SEO Tips for Small Businesses

Search Engine Optimization is becoming one of the most popular trends in today’s business marketing scheme. SEO is the process of using a variety of tactics to increase their ranking within Google’s algorithm — and the implementation of SEO is an important part of creating success for any business and can furthermore lead to tangible results.

This process involves the creation of organic, quantitative, and qualitative traffic measured using keywords and websites that are then scanned by an algorithm developed by Google. Much like larger corporations, many small businesses continue to come up with new ways to increase their strategic marketing efforts by using social media, media coverage, ratings, and even reviews.

There are a variety of methods that small businesses can use to increase their visibility within the space. Using these suggestions can help drive the results that every small business is looking to achieve.

Build your business’ website

The first step in your business’ SEO efforts is building a website. A website is one of the most important elements within the SEO process. Using a website building software can certainly make it easier if you can’t hire a technological professional. After the website is built, consistently provide consumers with the most relevant information as optimization of the site becomes one of the most key components for ranking.

Create a domain name that easily identifies your business practices along with its location. Another tactic is adding appropriate keywords to page titles that clearly state the services that your business provides.

In addition, highlight the surrounding area of where your small business is located and express your passion for local teams, and other commodities in your section. This will help your business boost its search visibility as a local organization.

Update listings on local websites

One of the most effective ways to boost local SEO is to ensure the consistency of your business’ listing information across a variety of third-party sources. Some examples of these sites are Facebook, Yelp, Yellow Pages and even Yellowbook. Google and other search engines frequently scan these sites to develop a better understanding of your business and the local web.

Building up and updating listings on local websites that are relatively common for others to browse will increase the credibility. Be sure to build up your listings with images, videos, website URLs and other key information to make your listings more informative and educational to attract more customers. Ensure that within the space, your business is toggled within the appropriate categories to get the most optimized listings.

Develop a link strategy

Implementing a link strategy within your website can be another great step for your small business. Links from your website to other related websites, and vice versa, play a role in the SEO visibility of your business. Ultimately, they help to establish the authenticity and credibility of your business which leads to solid SEO value. Doing the very opposite, for example; trying to game the system by leveraging unrelated links will decrease visibility over time.

The strategy begins by consistently sharing links to your website through Facebook, Twitter and other social media channels, and encouraging others to pass along the information as well. Also, in email newsletters and other updates, include links that direct consumers to your website.

Think about hosting or sponsoring local events, or perhaps providing discounts for the nearby neighborhood. Then encourage neighborhood businesses, charity organizations and other partners to link to your website when talking about those events. Consider the creation of a local directory and blog of community resources including your favorite stores and cultural attractions, to help your link building strategy.

Establish a social media presence

Social media can play a major role in local business’ visibility in extensive search results. The more proactive your social media strategy, the higher likelihood your pages will attract followers, which in time leads to more appearances. Consider hiring a social media marketing team to help create an effective presence.

Perhaps you might even have to seek a small business loan to fund a social media marketing team. The team can help increase the overall marketing efforts of your business while preserving daily business operations.

A strong social media strategy engages with consumers via Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and other popular networks on a regular basis. The more followers and engagement you receive, the higher your pages will appear in search.

Some concepts to enhance engagement include updates on promotions, new products, giveaways, and even highlighting stories of relevance to your customers. Make sure to prioritize rapid response to those reaching out via social media with questions or feedback on their orders.

Encourage media coverage

Media coverage of your small business from well-established news websites can result in long-term positive impact on your business’ search results. Coverage of this nature can drive even more business to your brand, especially because it’s coming from a reliable source.

It’s important to develop relationships with local media and bloggers by encouraging them to take advantage of your products or services. For example, if your business is holding a charity event, email a reporter about how it will benefit the local community.

Consider how hiring a public relations agency could help your small business’ boost brand reputation and overall outreach. Public relations efforts can result in positive articles, videos and other types of coverage that will remain highly visible in search over a long period of time. Basically, your public relations concepts can build a bridge between your business and its consumers.

Conclusion

Search engine optimization has become one of the most important ways any business can market itself. The amount of traffic that some businesses can garner by using these tactics will help them build for an extensive amount of time.

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*Photo by Tim Mossholder on Unsplash