If you have got a small business up and running, or will have shortly, and your business thrives on its customers, then you need to be getting more and more of them to succeed, meet targets, and grow. If you’re not particularly tech-savvy, you may have overlooked the potential that online marketing and increasing your search engine optimization (SEO) can do for your business. A lot of your customers are going to be online looking for new products or answers to questions, and if your products or website fit the bill, then you want to make sure that you are being found.
For starters, using keywords is going to be the start of your SEO journey. Many small business make the mistakes of not using relevant keywords, but for the best impact, they need to be directly relevant to your business. Otherwise, people may find your site, see that it isn’t actually what they thought, and then click away. Start with around five keywords that are relevant, and then you are likely to start seeing some results, especially if you are starting off with a small budget.
With the keywords should be pages of content. Which is why have part of your website be a blog is a really good idea. Make sure the content is relevant to the keywords, as well as relevant to your business. Make the content engaging and informative; the kind of content that people would be searching for to read online. You can keep posts going as and when, to make sure that you are always staying relevant; search engines love new content. But for people to keep coming back for more, the content needs to be of good quality. So don’t just churn it out for the sake of it; make sure that it is relevant, written well, and achieves something. With that in mind, it is important to focus on backlinks to your website. Link to previous content on each post each time you write one. It is a small win that can make a difference.
Does this all sound a little overwhelming? It can certainly feel that way when you’re new to business and new to SEO. The good news is that there are plenty of help guides online, from using keywords well and adding them in URLs, to PPC tips for small business and so on. It is worth taking the time to read up on it, though, as it can have an impact on the success of your business; there is only so much that you can do by word of mouth.
Don’t feel like you have to do it all at once. But taking it a few steps at a time can be a good way to go. Make it part of your business and marketing plan. Collaborate with others, share backlinks, and work with influencers in your industry. Be patient too; it does take time. But as long as you’re doing something on it each week, it won’t be long until you notice a difference.