Can I start SEO before finishing my website?
-
Hi, I'm new to SEO and websites.
I'm slowly building a website at the moment.
I was wondering if I could set up a blog at the domain name I will use for my final website and begin doing SEO. Eg. I set up a blog using a CMS like Squarespace and begin blogging at domain.com/blog (with links to the domain.com/blog from the domain.com home page) and inbound links point to the domain.com 'front page'.
And then add the design of the 'front page' of the website using Squarespace at a later stage eg. domain.com.
Is this a good idea? Will it work?
I'm anxious to get started on SEO.
Thanks!
-
I have to agree with Heather SEO begins waaaay before the SEO phase. Here's a link to a post that we wrote on our blog, that might help you out. http://www.theedesign.com/blog/2012/web-design-for-seo.
Basically like Heather said, you need to be thinking about SEO every step of the way. I have no problem building a a blog before hand to help build your audience, but make sure that they are aware that you have a website and you are building towards it. It sounds like that you're going to be using the blog of "Blog.com" as a blog until it turns into the ecommerce site you want it too, if so make sure you let your audience know what's going on. Maybe create an email newsletter, so they can get updates every step of the way.
Remember if you get links to your website, to pages and articles that arn't going to be there in the final design you can 301 them to keep the link juice, BUT YOU WILL NEED TO 301 THEM.
Maybe for the time being also consider directing your fans to a Facebook page or a Twitter account to help build your community.
Hope these thoughts help.
-
Hi, yes it's a good idea to think about SEO throughout the development stage. There are lots of things to think about during the build which may affect SEO, inlcuding:
- Has the website got more elements than it needs (multiple CSS files that can be reduced, lots of small images when one sprite would be better, redundant java files etc.)?
- Have you thought about the content of the site (one relevant H1tag per page, clean simple URL structure, all images have appropriate alt tags, appropriate navigation etc.)?
- How should search engines see the site (relevant use of rel="nofollow", relevant use of canonical links, 301 redirects on old links etc.)?
Adding quality, SEO optimised content on your blog is a good starting point. If you do link to the homepage before the site is complete, I would consider creating a holding page to explain what the site will be about and when full functionality will be launched.
-
As long as the pages are there it should not be a problem, especially if your just keeping the blog updated, i personally would not link to any page unless its finished.
But to keep a blog updated may not be a bad thing and just add the pages when your ready
It may be a good idea to start the site small with like a home page , contact page and you blog and then add the new directory as you go as not to confuse the search engines
Browse Questions
Explore more categories
-
Moz Tools
Chat with the community about the Moz tools.
-
SEO Tactics
Discuss the SEO process with fellow marketers
-
Community
Discuss industry events, jobs, and news!
-
Digital Marketing
Chat about tactics outside of SEO
-
Research & Trends
Dive into research and trends in the search industry.
-
Support
Connect on product support and feature requests.
Related Questions
-
Link building | SEO Agency Cardiff
Hello, we have been link-building to the home page for some time now. We believe that we have better on-page SEO than some of our direct competitors. We want to rank for “SEO Agency Cardiff,” but despite building backlinks, building Nap, and writing content marketing, it will not get onto the first page of Google. Despite hundreds of hours spent on it, and all SEO reports saying we are better than some of the companies on there, are there suggestions as to what our agency could be missing? We would be grateful for any SEO advice, as we cant get it onto the first page of Google, despite hundreds of hours, trying get on Google for this keyword "SEO agency Cardiff".
Link Building | | sarahwalsh0 -
Links from my Own Blog to my Own Website and Link Scheme
Hi There, I use my own blog to give advices and offer information related to my business service. Of course in terms of SEO my blog is useful not only to expand my brand presence but also to acquire long-tail traffic. I use to insert a maximum of one link with a relative matching anchor text in every article of my blog pointing to my own webpage. Said that, the questions are as follows: Am I involuntarily participating in a Link Scheme with my blog? And If so, how many links can I send to my own webpage ? Shall I limit the number of links to a minimum? Thanks a lot for your advices.
Link Building | | Midleton0 -
Forum signature links and SEO
Regarding this article on forum signature links, is this good advice? http://searchtempo.com/forum-signature-links-and-seo/ Doesn't Google suggest a nofollow on these types of forum links? On a related matter, is it a good practice to add a Google Plus link in forum signatures? Best,
Link Building | | ChristopherGlaeser
Christopher0 -
Has Anyone used Eyeflow SEO out of Pittsburgh
We are looking to have a third party do some white hat link building for us because we currently do not have the resources to do so in house and do not want to rush into a hire. We are looking at eyeflow because they are local to our area and we would have the opportunity to personally see how they do things. Has anyone had any experience with them, or have any suggestions for things to ask or be weary of? Thanks
Link Building | | ClaytonKendall1 -
Backlinks... If you can beat them & join them?!
I have a competitor who has swooped in on most of the key search terms in my niche, solely through artificial backlinking. There is a direct and obvious correlation between this link building and rise in the serps. I know the mantra around here is creating good content and gaining real links, which I am doing. But I am waiting to unleash this content during a site relaunch which is months away. I don't want to sit around and do nothing while this site makes money and builds their list. I have money to spend and want to go head to head with this site. Would it make sense for me to go and copy all of the links this competitor has built? At least 90% of them are profiles, article subs and blog comments. Also, what do you think would be the best way to tackle this? Any guidance as always is appreciated.
Link Building | | PedroAndJobu0 -
Should I interlink all the websites my company owns?
Our company has several websites where visitors can request quotes for home improvement. I'm thinking of making each site deeplink to each of our other sites, to create more linking domains and make all our sites help each other. Is this a good idea? Or will Google recognize that i'm only promoting our own websites and see this as a bad thing?
Link Building | | Skydreamer0 -
Where should I be focusing SEO efforts first?
Hi everyone, I am a digital marketing intern at a small marketing business. They have a really horrible, 1990's ish website which I am currently working with them on a plan to completely redo within a few months. Until then I am fixing some issues on their current site which includes SEOing their current content that will be moved to the new site. They have a ton of issues which include, but are not limited to, missing meta descriptions and title tags, no official keywords incorporated into their content, no analytics or tracking of keywords, a poor use of social media, and duplicate content. My plan was to fix all these issues first, then when the site relaunches really start focusing on the more advanced bits (which include link building). The previous intern spent 99% of his time posting on forums building "backlinks". I've been going through his posts and saw he posted on mainly marketing forums on topics but never included any type of link back to the site in his posts or on his forum profile (his reasoning was he wanted to gain a reputation with the forum first so the admin would not delete his posts or so he'd be able to put a link in his signature). He and the owner of the business say that this is the best and most effective way to help SEO and the owner is questioning whether or not I concentrate on that instead of the other issues. So what do you think? Do you think I should be fixing all these issues first and waiting until the site relaunches to concentrate on forum backlinking? Or do you think it would be more effective to just focus on my energies on forum backlinking? Also - the previous intern also told the owner that Wordtracker was a poor investment and is not useful. I have always thought that was sort of an industry standard. Do you think he's right? If so could you recommend something else? Any thoughts are appreciated. Thanks 🙂
Link Building | | Grow0 -
Do no follow links have any seo value at all?
I saw some test results of no follow links from some years back and it seemed to indicate that Google still counts the anchor text in no follow links provided the page is already indexed and has do follow links pointing to it. The test results seemed to indicate that Google does count the links and uses the anchor text to cause the page to rank higher in the serps for those key words. any truth to this? If i don't expect any traffic whatsoever from a no follow link should i not build it? Take care, Ron
Link Building | | Ron101
