It seems as though every year, SEO gets a little bit more complex as Google continues to change the rules with algorithm updates. This can be particularly frustrating for smaller businesses who don’t have the budget or time to stay current in a constantly evolving industry.
If you’re concerned about using SEO practices to improve the success opportunities for your small business, then all you need are a few SEO tips from Corey at Clickburst in the Adelaide Hills to help get you started and ensure you earn more business through organic search rankings.
1. On-Site Isn’t Enough
The first thing for small businesses to understand is that onsite SEO isn’t enough. Site structure and title tags are important, but it’s not sufficient by itself. Rather than wasting all of your time and money on load times and other on-site elements, simply hire someone to tune up your website and then move onto other SEO strategies.
2. Content is Crucial
Your website must have engaging content if you expect people to read whatever you have to say. The importance of great copy is crucial. Not only does it improve SEO (by increasing keywords and linkbacks) but it also upgrades the amount of time users spend on your site. Content can also improve trust and loyalty towards your brand by giving your customers something of value.
3. Earn Backlinks
A lot of modern businesses know that they need backlinks to rank well online. However, they have no idea where to get those backlinks from. The best option is to earn your links from content marketing. If you create something valuable and share it across a range of platforms, you’ll find yourself in a great position to start gathering links from other websites that want to share your content for you.
4. Build a Community
Great businesses have more than just fans, they have a community. In other words, when you’re developing your SEO efforts online, don’t just focus on one platform. Think about how you can cross-promote your website across social media, blogs, videos, and newsletters, to provide a more enriched community of audience members.
5. Remember to Experiment
Although blogging is a fantastic way to improve your SEO ranking and get more interest from your target market, remember that it’s not the only way to boost your position with content. There are countless forms of content out there, from eBooks, to whitepapers, videos, to infographics, and more. Your aim should be to find whatever appeals most to your audience and work from there.
6. Stay Updated
The strategies for SEO are constantly changing as Google and other search engines discover new ways of providing more relevant results for audience members. Since changing algorithms can sometimes mean that old methods of SEO become more dangerous, it’s important to stay up to date to ensure you’re not anything that could damage your ranking. For instance, keyword stuffing might have been effective in the past, whereas today, it’s a sure-fire way to get penalised by Google.
7. Keep Testing your Results
Finally, it’s no secret that small business owners are often very busy, but that’s no excuse for not knowing anything about your content strategy. It’s important to make sure that you’re constantly evaluating and updating your SEO efforts if you want to get the right results. Check your SEO goals, and follow up with the metrics that will help you to pinpoint whether you’re achieving your key outcomes.