The Essential Guide to Small Business SEO

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Did you know that 68% of all online activities start by searching on sites like Google and Yelp? This means that people who are looking for your site are more likely to look on these search engines rather than looking directly at your website.

If you want to bring more visitors to your site, you have to make sure that your website pages rank higher on search engine results pages. The higher you rank, the more likely you are to bring more visitors and potential customers to your site.

To learn more about how to rank better in Google searches, keep reading.

What Is Small Business SEO?

SEO, or search engine optimization, is the list of techniques that you should be using to help your web pages rank higher on search engines like Google. The end goal is to grant more exposure for your website. 

No matter whether you have an online or offline business, you should create an SEO strategy. Even if you don't sell anything online, you need to help Google help searchers find you. The only way to help Google is by giving as much information as possible to that site and other search engines.

For offline businesses, you'll need to use what's referred to as local SEO. Local SEO is a list of strategies that helps searchers find businesses in their local area.

By including location-specific keywords, you can help search engines associate your business with particular cities and towns. Then, your business will come up when people are searching in these specific areas.

SEO Trends for Small Businesses

The best way to promote your business online is by following recent SEO trends. Search engines are constantly evolving and requiring more in terms of online content.

So, you have to give your all when it comes to producing quality information about your business online.

Keep in mind that search engines are doing everything they can to keep searchers happy. So, if you aren't providing quality information, Google isn't going to rank your website. If it wouldn't make their searchers happy, they aren't going to show it.

In order to keep up with changing expectations, we recommend that you follow these more recent SEO trends.

Build a Prominent Reputation

Sites that have a good reputation are more likely to rank higher on search engine results pages. Search engines want to send their searchers to reputable sites. So, they're looking to see whether other companies in your industry trust what you have to say.

The best way to improve your online reputation is through backlinking. To follow this method, you have to include both internal and external links on your content pages, especially your blog posts. 

Backlinking through other sites also helps with building your reputation. So, if other sites post external links to your website, search engines will see this as a nod to your prowess in the field. Thus, your website will build a more positive reputation.

If you haven't built enough of a reputation to get backlinks from other sites, start by building your content. As you build your website and post more, you'll naturally increase your reputation online. Plus, other sites will have more of a chance of running into your content online.

Building your online reputation is one of the hardest parts of improving your search engine ranking, but don't let it discourage you. It takes time to build a solid foundation.

Follow the Core Web Vitals

One of the most recent updates from Google is their core web vitals. While these vitals are technically more in-line with Google's search engine, they do apply loosely to other search engines. So, you should follow them regardless of your preference.

These core web vitals focus on giving higher rankings to websites that load faster. So, Google is looking for websites that load quickly without using a bunch of distracting pop-ups.

To follow these core web vitals, you should build a website that's simple and distraction-free. If minimalism isn't your brand, that's fine. However, you should be careful not to overcrowd your screen as it could negatively affect the loading time.

Another important consideration is mobile-friendly websites. Remember, Google wants to recommend websites that work for all kinds of searchers. Considering that 60% of online searches happen on mobile devices, you need to catch up and display a mobile-friendly website.

Mind Your Keywords

Arguably, keywords are the most important part of the SEO experience. Search engines are looking for these keywords when they're determining what kind of search pages to put your website under.

If you're an online business, your keywords should focus on products and/or services that pertain to your business.

If you're an offline business, you have to think about products, services, and location. So, you should add location-based keywords to your website whenever possible. In fact, your location should be listed on every single page.

Include Google My Business Optimization

Lastly, we want to cover Google My Business. This is an online platform that Google has created for offline businesses. If you have a brick-and-mortar store, you need to create and optimize your Google My Business page.

Your content on your Google My Business page determines where your store ranks for local keywords. When someone looks for businesses in your town, Google gives them a list of businesses nearby. This small list comes from a longer list of Google My Business owners.

The more detail you add to your profile, the more likely your business is to rank higher.

Small Business SEO in Ipswich, MA

If you're looking for affordable small business SEO services, look no further than Two Tall Global. Our team is filled with experts in small business digital marketing, and we want to help your business grow.

Whether you're online or offline, you need a solid search engine optimization plan if you're going to out-rank even the largest of businesses.

Get started today with a free SEO audit on us. After we discuss your current SEO plan, we can help you build a better one.