Spring is right around the corner now! The temperature is rising here in Northeast Ohio and the “spring forward” time change went into effect a few weeks ago. One of the biggest things to do in the spring is cut your grass. With the amount of rain in March and mostly April, the grass can grow pretty quick. I did a stint as a landscaper for a summer and I learned more than I need to know about cutting grass. The one thing I learned, is that preparation can go a long way, just like with SEO.

The first thing to do when you start off in the morning is to get all the equipment ready. One of the worst things that can happen is forgetting to gas up a piece of equipment or even forgetting it all together! SEO is similar in the sense that you should have all your stuff together before you get started like the following:

• Computer – Sometimes I bring my laptop home, and I actually forgot the computer and bag at home and had to drive all the way back to get it.
• Internet – I hate when I’m working remotely somewhere and don’t have wifi and have forgotten my data cable to tether my phone.
• Tools – Ever forget the login to one of the keyword tools you use?

Once you’re prepared to get working, you need a plan. When driving up to a house to cut the grass, you have to figure out which way the grass was cut before and cut against it this time. Also, professional landscapers cut those nice looking lines in the grass as seen below, and you have to plan out where you are going before zipping across the yard. Where would your SEO be without a plan? How would you know what to even optimize for?

Once you have the equipment and the plan, you can dig in to the actual work. What sets one SEO above another? Technique and skills. You can tell when a new guy cuts your yard by the lines he leaves, rather I should say, wiggles. A new SEO can leave wiggles across your website as well. Un-optimized page titles, lack of or poor link building, and other obvious signs.

The process isn’t over yet. You’ve got the yard cut, but what now? The finishing touches come into place now like the edging, weed whacking, clean-up, and most importantly, re-cutting. This is where SEO’s can really refine a website is by tweaking and re-optimizing. If a particular keyword isn’t getting any traction, you have to take a look into it and find out why. Is there enough content to support the phrase? Have you built your site’s trust up enough? Is the term too competitive? All of these things and more could be factors.

Take your time before jumping in with SEO. A well manicured lawn takes preparation and time to develop just like a successful SEO campagin.