Sometimes the most effective way to get more from your web site is some very simple SEO.  After all, it doesn’t matter what’s  there if no one can find you.  And many sites, even those built recently, are either only partially optimized or not optimized at all.

Optimizing a site does not have to be complicated. There is a simple list of tasks to follow  that will achieve results–and quite quickly.  These include creating page titles; making use of meta tags; improving your urls and navigation; optimizing your content.  And critical to the success of the process  is having good, clear, easy to find information on your site.  If you include content that works for your user your rankings will improve.

For more on this see Google Search Engine Starter Guide.

A word of caution though. While simple SEO isn’t complicated  it can be very time consuming, especially in the beginning when there are a large number of pages to optimize.  It may be well worth it to have an outside resource bring your site up to date.  (This is not high level work–a college student would be perfect.)  Then your staff can take on the task of optimizing new pages or content going forward.

It is very rewarding to see how quickly rankings can improve with just some elementary SEO.  This is especially true for physicians and hospitals who can take advantage of location to narrow their field of competition for search terms:  i.e. dermatology  in Stamford, CT vs.  dermatology.  Implementing a clear and disciplined SEO plan is a very cost effective way of building traffic to your site.

Continue Reading