Making your green sports webpage show up in
Google searches
Part 2 -- On-Page Optimization
You’ve identified your keywords, but is your site using them properly to optimize search engine results?
It is now time to assess your page for keyword use and performance. AKA: Line up your keywords and start googling. As you search, keep track of where your page shows up in the search results. We did this for our green sports program and about 25 keywords. A truncated version of how we tracked search results is below.
At this point, you may want to re-assess your webpage, goals, and intended audience to narrow the keyword list down to 1 over-arching keyword (we chose “green sports”) and 1-2 supporting keywords. (Note: supporting keywords can be different for each page on your website.)
Now that you know your keyword shortlist and your personal search engine ranking, do you wish you ranked higher for a specific keyword? Say, “your team name” plus sustainability? If so, then it’s time to optimize.
Start by doing a 3-minute audit of your web page(s). Look at the URL, page title (that’s what shows up in the browser tab), and page content. Do you see your keyword(s)? More than twice? If not, add them:
- Edit your URL to include your keyword (ex: ABCathletics.com/greensports)
- Include the keyword in your main page title (ex: ABC Athletics Green Sports Program)
- Use the keyword 1-3 times in the content of your page -- and make sure that your pages can be crawled by the google spiders. ← If you don’t already know for certain your site and individual pages can even be accessed by search engines, definitely read through that link.
Congratulations! You’ve just reviewed/edited your site to make the most of “on-page optimization” tools. Some additional ways to use your keywords on-page are:
- Use identified keywords in the alt text on images.
- Create a series of web pages with different categories of information targeted to specific audiences. Make sure the pages are linked together so that they are crawlable by search engines, and include other audience-specific keywords in relevant page titles and extended URLs.
- Look at keyword competitors: Perform a three-minute audit for pages that rank high for searches of your keywords. If applicable, model their keyword use in your content (while still staying unique…).
- Include your keyword(s) in the meta description tag to help to attract clicks by searchers reading the descriptions on the results page. The meta description isn’t taken into account for google rankings, but the number of clicks is and therefore the description is important for SEO.
Appendix 1 - Program Performance by Keyword
Keyword
|
Current Google Rank (top 10)
|
General Green Sports
| |
Green sports*(ID’d in survey)
|
Not ranked
|
College green sports
|
Not ranked
|
Sports sustainability*(ID’d in survey)
|
Page 4: Local news article
Otherwise not ranked
|
Green Sports Industry Leaders
|
Not ranked, but mentioned in an article on page 4
|
Team Fans
| |
“Organization name” green sports
|
Ranked 1
|
“Program name”
|
Page 1, #1, but is news site without images
|
“Team name” sustainability
|
Page 1, #2: Article on related site
Otherwise not ranked
|
“Mascot” and sustainability
|
Other pages, but not landing page
|
Green building and venues
| |
Sustainable stadium
|
Not ranked
|
LEED certified stadium
|
Not ranked
|
Most sustainable sports facilities
|
Page 6: News article about program
Otherwise not ranked
|
Zero waste stadium*(ID’d in survey)
|
Page 1, #4 - other program page
Page 1 #5 - other program pages
|
Sports Marketers and Sponsors
| |
Sustainability sports sponsorship
|
Not ranked
|
Green sports sponsorship
|
Not ranked
|
Fan engagement for sustainability
|
Other pages, but not the landing page
|
Source: google, google adwords
This post is adapted from a study performed by Shawn Lindabury, Margot Montouchet, Meghan Radelet, and Monica Rowand; MBA students at University of Colorado Boulder.
