There are billions of live websites on the internet right now. That means that, as a small business owner, you have to know a lot about SEO if you want your business and your website to get noticed.
The good news? We’ve got you covered!
In this article, we’ll give you 13 SEO tips for small businesses. That way you can make sure that your business, and your business’s website, are both very easy to find on popular search engines like Google.
1. Don’t Expect Instant Results
We get it. You want to improve your SEO results and you want to do so as fast as possible. And while it’s possible to make some SEO changes in a few hours, getting noticeable results that fast isn’t going to happen.
Our advice? Be prepared to wait anywhere from a few weeks to a few months to see a noticeable difference in your SEO results. Ranking on search engines isn’t easy, especially at first, which is why we recommend you temper expectations early on.
2. Research Current SEO Trends
Of course, if you want to improve your SEO strategy, you need to stay up to date with the latest SEO trends to do so. By reading this article, you’re already checking this box, which of course is a good thing.
But if you want to sustain success, you need to always be on the lookout for new SEO tips and tricks. So, don’t ever stop researching SEO strategies, and stay aggressive, so you can keep those top rankings once you get them.
3. Invest Time and Money Into SEO
To piggyback off of that last point, if you want to get big-time SEO results, you need to be prepared to spend time and money on SEO. You don’t have to break the bank to get positive results, but investing hours of hard work, and a few bucks, is necessary to find success.
The good news? SEO is most likely something that you can do yourself in-house. And if you do need the help of an expert (more on that later), hiring an SEO specialist is affordable, which is a huge plus.
4. Focus on Local SEO
If you own a small business, odds are you’re looking to get attention online from customers in your area. If that’s the case for you, you need to make sure that you spend most of your efforts improving your local SEO strategy.
Not sure where to get started with local SEO? Go ahead and get listed on Google My Business, if you haven’t done so already, first. That way customers can find you more easily on Google, and even leave reviews for your business, two things that will improve your local SEO.
Also, make sure that you encourage customers to leave those reviews for your business on Google. Search engines like Google love them, and the more that you have, the higher that your business will rank.
5. Create a Good UX
Have a website? Want to get your website to rank higher on search engines? If so, your main focus should be on improving your site’s user experience, or UX.
After all, search engines only want to redirect users to websites that provide credible information and a positive UX. If your website checks both of those boxes, you give yourself a better chance of ranking high for those important keywords.
6. Get Active on Social Media
There are few things that you can do away from your website to improve your SEO strategy. Being active on a few social media platforms, in particular, can have a noticeable positive effect.
Our advice? Pick the three most popular social media platforms in your niche and focus on those three platforms only. That way you can not only improve your SEO but also give yourself a chance to find success using social media marketing.
Not sure which social media platforms are the most popular three in your niche? Simply do some research on the biggest competitors in your niche for answers. Whichever sites they have the most followers and engagement on are the sites you need to invest in.
7. Do Plenty of Keyword Research
If you’re creating content for your website, perhaps for a blog, you need to know a lot about keyword research to rank highly on search engines. This is especially true if you have a newer website or are operating within a competitive niche.
The good news? Keyword research isn’t all that hard. All you need to do is use a keyword research tool and look for keywords with a high search volume and a low competition ranking.
Once you have a few keywords, create awesome and credible content around them. Pretty simple, right?
8. Have a Simple URL Structure
Another big tip for improving your SEO strategy for your website has to do with URL structure. Because picking the wrong URL structure can make it harder to rank for those keywords we just mentioned, which of course isn’t a good thing.
A pro tip? Let the title of your article, page, or post be your URL structure. Separate each word with a dash, but other than that, make no changes to your URL.
That way you can make sure that your keyword, which should be in your title, is also in your URL.
9. Master Internal Linking
We’ll be honest. Backlinks from other websites are one of the biggest keys to improving your SEO strategy. But since you can’t control those, we’ve decided to spend more time talking about internal linking instead.
Not only can internal links help you drive users to other content on your site, but search engines like it when you have them, too. On top of that, it can be something that you use to create your content around, which can be helpful, especially for blog owners.
Internal links to your own content aren’t the only internal links you need to have, either. Linking to a few other credible, relevant websites is always a good idea, as again, search engines will take notice.
10. Study Your Analytics Often
No matter what kind of website you have, your analytics should be driving all of your SEO decisions. After all, numbers don’t lie, and that information is the key to determining what works for your site and what doesn’t.
So, be sure to use your analytics when brainstorming for keyword ideas. Give your audience more of what they want, and less of what they don’t, so you can grow your site faster.
11. Focus on Mobile Users
Did you know that over 50{57b8cc37fd24bce1cf64c8b05d9407ce9171516056c1f5e762677747187a0de4} of all web traffic comes from mobile users? That’s a number that is only going to rise over the next 5 years, which is why mobile users are so important to your SEO strategy.
Simply put, your entire website, and even local SEO strategy, should be all about mobile users. Because making sure that you’re mobile-friendly is essentially future-proofing your business.
At this point, investing in the help of an SEO expert may be worth considering. That way you can make sure that your website, and your SEO strategy, are built from the ground up with mobile users in mind.
12. Use Google Webmaster Tools
It goes without saying, but Google is one of the biggest and most popular search engines in the world. They also offer website owners and small business owners tons of free-to-use tools to help them rank on their search engines.
We’ve already talked about Google My Business. But for website owners, Google Webmaster Tools is another must-have tool in your toolbox.
Within Webmaster Tools, you’ll have access to tons of things that you can use to make your website more SEO-friendly.
13. Listen to Valuable Feedback
We talked a lot about analytics earlier. And while that is the most valuable form of feedback, there are other forms of feedback that are worth paying attention to as well.
Direct comments from users, in particular, are important. After all, they can help you improve your UX, which again, is super important for your website’s SEO.
Also, don’t be afraid to listen to SEO experts. They know what you need to do to reach your biggest goals, which is why investing in the help of a professional can be a game-changer for small businesses.
Need an SEO company? Not sure who to call? This Go Florida SEO company is more than worth investing in, as they’ve got all the experience needed to help you get to where you want to be.
13 SEO Tips for Small Businesses
As you can see, a lot goes into knowing the latest SEO tips for small businesses. With that being said, if you use this guide, and continue to research the topic, you should be able to create and maintain an effective SEO strategy over time.
Looking for more SEO tips and tricks? Check back with our blog often for tons of useful ideas and concepts.
