Getting Started with SEO
If you're a small business owner, SEO is a vital part of your marketing strategy. Here's why:
It increases visibility. Search engines like Google give higher rankings to websites that are more visible in their search results. This means that if you want to be found online by potential customers, then your site must appear on the first page of search results when someone types in relevant keywords or phrases (like "local plumber").
It improves website ranking. The higher up on those first few pages you can get ranked for specific keywords or phrases (and the more often), the better chance you have of converting visitors into paying customers!
Enhanced user experience (UX). Users don't want just any old thing--they want what they need right now! Consumers generally go for that first link that pops up in a Google search. Sure they do their due diligence, but if you aren’t ranking on that first page, you aren’t even a contender. So you need to make sure that your page always comes out on top. The best way to do this is to make sure you have adequate content, the correct keywords on your site, and working links. You want to make sure that both your website and blog have quality content. Consumers want concise information and ease. If your website or blog is muddled with irrelevant information, not straight to the point, and is difficult to navigate, then you’ll lose more money than you make. Without working links, and adequate and concise information, your website will not rank highly with Google. So this is a very important part of your SEO strategy.
Basics of SEO
SEO is the process of optimizing your website to rank higher in search results. There are many factors that go into determining where your website will rank, but the most important thing to remember is that it's not an exact science, and it never will be.
With that being said, several elements affect how Google ranks websites:
Keywords - The words or phrases users type into a search engine when looking for something specific (e.g., "how to bake cookies")
Meta tags - Tags used on every page of your site that describe its content and tell search engines what information they can find there (e.g., title tags)
Internal/external links - Links within your website or from other websites pointing back to yours
On-Page SEO Strategies
There are a few things that can be done to give your website a high chance of making the front page of Google search results.
Optimize page titles: The title of your website's pages should be descriptive and keyword-rich, but don't overdo it--the most important thing is to make sure that the user knows what they'll find on that page.
Use relevant keywords: You want to include keywords in your content that customers will use when searching for products or services like yours, but don't go overboard with stuffing them into every sentence (that's called "keyword stuffing" and Google hates it). Instead, sprinkle them throughout naturally so they're not too obvious or distracting from what you're trying to say overall about your business or product/service offering(s).
Write high-quality content: The quality of what you write matters just as much as how much time goes into writing it; if people find you on Google's front page, only to find poorly written articles full of grammatical errors or typos, then chances are good that those searchers won't come back again anytime soon!
Off-Page SEO Strategies
Off-page SEO strategies refer to the optimization techniques that take place outside of your own website, focusing on activities on other websites and platforms to boost your online visibility and authority. These efforts are essential for improving how search engines perceive the relevance and trustworthiness of your site, as they signal that your content is valuable and widely referenced.
Key off-page SEO tactics include:
Link Building: The process of acquiring high-quality backlinks from authoritative websites, which can enhance your website's credibility and improve its ranking in search engine results.
Social Media: Leveraging social media platforms to share content, engage with audiences, and drive traffic to your website, thereby increasing brand visibility and potential interactions.
Content Marketing: Creating and distributing valuable content across various channels, such as blogs, videos, and guest posts, to attract attention, generate backlinks, and enhance your overall digital presence.
By incorporating these strategies, you can extend your reach, build a strong online reputation, and ultimately boost your website's search engine performance.
Tools to Monitor Performance
There are many tools to monitor performance, but the most important one is Google Analytics. This tool provides you with in-depth information on your website's traffic and conversions. It also gives you access to real-time data so that you can see who is visiting your site right now.
Google Analytics has a lot of features that can be overwhelming at first glance. However, it's very easy to set up once you understand how everything works together:
Google Analytics has 15 features that are great for your business, but for brevity, we’ll only list what’s relevant to today's topic.
Goal conversion tracking: A feature that tracks conversions such as sales or leads generated from different pages on your website (e.g., "Contact Us" page). You can then use these reports in conjunction with other tools like Hotjar or SEMrush so that they show their conversion rates relative to each other rather than absolute numbers only.
Audience Reports: Audience reports provide detailed insights into your website visitors, including demographics, interests, geography, behavior, and technology usage. This information helps you understand who your visitors are and how to tailor your content or products to meet their needs.
Acquisition Reports: This feature shows how users arrive at your website, whether through organic search, paid ads, social media, or other channels. This information enables you to evaluate the effectiveness of your marketing efforts and identify which channels are driving the most traffic.
Behavior Reports: Behavior reports provide information on how users interact with your website, including which pages they visit, how long they stay, and the actions they take. This information helps in identifying popular content, optimizing user experience, and improving site structure.
Tips to Improve SEO
To truly enhance your SEO, it's essential to go beyond the basics and understand how search engines evaluate websites. Key factors like the relevance and quality of your content, the structure of your site, and the quantity and quality of backlinks all contribute to how search engines rank your site. Building on this foundation, here are three new, actionable tips to further improve your website's SEO with a detailed explanation of why they are critical.
Improve Page Load Speed: Search engines prioritize user experience, and one of the most important factors is how quickly your website loads. A fast-loading site not only keeps visitors on the page longer (reducing bounce rates), but search engines like Google favor sites with better load times, which can result in higher rankings. Optimize your site’s speed by compressing images, leveraging browser caching, and reducing unnecessary code. By improving page load speed, you enhance both user experience and search engine performance.
Use Structured Data Markup: Implementing structured data (also known as schema markup) helps search engines better understand your website's content. This can result in rich snippets, which are enhanced search results that often feature images, reviews, or additional information. Rich snippets improve your click-through rate (CTR) by making your listing more attractive and informative, which in turn sends positive signals to search engines that your page is relevant and engaging. Adding schema for products, services, or articles can greatly improve your visibility in search results.
Focus on Mobile Optimization: With the majority of web traffic now coming from mobile devices, optimizing your site for mobile users is no longer optional. Google uses mobile-first indexing, meaning it primarily uses the mobile version of your site for indexing and ranking. Ensuring that your website is responsive, loads quickly on mobile devices, and has a user-friendly design will improve your SEO performance. A well-optimized mobile site boosts user experience, increases engagement, and is crucial for ranking higher on mobile search results.
By implementing these advanced SEO tactics, you'll not only enhance your site’s ranking potential but also provide a better experience for your audience, which ultimately leads to greater traffic and higher conversions.
Tips to Improve User Engagement
User engagement is a critical component of SEO for small businesses. If you want to boost your website's ranking, you'll need to make sure that users are interacting with it in a way that Google can track. Here are some ways you can do this:
Create a user-friendly website. The first step toward improving user engagement on your site is making sure it's easy for people to find what they're looking for and use the site's features effectively. Look at competitors' websites--what do they do well? How could yours be better?
Use visuals to engage users. Visuals like photos and graphics give readers something interesting to look at while they're browsing through content on their screens (and make pages load faster). They also make text more readable by breaking up blocks of text into smaller chunks, which makes them easier for people with dyslexia or other reading disabilities who may struggle with long blocks of text.* Use interactive elements like videos or polls so visitors feel like they're participating in an online community rather than just reading passively from one screen.*
Free SEO Tips
There are a few basic SEO tips that every small business can implement to help with their search engine rankings. These include:
Optimizing website content. The more relevant and useful your site is, the higher it will rank in search results. This means making sure you have fresh, original content on your site that answers users' questions and provides them with value (such as helpful tips or advice).
Using keywords in the URL. Each page on your website should have its own unique URL (or web address), which includes one or more keywords related to that page's topic or theme--for example, https://www.examplewebsite.com/seo-tips/. This helps Google understand what each page of your site is about so they can place it appropriately within their index when someone searches for those terms online!
Paid SEO Strategies
Paid search engine optimization is a strategy that involves paying to have your website appear higher in search results. Paid search engine optimization can be done through Google AdWords, Bing Ads and other platforms.
Paid search engine optimization has benefits for small businesses because it allows you to focus on getting your website seen by people who are already looking for what you offer. You don't have to worry about attracting new customers through organic traffic because they're already there!
However, like all forms of advertising, paid search engine optimization requires an investment in time and money before seeing any results. If this sounds like something that might work well for your business but feels overwhelming at first glance (or even second), don't worry. We've got some advice in our next blog post on how to implement paid SEO strategies without breaking the bank.
So as you can see, SEO is a critical part of any small business's marketing plan. It can be used to drive traffic, generate leads, and increase sales. The tips and tools provided in this guide will help you get started with SEO for your small business website so that you can get results as quickly as possible.
If you have any questions about how to use these techniques or lack the time to implement these changes and strategies, feel free to contact The Wilder Shoppe immediately! We would love to hear from you!
