Does your website have a comprehensive SEO strategy?
If not, now is the time develop one.
Without proper optimisation, your business website will not get indexed by Google or other search engines.
If Google does not index your site, you will not receive the traffic you need.
For Google to understand what your site is about and send the right searchers there, you need to optimise it.
No matter what your business goals, you need website traffic to get there.
This is why SEO is so important for small business success.
What Is SEO And How Does It Work?
SEO stands for Search Engine Optimisation.
SEO refers to practices and tactics you can use to improve how often and how high your web page will feature in search engine results.
In plain language, it gets your website seen by Google, which in turn gets it seen by people searching on Google.
If you don’t employ SEO, Google won’t find your site and send the right people to it.
SEO practices involve the strategic use of keywords throughout a site’s content and metadata.
You choose those keywords for their high search volume,
You want to use the words and terms which people are entering when they’re searching for information related to your product, service, and site.
The keywords also tell Google what your website is about, so it will appear in search results when people type in the keywords you have chosen.
Successful SEO relies on keywords and your site’s linking structure.
You need to include links on your page.
Both on-page internal links and external links to/from other sites.
Sounds complicated?
It’s actually not hard to do if you’re willing to put in some time and effort.
There are many freelance SEO specialists who provide services to small businesses.
You can find them on sites like Fiverr.
But you can handle your own SEO by learning a few strategies and tricks.
SEO is much less complicated than most people realise.
Why Your Business Needs an SEO Strategy
SEO is an important feature of all business websites, but there are several reasons why an SEO strategy is essential to solopreneurs trying to expand their online presence.
Organic traffic is free
The main motivation for solopreneurs to adopt an SEO strategy is that organic searches, not paid advertising, will be the primary source of your traffic.
Companies who pay for clicks have a large advertising budget.
Small businesses need to get creative.
Most People Stay on the First Page
With organic traffic, people visit Google and type in questions or queries related to your product, service, or business.
Your potential audience are the very people searching for your chosen keywords and terms.
SEO helps your site appear on the first page of Google’s search engine results for selected keywords, alongside the paid ads.
Appearing on the first page greatly increases the chances your potential audience will see your page.
Most people don’t look beyond the first page of search results, so it is vital for your site to get on page one.
More Traffic Means More Sales
Increased website traffic from organic search means higher conversions.
This could mean more product sales, downloads of your free eBook, subscriptions to your newsletter, sign-ups, or whatever business goal you want SEO to help you achieve.
Higher Ranking Implies Expertise
In addition to traffic, SEO is important for building trust and credibility.
If your site appears in Google’s results, this tells people you’re a legit website that’s worth visiting.
More people will see you online and this will help frame you as an expert in your niche.
Perception will be that you are a reliable source of the products and services you offer.
SEO Research Provides Customer Insights
Another benefit is that SEO helps you to better understand your customers.
Through keyword research, you’ll discover what problems your customers face and what questions they’re asking.
Your website analytics will yield valuable insights that you can use to further refine your marketing strategy. In the end,
SEO helps you grow traffic and authority so that you can get more results for the effort you put into online marketing.
SEO Best Practices Yesterday and Today
SEO has changed a great deal over the years.
Search engine ranking used to be heavily focused on keyword density and quantity of backlinks.
One trick was to stuff your pages full of high-search volume keywords and the search engines would index your site and send traffic.
However, over the years, Google has become dominant among search engines mostly because of its smart algorithms.
They increasingly favour sites that offer valuable content and a good user experience.
So, the methods that worked in the past no longer effective.
Now, it’s all about quality over quantity.
What does this mean for your site?
Here are a few things Google looks for when evaluating websites:
1) Fresh Content.
Google likes sites that are updated regularly. This is why it’s a good idea to add a blog to your static company webpage. A blog gives you the chance to add content on a regular basis, which tells Google it’s up to date.
2) Real Value.
Real value means that your site solves problems, answers questions, and provides relief for your visitors. People come looking for information and your site delivers on its promises. It’s not stuffed with low-quality content and it’s not purely promotional.
3) Good User Experience.
A good user experience means your site is fun and easy to use. It is visually appealing with plenty of images. It is easy to understand and navigate. You tell your visitors how to find the information they are looking for on the site’s pages. It also provides a great experience across all devices your visitors use to access it.
4) Topic Relevance.
Your website’s content, and the products and services it offers, are all relevant to the keywords it targets.
5) Quality Backlinks.
The backlinks coming into the site are from authority websites in your niche or relevant to your topic. The quality of these links is more important than the number of links you have coming in.
Considering the five criteria above, your site should:
- Target keywords relevant to your topic
- Use keywords naturally throughout the text and in key places that Google considers important
- Use secondary keywords wherever appropriate for further traffic
- Use these terms in URLs, descriptions, images, and metadata
- Have an internal linking structure that helps Google understand the site’s architecture
- Employ some off-page SEO like backlinks from authority sites
- Frequently update with new content.
How to Get Started
Are you ready to get started learning SEO and creating and implementing your own effective SEO strategy?
Step 1: Choose one page to optimise.
The best option here is to pick a blog post you want the world to see. Choose a post that’s your best “start here” content or write something original on a very popular topic in your niche.
Step 2: Pick a long-tail keyword to optimise the page for.
A long-tail keyword is a term that is 3-5 words. It could be an entire sentence or question. These are preferable because there is less competition for them in searches and they’re specific, so you can get targeted searches.
Step 3: Use the keyword in your text and metadata.
You should also optimise your site in other ways using a plugin like Yoast or RankMath. The plugins will walk you through a variety of techniques to optimise your site’s data so that it’s easier for Google to index.
Step 4: Monitor results periodically to see how you rank.
Check your ranking for your chosen keyword and by reviewing your website’s analytics.
This will tell you what is working and what isn’t so that you can adjust and improve.
Through this trial-and-error process, you’ll become an expert SEO specialist in your own right.
Ready to get started now?
Join our course and you’ll learn step by step everything you need to do to boost your web traffic and achieve your business goals.
