5 Steps for Improving Your Small Business SEO
The term SEO stands for Search Engine Optimization and, as the name suggests, is used to determining your ranking in search engines. According to Forbes, with evidence from Moz and Zero Limit Web, “the first page of Google captures 71% of search traffic clicks” so you want to be on that page. Furthermore, out of all those results, “the first five results receive 67.6% of clicks, whereas the remaining five just receive 3.73%.” Good SEO will provide free, quality, web traffic to your site and make a massive impact for any small business looking to get more customers.
1. Identify Keywords
When it comes to the Google ranking algorithm, keywords are important. Using the appropriate keywords throughout your posts will bump up your rank in Google over time. A good trick to discovering your perfect keywords is to think about what you might Google to find the kind of web page you’ve created. What keywords or phrases might someone associate with the topic you’re discussing? Are their different ways to phrase the question you are answering with your posts? You can also use Google Trends to see how much volume or demand there is for a certain key word / key phrase and compare multiple phrases so that you can choose the SEO target that gives you the best chance as ranking on a high-volume keyword.
Once you have your keywords you should then present them throughout your post in a natural way. Place the words in your headers and a few times throughout the body of your text. DO NOT try to incorporate the keywords in every other sentence though. Google can understand “keyword stuffing,” so try to write as naturally as possible.
Pro Tip: Don’t guess! Use your data! If you have Google Search Console and Google Analytics on your site, you have data that tells you which keywords and phrases to target. Use your analytics data for SEO keyword research.
2. Quality and Relevant Content
The longer you wait to update your content the more likely your site is to be outdated. Naturally, people aren’t interested in old news so they are likely to leave your site rather quickly if they see it has been left untouched. This abandonment would negatively impact the “dwell time” on your website which would bring your SEO ranking down. In order to capture your audience’s attention and maintain it, you should make an effort to improve your content and post often. According to this Quick Sprout article, “the average content length for a web page that ranks in the top 10 results for any keyword on Google has at least 2,000 words,” however, length isn’t always the key. While having detailed and informative content will increase your dwell time, content isn’t likely to be shared to others if it is incredibly long and boring. If you have a post that is 500 words but has all the information it needs to be understood, don’t be afraid to post it.
3. Use Links
If you are making certain claims within your posts it is important to have data from a trustworthy source to back it up. The best way to show where your information is coming from is to provide outbound links to other websites. If any information you are using comes from original content on your site, create an internal link. This will not only show your audience where the facts came from but it will lead to more views on the linked post as well.
4. Optimize Your Site For Mobile Devices
According to statements released by Google, more than 50% of Google searches now come from mobile devices. With this in mind, it is vital to have a site designed to be readable and easy to navigate through not only for desktops but for cell phones as well. If your site isn’t appealing on a mobile view people will be more likely to click away from it and never return.
5. Adjust Page Loading Speed
When was the last time you had to wait for something to load? If the wait was over a certain amount of time did it put you in a sour mood? Most likely, the answer is yes. Nowadays, people like things to be near instantaneous, so it is very important to make sure that your website is loading as quickly as possible. If the wait is too long you risk people losing interest in your site and clicking away before encountering any of your content. Some ways in which you can improve your loading speed is by optimizing your image sizes and by reducing the number of plugins being used.
Bonus Tip! How To Optimize Images
The best way to optimize your images, in regards to page loading speed, is to simply resize or compress them using a photo editing tool. For more tips on image optimization, I suggest checking out this article here.