding some new, fresher pieces of information.

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Influencers need to post quite often

Since Google changes its algorithms some 500 times a year, there is certainly something you will benefit from changing (apart from the keywords themselves). For instance, it used to be important to repeat the keywords a certain number of times throughout your content, but now that is not the case. At the moment, keyword placement is more important than its frequency.

But, how will you know which content needs to be refreshed? Well, there are SEO tools that can help you see which content still receives a good number of visits even though it’s not as fresh. Naturally, that is the content that you shouldn’t be changing, but keep on searching for pages and posts with a decreasing number of visits.

Extra tip: Whenever you are not sure whether you should post more or less frequently than you do, visit the websites of your most successful competitors and take a look at their dynamics.

Evaluate your SEO efforts by refreshing your Off-Page SEO

Search engines analyze both your internal and external linking. You will probably not be punished for linking to your homepage in most of your posts, but there are some links that Google doesn’t like.

Take a look at your link profile, backlink tracker, or a tool you usually use for keeping track of backlinks to determine which links are good and which are considered to be spam. Bad links can do you harm and push you down the ranking list, which is certainly not something you would like. You can get rid of those backlinks by contacting the guest site admins and asking them to remove the link(s) to your website from their content.

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Reassess your linking

How often should you evaluate this aspect of your SEO efforts? Again, there is no universal answer to this question. The more often you post and the greater quantity of content you create and share, the more time you will need to check whether those links are bringing visits or just doing you harm. Let’s say that the dynamics you should follow to reevaluate your backlinks should be proportionate to your guest posting dynamics.

What about social media?

Even though they do not influence your SERP position directly, social media play an important role in your SEO strategy. If your social media presence is good, you will be getting more visitors to your landing pages, and that boosts your organic search ranking. So, we are back at SEO.

There is always something going on with social media, so maybe this is the aspect of your SEO efforts that you should check out most frequently. If not every two to three days, check out your profiles once a week. Refresh them by adding some new content, sharing someone else’s, or, why not – sharing some of your old but still quite valuable content.

Conclusion

SEO is not something that will bring results overnight. Since the rules change all the time, you need to be present not to miss anything important. Luckily, there are many tools and online resources that can help you. Let us know what your experiences are and tell us how often you evaluate your SEO efforts!