Any small business owner worth their salt will know the importance of SEO as part of a marketing and growth strategy; however, do you really understand why it needs to be an essential aspect of your marketing and growth plans? You've likely explored multiple digital marketing avenues in your time as a business owner. Whether it's social media campaigns, email campaigns, or Google Ads, digital marketing should already have a fundamental place within your marketing strategy.
SEO is not just about securing a top spot on Google. It's about more than rankings; it's about directing traffic to your website and business without the continuous expense of advertising.
Effective SEO can bolster your business, growth strategies, and marketing campaigns both now and in the future. This underscores the criticality of mastering SEO. With 93% of online experiences beginning with a search engine (source: BrightEdge 2023), investing in and understanding the right SEO strategies can be a game-changer.
So, if you're not sure what good SEO means, but if you want to avoid keyword stuffing and all of those mistakes and practices of days gone by, really into SEO, this post is going to go through the best strategies to take and why it's so crucial for small business growth also.
Website Authority
Perhaps you have a clothing store, sell online courses, or offer consulting services, and you need to expand beyond the region where you're based. For example, if you are offering your service nationally or internationally, you need to improve your website's authority to help you reach the areas where your business targets its audience. SEO helps establish trust and authority, and when implemented correctly, it can meet all the values required by Google's algorithm in relation to quality content, backlinks, and user engagement.
As a business, you need valuable and optimized content, and your website needs to support the content that you place on it, whether it's product listings, blog posts, or self-help and FAQs. The more valuable and optimized your content is, the higher it is likely to rank in competitive terms within your industry. So, it's not just about placing the right keywords in the right places and all the other small SEO tips, such as meta tags and alt text. It's about ensuring that everything on your website adds value to the business and to people looking for what you're selling. It can be a worthwhile investment to work with an enterprise seo expert to uncover the right strategy and implement the proper techniques.
Local Visibility
Whether you operate a brick-and-mortar store or a digital enterprise, local SEO is crucial for targeting potential customers in your area and beyond. For instance, if you have a small clothing retail store and want to expand your reach, local SEO can help you target people within your delivery area or in the new location you're eyeing. This can boost footfall and orders with ease.
According to Google, around 76% of people who do local business searches will actually visit suitable businesses within 24 hours, with 28% of those visits resulting in a purchase. The reality is that you need your local area to find and engage with you, and SEO and capitalizing on the prevalence of Google searches to find businesses is never going to be a wasted endeavor.
Essential SEO Tactics for Small Businesses
The beauty of tackling SEO is that you don't need a large budget to get started. You can implement effective strategies for a relatively small investment, and in some cases, for free, simply by investing your time. This accessibility empowers small business owners to take control of their online presence and growth.
Keyword Research
Algorithms have evolved beyond broad terms and single keywords, such as "gift shop." Small businesses now need to focus on comprehensive keyword research to understand what their potential customers are actually searching for. This knowledge empowers them to target less competitive keywords and phrases, making them feel more informed and in control of their SEO strategy.
Going back to the "gift shop," if you have a gift shop and you want to reach those visiting your location, then you need to be more intentional with your terms. Options you might want to consider can include
- Eco FriEco-Friendlyhop Brighton
- Eco-friendly gift shop in Brighton
- Tourist gift shop Brighton
- Unique Gift Shops Brighton
The more specific you can be with your keywords, the better results you will get.
On-Page SEO
On-page SEO is the process of optimizing your website to be more search engine-friendly, which increases your chances of appearing higher in the rankings and boosts your visibility to help reach the top pages. You need to optimize each page of your website, focusing on aspects such as meta tags, alt text, URLs, and more.
- Keywords should be in page titles, headers, and meta descriptions.
- URLs need to be clean and clear.
- Internal links to related content are a must.
- Image alt text is vital and should be used for describing images, not for keyword stuffing unless it is relevant and part of the image's content.
Local SEO
Local SEO is the process of optimizing your SEO to increase visibility in your local area, allowing you to be found more easily. There are several steps you can take to support this effort. Claim your Google My Business page and fill in all details thoroughly and accurately.
Ensure your listing is on relevant directories, such as Yelp, Bing pages, and local Chamber of Commerce sites. It's also a good idea to ask for and leave reviews, both positive and negative, so you can boost your presence and engagement levels and provide people with a more accurate description and overview of who you are and what you're about.
Technical SEO
Technical SEO is the backbone of a functional website that does what you need it to do. Your website needs to be designed for ease of use, and it should be fast, mobile-friendly, and secure. All of these aspects will impact your SEO, and they should form part of your overall strategy. By understanding and implementing these technical aspects, small business owners can feel reassured that their website is optimized for success.
