When completing web development projects, SEO considerations can often be left behind due to the focus on building the online brand. This can often leave companies playing catch-up with their online marketing efforts for many months after the launch of their new web development projects. And so it’s important to consider SEO at each step within the project time. In this blog, we’ll highlight the SEO timeline for web development projects.
1. Complete a Comprehensive Review of Old Architecture during the Pre Development Phase
Before beginning the development, company leaders must review the brand’s old site. They must complete a site analysis on which elements worked and which didn’t. They will also then have a baseline against which they can compare the performance of their new site when it comes to areas such as SEO and site usability.
The pre-development phase should also be the time within the project where project leaders gather together all content stakeholders – including copywriters, designers and site managers – to discuss content requirements. The fundamentals of SEO performance are dictated by the quality and the technical elements of the content. It’s important to use persona development to ensure an effective purpose for each piece of content.
2. During Development, Ensure Team Members Understand the Challenges They Face
Within the development phase, all hands are on deck. All team members will be working to ensure the site launch is successful. This means that site stakeholders must understand the challenges they face during this development process. Leaders should set the team specific priorities to ensure all challenges are mitigated.
Now is also the time in which to optimize the company’s keyword strategy. It’s the time when many companies discover they require several additional pages to fulfill their keyword requirements. Companies should also consider their paid search strategies at this point. They may require paid media campaigns to maintain initial traffic levels after the site launch. By crafting these strategies in the development phase, leaders can mitigate problems with campaign direction at a later point.
3. Fix Unseen Errors and Commit to Proactive Monitoring in the Launch and Post Development Phases
By the site launch date, team members should have enough time to relax while they maintain their focus on ensuring all site fundamentals are performing as intended. Proactive error management can be achieved by crawling the site for 404s or faulty redirects. This then allows technical staff to fix any errors on launch date.
During the post launch phase, the entire team should be laser-focused on site management and site improvement. It’s the time in which to build the site’s reputation through the integration of the quality content that was discussed and planned in the pre-development phase. It’s also the time when site managers should be responding to user signals and continually improving the site’s usage experience while collecting data from their visitors.
The best-performing SEO campaigns are planned months in advance. By considering all elements of their company’s website well ahead of the site’s launch, brand leaders can achieve exceptional ranking performance from the moment the site goes live. To discuss the development process with a marketing expert, contact our trusted team members today!
