A Never Ending Job
I read an interesting post on Facebook the other day. The windows of the Burj Khalifa, the tallest building in the world, are cleaned four times every year. Each time they clean the windows, it takes about three months. That means they never stop cleaning the windows on the world’s tallest building. It’s non-stop work, day in and day out, just to keep the windows clean.
You know what else is a never-ending job? The SEO on your website. You might not need a crew of 30 people working around the clock, but there should always be something happening. SEO isn’t a one-time project you check off a list. It’s like maintaining those glass panels on the Burj Khalifa, a lot of small, ongoing tasks that keep things polished and working their best.
Let’s look at a few simple SEO activities that you can do regularly to keep your site shining.
Keyword List Updates
Your keyword list is the foundation of your SEO strategy. You’ll have your (hopefully lengthy) list of phrases you’re targeting, but that list should never stay frozen.
Updating your keywords isn’t just about adding new ones. Sometimes, certain phrases just stop fitting. Maybe your services have changed or an industry term has faded out. If that happens, it’s time to redirect that old page to something more relevant.
As you explore new ideas or city-specific landing pages, you’ll often find new long-tail keywords, those longer, more specific phrases your audience is actually typing into Google. Add them to your list and build new content around them.
You can also take time to see what your competitors are doing. They might be chasing a new keyword you haven’t thought about. Some terms might be too specific to their brand, but others might highlight a new trend or opportunity worth exploring.
Clean Up Your Content
Regularly revisiting your content is one of the easiest and most rewarding SEO habits. Start by scanning your pages for opportunities to make things clearer and easier to read. Break up long paragraphs. Tighten your sentences. Swap out outdated examples for current ones.
You can even run your headings through an Emotional Marketing Value analyzer to see how engaging they are. Adjusting your headings to be more appealing can help increase clicks and keep people reading longer.
And don’t forget your FAQs. If you don’t have one, add one. If you do, expand it. Google’s People Also Ask section is a goldmine of questions you can answer on your site.
Upgrade Your Photos
If your website still relies heavily on stock photos, it might be time to bring in a photographer. Authentic, high-quality photos help tell your brand story better than any generic image ever could.
When people visit your site, they want to see you, your team, your workspace, your products, your community. Photos like that make your business feel real and approachable. They build trust, which is a huge part of SEO because trust leads to engagement, and engagement helps rankings.
Plus, fresh photos give you new material for blog posts, social media, and Google Business updates. Don’t forget to name your image files with relevant keywords, such as “green-bay-web-design-team.jpg,” and fill in the alt text to describe what’s in the image. That small detail helps Google understand your content better.
Refresh Your Meta Titles and Descriptions
Meta titles and descriptions are the little blurbs that show up in Google search results. Over time, they can get outdated or lose their effectiveness. Set aside time to review them every month or two.
Ask yourself:
- Does this still describe what’s on the page?
- Would I click on this if I saw it in Google results?
- Does it use my main keyword naturally?
Even small tweaks, like adding a stronger verb or updating a phrase, can help improve your click-through rates.
Check Your Internal Links
Links within your own site help search engines understand your structure and help users find related content. Every so often, click through your pages and make sure those links still work and still make sense.
Linking related blog posts or connecting your service pages helps visitors (and Google) stay engaged longer. Think of it as giving your readers a guided tour rather than letting them wander around lost.
Keep Things Moving
Website speed plays a big role in SEO. While you might not be a developer, there are a few simple things you can do:
- Compress large images before uploading them.
- Remove unused plugins in WordPress.
- Keep WordPress and your theme updated.
Faster sites give visitors a smoother experience, which keeps them around longer, exactly what search engines love to see.
20 Quick SEO To-Dos Anyone Can Do
Here are 20 simple SEO habits that anyone can start doing today with no coding, no plugins, and no technical know-how required:
- Add a new blog post or update an old one.
- Share a blog post link on social media.
- Add a photo with a keyword in the file name.
- Write an alt text description for each image.
- Update your Google Business Profile.
- Ask a happy client for a Google review.
- Fix any broken links on your site.
- Add internal links between related pages.
- Review your homepage title and description.
- Reword one paragraph to make it easier to read.
- Update your About page with something current.
- Add your business hours and contact info to the footer.
- Check that your site loads quickly on mobile.
- Add a testimonial or review to your homepage.
- Review your top-performing keywords.
- Update your sitemap in Google Search Console.
- Replace one stock image with a real one.
- Add a call-to-action button on a key page.
- Double-check that your contact form works.
- Look at one competitor’s site and note one idea to try.
The Never-Ending View
Just like the team cleaning the Burj Khalifa, SEO work never really stops. The goal isn’t to do everything all at once. It’s to keep at it, little by little, day by day.
Every small improvement adds up. Keep polishing, keep checking, keep updating. Before long, you’ll find your site climbing the rankings and shining brighter than ever.