Checklist of 35+ Ways to Improve, Secure, and Optimize Your Online Presence

You have a web presence.

You launched a website and created few social media accounts.

You’re all set…., right?

The answer probably isn’t what you want to hear.

There are dozens of things you should be doing to improve, secure, and optimize your web presence. Some of those actions are a one-time fix while others are a continual process.

And, all of the items are essential for getting the most out of your online presence.

Don’t miss chances to improve, upgrade your appearance online; we’ve created this checklist of action items every business needs to check, and use.

1. Your payment method for hosting and domain is valid. Don’t risk losing your site due to non-payment. Ensure that you have a valid payment on file for both your hosting and domain service.
2. You have admin access to all of your accounts. Make sure you are in control of your online accounts. Perform an audit to verify that you have the correct admin login for all accounts.
3. You limit and monitor admin access to your accounts. Don’t let admin access fall into the wrong hands. Review your account permissions to verify that the only people who have admin access are the ones who need it.
4. Your passwords are secure. Prevent malicious login attempts to your accounts by updating passwords to secure formats. Use a mix of numbers and letters, and include at least one special character.
5. Update software to the most current version. Prevent website hacking (and additional costs to fix problems) by keeping your website software up-to-date. Install framework updates that keep your business website secure and functioning properly.  
6. Schedule regular updates. Updates aren’t a one-time activity. Create a schedule and make necessary upgrades.  
7. Regularly create backups of your website. Protect your online assets by creating a backup of your site. Set up a system to automatically generate back-ups so if something happens to your site, you can quickly get back up and running.
8. You have an SSL certificate. Secure your site and the information that users enter on your website by getting an SSL Certificate. An SSL Certificate is now also a ranking signal in SEO, so it secures your site and can give you a boost in search rankings.
9. Your website is mobile responsive. Keep search engines and readers happy with a mobile responsive design that makes your site look good on all devices including Amazon Kindles. Verify that during website development, your site employs a responsive layout.
10. You have an email address that is the same as your domain name. Develop a cohesive online presence by launching an email address that uses the same domain as your website address.
11. You have an email marketing software. To manage your business’s email, don’t rely on a single, standard email account. Set up a professional email marketing system so you can properly manage contacts and send mass emails.
12. Create an opt-in form on your website. Use your site to build an email list. Include an opt-in form on your site that encourages audiences to share their contact information with you.
13. Your website forms work properly. Test your opt-in form to ensure that it’s working. Also, check contact forms on your website to ensure that they are working, sending entries to the proper emails accounts, and not to spam folders.
14. You’re using a plugin to assist with SEO. Help people find your website by using a plugin like Yoast SEO to optimize your site and pages for search crawlers.
15. Optimize your footer for SEO and usability. Link to your home page with your business name in your website footer. Also, include your address and contact details on the footer of every page to boost SEO and give viewers an easy way to find or contact you.
16. Each page on your website has an assigned keyword. To appeal to search engines and improve the ranking of your site, assign a keyword to each page and post on your website.
17. Each page on your website has a Meta Description. Once you assign a keyword to a page, use it in the meta description for the page so search engines can properly analyze it.
18. Each page on your website has a Meta Title. Add each page and post’s assigned keyword to the meta title tag of the page/post to increase on-page SEO.
19. You’re correctly using ALT tags for SEO purposes. Optimize images on pages and posts by using their assigned keyword in the ALT tags of each picture.
20. Images on your site are the proper size. Don’t bog down your site’s loading time by using images that are oversized and take a long time to load.
21. You’re using structured data and AMP pages. Further support SEO efforts by adding structured data and creating AMP pages that appeal to search engines and help your site show higher in search rankings.
22. Google Webmasters is set up. Let Google know that your website exists (and increase your search rankings) by creating a Google Webmasters account and submitting your site index.
23. You have a Google My Business Page. Catch Google and search attention by setting up a Google My Business page. Optimize your profile with photos, hours, and content linked to your website to drive traffic to your site through search.
24. Your business is included in other relevant online directories. Don’t stop at Google directories. Create profiles on other directories (like Yelp, MyArea Network, Bing, FourSquare, and Angie’s list) to increase your online visibility and search rankings even more.
25. Google Analytics is installed on your website. Make sure you know what users are doing once they get to your site. Install Google Analytics so you can see and track user trends that will help you adjust your digital marketing strategies.
26. Google Analytics Conversion Tracking is set up on your website. Make Google Analytics data even more powerful by setting up e-commerce tracking to help you gather information and see the ROI of your digital marketing campaigns.
27. Google Remarketing Pixel is installed on your website. Use Google to enhance your advertising targeting. Install the Google Remarketing Pixel that enables you to remarket to users who visit your website with ads based on their activities.
28. Facebook Pixel is installed on your website. Leverage the same targeting power by establishing a Facebook Pixel. The pixel enables you to use Facebook Ads to set up audience groups and advertise to audiences who have already visited your website.
29. Twitter Pixel is installed on your site. Create a similar marketing strategy on Twitter by also installing the Twitter pixel to track user activities on your site.
30. Your social media profiles link to your website. Use your social media accounts to drive traffic back to your website by linking to your site on each of your profiles.
31. Your website links to your social media profiles. Encourage website visitors to find you on social networks too, by adding links to your social profile using branded icons. (Don't forget to link to your local business page on MyArea Network.)
32. Links that point to third-party websites are set to open in a new window. While you want to encourage viewers to connect with you on other platforms, you don’t want to drive them off your site completely. Set all links on your website that point to third-party websites to open in a new window, so your site remains open in your user’s browser.
33. Each page on your website includes a call-to-action. To further keep users on your site, add call-to-actions at the end of each page explaining to audiences what they should do next. Create a roadmap to lead website visitors to an intended conversion.
34. You’re regularly adding fresh content to your website. Afford users a reason to visit your site and give search engines what they want by continually adding content to your site. New content both informs and engages audiences while sending positive ranking signals to search engines.
35. You’re linking back to internal web pages. When you add new content to your website, link between each of your pages. Adding internal links sends good signals to search engines and also helps users navigate your site.
36. You’re linking out to external webpages. Also occasionally link to pages of content that exist beyond your website. Links are what connect online content so by linking to other third-party websites you insert your site into that web, which is something search engines like to see.

As you can see, there are scores of things you can do to improve, secure, and optimize your online presence.

And, this list only includes the essential action items you need to get the biggest reach and use out of your website.

There are many other tactics and strategies you can use to leverage your online presence creating an even bigger impact on your business.

Don't overwhelm yourself by trying to do it all on your own. 

Contact MyArea Solutions today to see how our team of online experts can execute this entire list and more for your digital presence. Request a free consultation so we can review your current online presence and show you how we can take your digital marketing to the next level.

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