For so many small business owners creating a website is just a tick in the box when starting up your business. It’s there and it looks OK but it’s not really doing much for you. While having a website is essential, it’s also a massively important marketing tool which you need to be working hard for you and that’s where search engine optimisation or SEO comes in.
SEO is the process of optimising your website to rank higher on search engines like Google. When done effectively, it can help small businesses like yours to attract more visitors, generate more leads and increase sales. If you’re new to SEO, this beginners guide will walk you through the basics and give you some actionable steps to improve your website’s visibility.
The basics…
In simple terms, SEO is about improving your website’s visibility in organic (non-paid) search results. When someone types a search query related to your business, you want your website to appear as close to the top of the search results as possible. Higher rankings mean more traffic, which can translate to more customers.
For small businesses in competitive industries, SEO is especially important because it levels the playing field. You might not have the same advertising budget as larger companies, but by optimising your website, you can still compete with them for online visibility.
Start with doing your research…
The foundation of any SEO strategy is keyword research. Keywords are the phrases and terms people enter into search engines. For example, if you own a bakery, the keywords might include “best bakery in [your town]” or “buy cupcakes online.”
To find the right keywords for your business, you just need to put yourself in your customers’ shoes. What would they search for if they were looking for your products or services?
Once you’ve identified your keywords the key is then to incorporate them naturally into your website’s content. There are a couple of key areas where you want to include your keywords and these are:
- Page titles
- Headings
- Meta descriptions (which is that two or three sentence descriptions of what is on a page which shows up on search engines.)
- Image Alt Text (this is also hugely important for accessibility as well)
- Body content – the words on your site
Just be sure not to overdo it—this is known as keyword stuffing, and it can actually hurt your rankings.
Produce high-quality content
Back in the old days people would just have paragraphs of keywords at the bottom of a page but Google got wise to that one and it’s looking for quality not quantity.
Search engines prioritise websites that offer valuable and relevant content to users. A well-written, informative blog post or service page that answers users’ questions will rank higher than pages stuffed with keywords but lacking in substance.
This is one of the reasons why having a blog section on your website is really important. Here you can post regular, high-quality content which focuses upon your keywords, making it SEO-rich. For example, if you’re a personal trainer, you can write blog posts about fitness tips, healthy recipes or workout routines. This not only improves your SEO but also positions your business as an authority in your niche.
Optimise for mobile and speed
Another area which people frequently don’t give enough consideration to is mobile optimisation which means making sure that your website and content works on a phone not just a desktop computer. Google actually uses mobile-first indexing, meaning it predominantly uses the mobile version of a site’s content for ranking. If your website isn’t mobile-friendly, you could be losing out on significant traffic.
Website speed is another key ranking factor. A slow-loading website can frustrate users and cause them to leave, increasing your bounce rate and negatively impacting your rankings. Having loads of images or video on your site is visually great but if it’s slowing down the loading time then you’ll likely be losing visitors. If you’re not sure what your site speed is then tools like Google PageSpeed Insights can check your website’s speed and suggest ways to improve it.
Build backlinks
Backlinks are links to your website from other reputable websites and these really help boost your page ranking as they signal to search engines that your site is trustworthy and relevant. Building backlinks takes time, but you can start by reaching out to local directories, partners or other businesses and asking if they’d be willing to link to your website.
Keep monitoring to see what is working
As with everything to do with your website, this shouldn’t just be a once and done job, you need to keep optimising your site. We suggest regularly checking how your website is performing by using tools like Google Analytics and Google Search Console. These tools can help you see which keywords are driving traffic and where you might need to make improvements.
Hopefully this has shown you that SEO is not quite the minefield that you may have feared although it’s clear that it takes some time and effort to get it right. If that’s something you don’t have available right now then we can help you. Our Tech VA is an SEO whizz and can get your site optimised quickly and efficiently. Contact us today to find out more.