You have a domain name, check. You have a website, check. You wait on search engines to index website, check. You have amazing traffic, *crickets*.

The above is typical response received when conversing about search engine optimization (SEO) with potential customers.

I have noticed there are a number of different steps a customer can take in optimizing their website. One of the most overlooked steps is the use of Google Webmaster Tools.

This value-add tool provides a website owner (a.k.a. webmaster) imperative information about their website and website’s overall health as Google sees it.

In today’s post, I’ll discuss the importance of Google Webmaster Tools.  I’ll also provide a very easy step-by-step, downloadable guide explaining how to use Google Webmaster Tools to complete the following:

• verify your website
• create a sitemap file for your website
• submit a sitemap file for your website

How important or critical is having a sitemap for a website? Extremely important if you ask me.

The obvious current day need for a website sitemap is more so for SEO purposes, specifically search engines crawling the sitemap.

In fact, submitting one’s website sitemap to search engines is one of the first actions to take when launching a website, especially if you desire good ole’ SEO love for Google.

Nevertheless, one of the things likely forgotten or simply done away with is the use of a human-readable HTML sitemap.

You’re likely reading this article because your web traffic has plateaued, or has yet to organically rank for highly competitive keywords.

Most everyone (okay, not everyone) knows the name of the game for bloggers or website owners is how much organic search traffic a website realizes.

If you’ve ever attempted to launch a website of any sort, then you’ve likely encountered the difficulties and challenges in getting your website to rank across major search engines.

I’m here today to change your unsatisfactory experience into one of satisfaction, and hopefully equip you to realize greater search exposure and traffic conversions for your website.

If you’re like me, then it’s likely you’re checking both Google Analytics and Google Search Console daily for a variety of analytics pertaining to your website.

It’s nothing new that Google no longer provides organic keyword data about what keyword or keyword phrases a search uses to find your website via search rankings.

I get that Google is attempting to honor it’s privacy agreement with searchers, but not having date from organic keyword searches is really keep many of us in the dark.

I’m enjoying my vacation this week on the beach where it’s warm. It’s been a while since I did a post pertaining to search marketing.

I thought I would use this time to highlight a feature I’ve been using for years in Google Analytics. This feature has helped me quite a bit to determine the usefulness, value and overall web page effectiveness.

Before I dive in and tell you more about this feature, answer the following questions:

• Have you ever wanted to determine how many people are actively clicking an object on a web page?
• Have you ever wondered if people are playing videos on your web site?
• Have you ever wanted to measure the behavior of a user when they interact with a web page?

These are a just a few questions, but the list goes on. My point is that you don’t have to be in the dark on the questions above.

Today, I’ll show you how to answer yes to the questions and then go about recording and retrieving data points using Event Tracking (Web Tracking) in Google Analytics.

Only a few days remain in this year, closing in fast to being only hours.

There is quite a bit to do before year end as we prepare for a new year.

And as I do every year, I take a moment to perform 11 MUST-DO SEO actions to my website.  Some of the 11 SEO actions I perform consistently throughout the year.

However, even if I lost track of time during the year, I make sure that the SEO actions we’ll soon discuss are completed at the end of each year without fail.

There’s always chatter about the coming year, and what SEO this or that will impact a website and it’s overall search rankings.

I’m not discounting those articles and predictions.  In fact, I have my own 2016 SEO predictions to be published soon enough.

Stick around and you’ll see.  But I digress.

There are more than 11 SEO actions to perform on any given website at any point in time.  Some of the actions I’ll soon discuss are reactive while most are going to be preventative.

The preventative steps will aim to help you successfully and safely manage your website’s growing content while keeping it search friendly and safe.

I’m sharing with you actions that I personally find and see substantial benefits to performing at the end of each year for my own website.

I hope you receive the same benefits, if not more, that I have from performing the following 11 SEO actions.

Today’s post is going to be a video tutorial well worth your time to review and execute upon completing the video.

Have you ever posted content that seem to take days or weeks to show up as indexed in search engines, more specifically Google?

From time to time, I receive calls from customers who inquire about why their website content is taking so long to show up in Google Search engines.

And if not that, then customers are trying to gain an edge using current events SEO, and want their content to be indexed long before their competition.