Search engine optimization SEO

Its been many years since I thought about Search Engine Optimization (SEO) but since recently starting https://freeonlineretrogames.com/, https://pdfstatementsconverter.com/ and adding Google Adsense to this blog Ive decided I need to give it a go. I can see from current SEO posts and vlogs that its an ever changing landscape, so potetially my notes will date faster than your mom maps a candy bar but lets see :)

Tools

Sign up for Google Analytics and Google Search Console, then authentciate the site(s) as your own with TXT or CNAME DNS records.

This will now allow you to easily track your traffic, many other tools exist like https://ahrefs.com/

New SEO Specific Files

robots.txt file tells web crawlers (like Googlebot, Bingbot, etc.) which parts of the site they are allowed or not allowed to crawl.

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User-agent: *
Allow: /
Sitemap: https://pdfstatementsconverter.com/sitemap.xml

sitemap.xml lists the important pages of your website so search engines (like Google, Bing, etc.) can discover and index them more efficiently.

Example sitemap.xml 
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<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<urlset xmlns="http://www.sitemaps.org/schemas/sitemap/0.9">
  <url>
    <loc>https://pdfstatementsconverter.com/</loc>
    <lastmod>2025-10-09</lastmod>
  </url>
  <url>
    <loc>https://pdfstatementsconverter.com/pricing</loc>
    <lastmod>2025-10-09</lastmod>
  </url>
  <url>
    <loc>https://pdfstatementsconverter.com/privacy</loc>
    <lastmod>2025-09-23</lastmod>
  </url>
  <url>
    <loc>https://pdfstatementsconverter.com/blog</loc>
    <lastmod>2025-10-09</lastmod>
  </url>
  <url>
    <loc>https://pdfstatementsconverter.com/blog/how-to-use-pdf-statements-converter</loc>
    <lastmod>2025-10-09</lastmod>
  </url>
  <url>
    <loc>https://pdfstatementsconverter.com/blog/the-wonderful-world-of-file-types</loc>
    <lastmod>2025-10-09</lastmod>
  </url>
  <url>
    <loc>https://pdfstatementsconverter.com/blog/unlocking-the-power-of-your-financial-data</loc>
    <lastmod>2025-10-09</lastmod>
  </url>
  <url>
    <loc>https://pdfstatementsconverter.com/blog/supercharge-your-workflow-api</loc>
    <lastmod>2025-09-01</lastmod>
  </url>
</urlset>

Blog

Add a blog, example: https://pdfstatementsconverter.com/blog

Adding a blog is good for SEO because it gives search engines (like Google) more relevant, fresh, and structured content to index. Here’s why it helps:

  1. Fresh Content Signals - Search engines like sites that are regularly updated. A blog provides new pages and signals that your site is active and relevant.
  2. Keyword Coverage - Each blog post can target specific long-tail keywords (phrases your customers search for). This widens your visibility beyond just your main product/service pages.
  3. Internal Linking Opportunities - Blog posts let you naturally link back to your important service/product pages. This helps distribute authority (“link juice”) and improves crawlability.
  4. Authority & Topical Relevance - Publishing useful, in-depth content builds your site’s authority in your niche. Over time, this increases Google’s trust in your domain for related searches.
  5. Backlink Potential - Informative or unique blog posts are more likely to get shared and linked to than sales pages. Backlinks remain a strong ranking factor.
  6. User Engagement Blogs can attract readers via organic search, keep them on your site longer, and reduce bounce rates — all positive SEO signals.
  7. Content for Other Channels - Blog posts can be repurposed for social media, email newsletters, and outreach, driving more traffic that supports SEO indirectly.

👉 Think of your blog as a way to build a content moat: it gives Google more reasons to show your site in search results while positioning you as the go-to source in your industry.

Page Changes

Search engines index pages, not sites. Edward Sturm describes in this video The SEO Trick That Skyrocketed My Page from #50 to #1! the 3 kings that you can try updates on a site that should include the keywords you are trying to rank for

  • Title
  • H1 tag
  • First paragraph in the page

Additionally he recomends updating old pages and using Google Search Console to re-submit the page for indexing after each change.

MORE tips to come soon as I figure them out!