Your LocalSite has been specifically designed to help your business rank higher on search engines such as Google to help drive more qualified traffic and leads to your business. It is important that when you are making changes to your LocalSite you are cautious and taking steps to ensure you are protected. This article will walk you through a few of the key things you should be doing when making edits to your LocalSite.
Be confident the edits you are making aren't going to impact your LocalSEO in a negative way. Learn more here.
Backup a version of your LocalSite before you begin making changes.
Track any edits you have made with comments so they can be revised by your colleagues and/or OneLocal. Learn more here.
Don't edit your site if someone else is already editing it.
Be sure to Republish your site once your changes are complete.
Let's talk about each of these in more detail.
Be Confident the Edits you are Making Aren't Going to Impact your LocalSEO in a Negative Way
If you aren't sure whether or not your edit may have SEO impact, you should start by connecting with your Dedicated Account Manager to get their opinion on the desired site updates. They will be able to give you direct guidance on editing and you will feel more confident about making these kinds of edits in the future.
Some things to avoid editing:
Headings on your website
Headings are specifically chosen to tell Google what your website is all about, these include Heading 1 (H1), Heading 2 (H2), Heading 3 (H3). These are the larger pieces of text on your website and generally begin each section. They are weighted with H1 having the most importance and H3 having the least importance. If you require changes to any of these headings on the website, please leave a comment in the appropriate place and OneLocal will make changes on your behalf to ensure SEO integrity
Large sections of text
You can edit all of the text on your website, but this has also been specifically written with our SEO strategy in mind. You can make small changes or updates to existing text, but if you need to delete large sections or paragraphs to be replaced with new content, we would recommend connecting with your Account Manager before moving forward.
If you have a large amount of information to be added to your LocalSite, consider adding a blog to your LocalSite instead of adding this detail to specific pages on your LocalSite.
Remember that OneLocal is always here to support your business with LocalSite updates on your behalf. Our team of professional website and SEO editors are happy to make any necessary updates you require while ensuring your LocalSite's SEO strategy is kept intact. If you are ever unsure, please reach out to your dedicated Account Manager.
Backup a Version of your LocalSite Before you Begin Making Changes
Editing your site may impact your aesthetic appearance or even your SEO rankings, be sure to back up your site before making changes. This will allow OneLocal to revert back to previous versions of your LocalSite if the need arises.
You can backup your LocalSite by clicking on the "SEO & Settings" button in the top left corner of your screen when logged into your website editor. Then click on "Backup Site" and type an appropriate name into the "New Version Name" line. This name should include information about the person editing, the pages being edited and any other important details you may want to recall easily. Keep in mind that the title cannot include spaces so you'll need to use dashes (-) or underscores (_). The date and time of the backup will automatically be saved as well.
Your LocalSite can be backed up 50 times before older versions of the site will be deleted so keep that in mind as you are making updates and saving site versions.
Track any edits you have made with comments so they can be revised by your colleagues and/or OneLocal.
Keeping your LocalSite up-to-date is a lot of work and may take many hands and eyes! You may want to get another's opinion before launching new updates to your LocalSite to ensure all parties are happy with the changes you have made. The best way to ensure your changes can be tracked is to add comments wherever you have made the change. Detail what you have updated in the comment and keep track of the comment number as well. Some comments you may want to have colleagues review before Republishing the LocalSite, whereas others you may want to have reviewed by OneLocal for SEO purposes before Republishing the site. Be sure to note which comments are for which parties and 'Resolve' the comment once it has been reviewed.
Don't edit your site if someone else is already editing it.
Whether it’s another teammate or OneLocal staff, you shouldn’t be editing your site at the same time as someone else, this can cause errors and items to go live before they are ready. Watch out for the red bar at the top of your screen, if this appears you'll know that someone else is already editing.
If for example, you are making changes while OneLocal is also making changes to your site and OneLocal "Republishes" your LocalSite, changes you were working on that may not be ready to be published will go live with the update. It is best to ensure that only one person is editing the LocalSite at a time and that they are completed with their changes before someone else begins making changes as well.
Be sure to Republish your site once your changes are complete.
Finally, our last tip of the day!
You can edit your LocalSite as much as you like in your website editor, but website visitors won't be able to see your changes until you have "Republished" your LocalSite. You will see this button in the top right corner of your screen.
To see your changes, you may need to clear your cache or press the F5 button on your keyboard as your browser may be loading an older version of your LocalSite.
If you have any questions, please connect with your dedicated Account Manager or our OneLocal Support Team! We'll be happy to help!
Happy site editing!