If you’re a small business owner, you know how important it is to stay competitive in today’s digital landscape. One key way to do this is through search engine optimization or SEO. SEO is optimizing your website to rank higher in search engine results pages, ultimately driving more traffic and leads to your business.
In this blog, we’ll cover the top SEO techniques that every small business should use in the coming year and how hiring SEO services can benefit them. From on-page optimization to link building, we’ll provide actionable tips and best practices to help your small business stand out in the crowded online marketplace. We’ll also delve into the latest SEO trends and technologies, so you can stay ahead of the game and give your small business the competitive edge it needs to succeed.
Whether you’re just starting or looking to fine-tune your current SEO strategy, this blog is for you. We hope that by the end of it, you’ll have a clear understanding of the most effective SEO techniques to use in 2023 and beyond.
Nail Down Technical SEO
Technical SEO is a crucial aspect of an overall SEO strategy for small businesses. It involves optimizing the technical elements of search engine results pages. By nailing down technical SEO, small businesses can ensure that their website is easily accessible and crawlable by search engines, leading to higher visibility and more traffic.
There are several key elements to consider regarding technical SEO for small businesses. These include website speed and performance, mobile-friendliness, and the use of structured data and meta tags.
Ensuring that a website loads quickly and is optimized for mobile devices is essential in today’s digital landscape, as more and more people are using their phones and tablets to search for products and services. Structured data and meta tags help search engines understand a website’s content, making it easier for them to properly index and rank it.
Another important aspect of technical SEO is using 301 redirects and proper URL structure. This helps to ensure that users and search engines can easily navigate a website and access the content they are looking for. It also helps eliminate duplicate content, which can negatively impact a website’s ranking.
A few other technical aspects that small businesses should look into are the following:
1. Create A Sitemap And Submit It To Google
A sitemap is a map of the pages on a website that helps search engines understand the structure and content of the site. By submitting a sitemap to Google, small businesses can ensure that all of the pages on their website are indexed and properly ranked. This can be especially important for small businesses with websites with many pages, as it can be difficult for search engines to find and crawl all of the content without a sitemap.
In addition to helping search engines understand a website’s structure, a sitemap can also help small businesses rank better by providing a clear hierarchy of the content on their website. This can make it easier for search engines to understand the relevance and importance of each page, which can ultimately lead to better rankings.
2. Fix Broken And Old Links
Broken links can harm a website’s ranking in search results. When search engines crawl a website and encounter broken links, they may view it as low-quality or poorly maintained. This can lead to lower rankings and less visibility in search results. Small businesses can improve their website’s quality by fixing broken links, ultimately leading to better rankings.
In addition to improving the quality of a website, fixing broken links can help improve the website’s crawlability. When search engines crawl a website, they follow links to discover new pages and content. If a website has a lot of broken links, it can be difficult for search engines to fully crawl and index the site, which can negatively impact its ranking. By fixing broken links, small businesses can ensure that search engines can easily crawl and index all of the pages on their website, leading to better rankings and more visibility in search results.
Fixing old links can also help improve the user experience of their website. When users click on a link and encounter a 404 error, it can be frustrating and lead to a poor overall experience on the site. By fixing old links, small businesses can ensure that users can easily access the content they are looking for, leading to a better user experience.
If you’re unsure how to fix that, consider hiring an SEO service. The SEO experts can help you get ahead of the game.
3. Optimize Images
Optimizing images can help improve the loading speed of a website. A website with large, unoptimized images can take longer to load, negatively impacting its ranking in search results. By optimizing images, small businesses can ensure that their website loads quickly, leading to better rankings.
In addition, optimizing images can also help small businesses rank better by improving the crawlability of their website. Search engines rely on image alt tags and file names to understand the content of an image and how it relates to the rest of the website. By optimizing images with descriptive alt tags and file names, small businesses can help search engines understand the content of their site, leading to more visibility in search results.
Find Search Trends
Finding search trends is an effective SEO strategy because it allows you to understand what people search for on the internet. By staying up-to-date on the latest search trends, you can optimize your website’s content and keywords to match better what people are looking for, increasing your website’s visibility in search engine results.
For example, suppose you own a clothing store and notice that “sustainable fashion” is a growing search trend. In that case, you might consider updating your website to include more information about your sustainably-produced clothing and using related keywords in your content and meta tags. This can help your website rank higher for those specific search terms, leading to more traffic and potential customers.
Another benefit of staying well-informed about search trends is that it can help you anticipate shifts in consumer demand and tailor your marketing efforts accordingly. For example, if you notice a sudden increase in searches for a particular product or service, you can quickly respond by creating content that addresses that demand or offering promotions on related products.
There are various tools and resources available to help you identify search trends. Google Trends is a popular option that allows you to see how often certain search terms are being used over time and compare the popularity of multiple search terms. You can also use social media platforms and industry-specific forums to see what topics and keywords are being discussed among your target audience.
Plan Your Content Accordingly
Planning your website content thoroughly is another SEO strategy that’ll be effective for your business in the long run. It allows you to create high-quality, relevant content that is more likely to rank well in search engine results. When creating content for your website, it’s important to consider what your target audience is looking for and use keywords relevant to your business and industry. By creating valuable, informative content that meets the needs of your audience, you can improve your website’s visibility and attract more visitors.
In addition, hiring an SEO service can help plan your website content because they have the knowledge and expertise to identify the most effective keywords and topics to focus on. They can also help you create a content plan tailored to your business goals and target audience. An SEO service can help you optimize your website’s content for search engines, ensuring that it is properly formatted and includes the right tags and metadata.
Optimize Your On-Page SEO
On-page SEO refers to earning more relevant traffic in search engines and optimizing individual web pages to rank higher. It involves optimizing the content and HTML source code of a page. Here are some tips to optimize your on-page SEO:
1. Use Keyword-Rich Titles And Headings
The title and heading tags (H1, H2, etc.) are some of the most important on-page SEO elements. They help search engines understand the main topics and subtopics of your content, and they also give a first impression to users about what they can expect from your page. Include your target keyword in the title tag and use heading tags appropriately to structure the content.
2. Optimize Videos
Including videos in your content can make it more engaging and visually appealing. However, search engines can’t read or understand the content of videos. To ensure they are properly indexed, you should provide transcriptions and captions for videos.
3. Use Internal And External Links
Internal links are links that point to other pages within the same website, while external links are links that point to a different website. Both types of links can be useful for SEO. Internal links can help users and search engines navigate your website, while external links can improve the credibility and authority of your website. However, it’s important to use these links appropriately and not overdo them, as too many can be seen as spammy.
4. Use Meta Descriptions And Tags
Meta descriptions and tags (such as the meta keywords tag) are pieces of HTML code that provide information about a web page. Search engines do not directly use them for ranking, but they can influence how your pages are displayed in the search results.
Make sure to include a unique and descriptive meta description for each page, and use relevant tags to help search engines comprehend the text available on your page.
Focus On Your Unique Offers
Focusing on your unique offers helps you stand out from the competition. It can be a major differentiator for you if you offer something unique that’s not readily available on other websites. This can make your website more attractive to potential customers and make people more likely to link to it.
Additionally, this will allow you to target keywords that may not be as competitive. This can make it easier for your website to rank for those keywords, as there will be less competition.
By focusing on your unique offerings, you’re more likely to create high-quality, relevant content for your website. This is a key factor in search engine rankings, as search engines want to provide their users with the most relevant results. By creating content closely aligned with your unique offerings, you can demonstrate to search engines that your website is a valuable resource for users.
Keep URLs Simple And Organized
simple URLs are easier for users to remember and share, which can lead to more traffic for your website. If a user has a memorable and easy-to-type URL, they are more likely to return to your website in the future and share it with others. This can help increase the credibility and visibility of your website.
Having organized URLs can also improve the user experience on your website. If a user can easily understand and navigate the URL structure of your website, they are more likely to have a positive experience and spend more time on your website. This can lead to increased user engagement and higher conversion rates.
In addition, simple URLs are easier for search engines to crawl and index, which can improve your rankings. Search engines use algorithms to discover and rank websites, and a simple URL structure can make it easier for them to understand the content and hierarchy of your website. This can lead to better indexing and ranking of your website’s pages.
Create Evergreen Content
Evergreen content remains relevant and useful over time rather than being tied to a specific trend or event. This means that it will continue to drive traffic and engagement to your website long after it is published. For example, an article about how to start a small business would be considered evergreen content, as the information it provides will be useful to readers for a long time. This contrasts content tied to a specific event or trend, which may only be relevant for a short period.
By creating evergreen content, you can attract a steady stream of traffic to your website and establish your business as a reliable and authoritative source of information.
In addition, creating evergreen content can also help build trust with your audience. By providing valuable and relevant information over a long period, you can establish yourself as a trusted source of information in your industry and establish a loyal following. If you’ve run out of content to create for your website, consider hiring SEO services. The SEO experts are always up-to-date with the search intent, which will benefit you.
Create A Google My Business Account
Opening a Google My Business (GMB) account is another important step in an effective SEO strategy for small businesses. By claiming and verifying your business on GMB, you can ensure that the information about your business is accurate and up-to-date. This includes:
- Your business name
- Address
- Phone number
- Hours of operation
- Services you offer
This information readily available to consumers can help to increase the chances of them visiting your physical location or contacting you for more information.
In addition to providing accurate information to potential customers, a GMB account can also help to improve your business’s local SEO. When you list your business on GMB, you can add relevant categories, descriptions, and photos to give users a better understanding of your business. Google uses this information to understand the context of your business and show it to users searching for relevant products or services.
While it is possible to set up and manage a GMB account on your own, hiring an SEO service can be beneficial in ensuring that the process is done correctly and effectively. SEO professionals have the knowledge and experience to optimize your GMB listing for maximum visibility and ensure that all the information on the listing is accurate and up-to-date.
In addition to setting up and optimizing your GMB account, SEO services can also help with other aspects of your SEO strategy, such as keyword research, on-page optimization, and link building. These efforts can help drive more organic traffic to your website and ultimately increase your chances of converting visitors into customers.
Enable And Respond To Comments
Enabling comments and reviews on your business website can be a useful way to gather customer feedback and improve the user experience. By allowing users to leave comments and reviews, you can gain valuable insights into what people like and dislike about your products or services.
To enable comments and reviews on your website, you may need to use a plugin or add a review system to your website. If you’re having trouble with that, it might be time to hire SEO services.
Once you have a system in place, it’s important to regularly check and respond to any comments or reviews that users leave. Responding to comments and reviews can show that you value customer feedback and are willing to address any issues or concerns that they may have.
Establishing guidelines for commenting and reviewing your website is also a good idea. This can help to prevent inappropriate or spammy comments from being posted.
Guest article written by: John K. is an SEO specialist at Search Berg. With over five years of experience in the industry, John has a wealth of knowledge in all things SEO. He’s passionate about helping small businesses improve their online presence and drive more organic traffic to their websites. In his free time, John enjoys staying up-to-date on the latest SEO trends and techniques and spending time with his family.