SEO is a key part of having a successful website for your small business. It helps ensure that your site is at the top of the search results when someone types in what your business does and is especially important for reaching customers in your local market.
This beginner’s guide to SEO walks you through the ins and outs of what it is, how to use it, and why it’s so important for your small business.
What is SEO?
SEO or search engine optimization is essentially adjusting everything from the copy to the alt text on photos to be more easily seen and coded by search engines. Search engines like Google scrape websites for keywords and phrases and then code them for those words and phrases. Websites that have coding that match words and phrases people are typing into search engines will come up in the search results.
The more keywords and phrases your website has that match, and the more useful your information is, the higher your website will rank in those results and the more likely people are to click on the link to your website.
They Key is Meaningful Content
It can be tempting to pack your website with keywords and key phrases but that won’t work with the current search engine coding and ranking systems. In addition to having the right keywords and phrases, the content also needs to be meaningful.
A lot of people type almost full questions into search engines now. In some cases, they even ask the question by using voice to text or Siri. You want to have the answers to those questions in your content.
For example, if you are a lawn care company you should have a website page or blog that answers the question “What kind of lawn care services are right for me?” or “When do I need to start mowing my grass in the summer?” Becoming the subject matter expert for people makes your company that much more valuable to search engines and can drive more customers to you.
Small Businesses Need SEO
Good SEO is important for businesses of all sizes and types including both e-commerce and brick and mortar businesses. You can convert leads, interact with your local marketplace, drive store traffic and more.
SEO is an essential piece to a small business’s online presence because without it, you are putting time and effort into content that goes nowhere. A website without SEO is like a needle in a haystack.
Your website also isn’t the only source of valuable SEO. Your customer-facing emails, online reviews, and social media accounts all contribute to your SEO.
Knowing Your Audience
If you want to do SEO the right way, you need to understand your audience. Keyword research will help you understand what people are searching, what the related searches are, and what the most valuable keywords and phrases are.
Good content with a good SEO strategy will ensure that people are landing from search engines on to your website; helping turn those searches into potential customers.
Building Your Brand
Good keywords are important but having good content for those keywords to live in and on is more important. You want to build the legitimacy of your brand by creating good and meaningful content that answers people’s search engine queries.
Establish yourself as a subject matter expert by creating blogs and landing pages that give people the information they are looking for. This allows them to see that you know what you are talking about and are invested in being a good business in the space establishing legitimacy.
This helps build brand awareness and start to capture customer loyalty.
Make It a Good User Experience
Search engine algorithms are always changing so they can deliver the best results to people. You need to stay on top of the changes and make sure that you are creating content to match with the changing algorithm.
While that can sometimes feel daunting, it can be a key part of pulling ahead of your competition.
Worried about keeping all this straight? Don’t worry. The experts at Simply Built are here to help. Contact us today to talk about all things websites, SEO, blogs and more.