Website SEO Score -  Website Grader

First off - let me preface this blog by saying I know NOTHING about search engine optimization.  I know just enough to be considered dangerous, but I am learning more every day.  If you are an seo guru, like our own Karen George, then this is probably not news to you. However, for those of us who are just getting started, this website is actually pretty cool.

Website Grader is a tool that helps measure the effectiveness of a website, from a marketing perspective.  It assigns a numerical score (a "grade") from your website ranging form 0-99. The grading is based on several areas taken from the website  - including traffic, search engine optimization, popularity and a few  other areas. 

It only takes a few seconds to enter in the information (website url, your name, email address and a comparable website (optional).  You can then read the summary or they will email it to you. 

Some of the areas that are included in the grader, are:

It's actually very good information.  I don't know how it compares to other websites that offer this *FREE* service, but I found this one to be very easy to use and equally easy to understand (which is very nice when you're just getting started!).

One of the areas that my website, Decorated To Sell, needs some improvement on is in the area of my title.  The report I received indicated:

Stop Words Found In Title - The page title contains one or more words that are considered "noise" by most search engines. Consider removing the following words from the title : To

(I'm sorry it doesn't like the word "TO", but unfortunately I have no plans to remove it - especially since it's in my company's name)

Something else that I was not aware of was in the area of domain renewal.   Websitegrader new that my domain was expiring next year and had this to say:

Domain Expires Within A Year

The domain for this website is set to expire in less than a year (228 days).

"We would suggest renewing this domain with your registrar. Google and other search engines may penalize websites with domains that are set to expire soon. The reason for this is that many spam sites are often registered for short periods of time. Most registrars support paying upfront for several years and the cost is usually only about $10-$20 per year, so it is generally worth it."

OK - I can live with that and I can do it, too.