Search Engine Optimization (SEO) has become a crucial element in a small business’s digital marketing plan. A solid SEO strategy can provide numerous benefits, including higher rankings in Search Engine Results Pages (SERPs), increased website traffic, building brand awareness and outshining your competitors within your industry.
In a recent MarketingBitz webinar, Lance Bachmann, President and CEO of 1SEO, discussed five SEO best practices for small businesses and the benefits that each will provide. Here are the tactics mentioned:
1. Google My Business (GMB)
GMB pages are where small businesses get seen by potential customers following a Google search. They are an extension of your website and should be fully optimized with accurate business information, including quality images, contact information and product and service offerings.
2. Link Building
Link building, or ‘earning,’ means gaining links to your website content from reputable outside sources. To do this, small businesses must produce quality, shareable content with keyword-centric anchor text. This practice helps improve your reputation as a reputable source within your industry, as it is one of the number one ranking factors.
3. On-Page Optimization
This tactic involves optimizing web pages to perform for targeted keywords by creating relevant title tags and meta descriptions. Optimizing is crucial for Google’s algorithms and ensuring visibility of your small business, as it alerts search engines to what keywords and phrases your businesses should be found for.
4. Claiming and Verifying Listings
It’s important for small businesses to find and verify all online listings (Google, Yelp, Facebook, etc.). This will ensure that all of your contact information is accurate, which can subsequently help improve your search engine rankings. Remember, if you don’t verify a listing, you don’t own it.
5. Online Reviews and Ratings
Online reviews impact over 67% of purchasing decisions, so obtaining positive online reviews can only help your business. Simply asking for reviews or sending out a survey following a purchase can go along way with customers.
