Small businesses often struggle to build an online presence and establish themselves in the digital landscape. They just can’t seem to rank on SERPs and get noticed by search engines. That’s where SEO comes in.
Small businesses can utilize SEO to get their websites visibility and attract potential customers. After all, there is no point in investing time and resources into crafting a website if no one is able to see it.
In this article, you will learn what SEO is as well as find the best SEO tips for small business websites to rank higher.
What is SEO?
Search engine optimization, or SEO, is simply the process of optimizing a website to increase its visibility on Google. Typically, the goal for SEO is to rank higher in SERPs and get more traffic to the site.
SEO has numerous benefits. These include:
Increased traffic
The main idea of SEO is to get more traffic to your website. There are over 8.5 billion Google searches each day. With proper SEO, your website can compete for some of those searches.
Small businesses can utilize this traffic to generate new leads and gain attraction to their business.
Free
SEO is a cost-effective marketing strategy that does not have to cost you a penny. The only thing that you have to contribute is time and effort.
Competitive edge
By utilizing SEO to gain more visibility and rank higher, you can reach more potential customers and generate new leads. This can help you compete with larger businesses.
Boosts credibility
Ranking high on SERPs makes your businesses appear more credible and trustworthy. It shows that Google trusts your site, therefore making users more inclined to visit your website.
Best SEO tips for small business websites to rank higher
Small businesses can use these SEO tips to expand their outreach and enhance their online presence.
Here are 9 SEO tips for small business websites to rank higher.
1. Keyword research
Keywords are words or phrases that users input into Google search. By doing keyword research, you are essentially finding out what people are looking for.
Keyword research provides valuable insight into the queries that your target audience has. Targeting the right keywords is one of the most important SEO practices that you can do.
To do keyword research, you can use effective tools such as the Semrush Keyword Overview tool or Google Keyword Planner. Here you can research keywords as well as validate keywords by using metrics such as search volume and competition difficulty.
2. Set up Google Search Console and Google Analytics
Before you do anything, it is advised that you set up a Google Search Console and Google Analytics account. These are tools that can be used to track your progress and SEO performance.
Google Analytics is a tool offered by Google that offers valuable insight to website owners, such as traffic, how users are interacting with their site, and user demographics.
Google Search Console is a web service offered by Google that showcases your website’s performance, issues, and reports.
These tools can give you insight into if your SEO efforts are working. The best part? Both of these tools are free to use!
But remember, progress won’t come immediately. It takes a while for SEO practices to get results. In the end, it is well worth the time and effort.
3. Set up a Google Business Profile
If you are a local business looking to connect with potential customers in your area, then a Google Business Profile is almost necessary.
A Google Business Profile (previously Google My Business) is a listing of your business that appears in Google search, Google Maps, and Google Shopping. This free tool allows your business to connect with customers, provide updates, and increase visibility on Google.
Learn how to set up a Google Business Profile here.
4. Optimize on-page elements
Optimizing on-page elements, such as titles, meta descriptions, headers, and copy is one of the most important SEO tips to get your website ranking higher.
These elements tell Google what the page is about, and can be used to influence your rankings in SERPs.
Additionally, titles and meta descriptions let the user know what they’re getting into, and are the first things that users notice in the search results.
5. Build links to your website
A backlink is when a website links to a page on another site. The more backlinks your site has, the higher your website will rank in SERPs.
There are numerous strategies to acquiring backlinks. One strategy is to create high quality content that is easy linkable, or you can focus on creating data-driven content that contains statistics that other writers can use in their articles. Another strategy is to Help A Reporter Out (HARO), which is a great way to get links from reputable sites.
Keep in mind that when getting backlinks, it is important to focus on the quality of the links. Focus on getting backlinks from high authority website that have a high DA rating that is relevant to your topic.
6. Fix technical SEO issues
Another SEO tip that is absolutely crucial is to fix technical issues.
Many technical aspects of your website can negatively affect your SEO performance and rankings. These include:
- Slow site speed
- Broken links
- Missing tags
- Faulty sitemaps
- Duplicate content
One way to assess your website’s performance is to use Google’s PageSpeed Insights. Using this tool, you can analyze how long it takes for your website to load, as well as your SEO performance.
7. Implement a schema markup
Schema markup is formatted data that you can add to your website’s code to provide additional information about your page to search engines. Additionally, a schema markup helps search engines categorize and understand content.
There are numerous types of schema markups. One type is a local business markup, which can help Google display information such as contact information, business address, and other details.
8. Focus on getting positive reviews
A survey found that a whopping 98% of customers consider reviews as essential when making a purchase. Reviews are one of the most important factors affecting your SEO performance and rankings.
Small businesses should focus on starting review campaigns. In this campaign they can implement strategies such as encouraging customers to leave a review and ensuring customer satisfaction.
9. Learn from your competitors
Small businesses can learn a lot from their SERP competitors. Businesses can figure out what works, and what doesn’t.
By analyzing your competitors, you can find keywords, understand your target audience, and find content gaps that you can fill.
For SEO purposes, focus on learning from competitors that are ranking top 10 in search results for your targeted keywords.
Implement these SEO tips into your website to improve your rankings on SERPs and experience more traffic to your site.
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