SEO optimization is a great tool for small businesses to increase their online presence. However, with online advertising changing daily, small businesses face many challenges when trying to increase their online exposure. In order for your business to rise to the top, you need to know what factors lead to successful SEO.
Small biz SEOHere are the five most important factors for small business SEO:
1. Clear Project Goals and Keyword Selection
A business owner must have clearly written small business SEO goals. These may include lead generation, brand awareness, direct sales, and keyword selection. These goals help the business owner generate suitable keywords or key phrases that the intended audience will be searching for. For example, “cheap health insurance” would be great for generating direct sales while “health insurance companies” may be too broad, but better suited for brand awareness.
2. Traffic Behavior and Conversion
After creating a keyword database, the next step is to identify the best place to get the desired traffic. Pay per click campaigns is a great place to start, however, this method is expensive for small business SEO. Other sources could be social media and Web 2.0’s. The next step in small business SEO is to keep your users interested and convert them into a sale or lead. For example if a visitor is looking for “fur coats” ensure they land on your ‘fur coat’ page and stay on it.
3. Traffic Profiling and Retention
The best time to retain a customer in small business SEO is the first time they visit your site. This means having a very appealing website. Free offers, introductory videos, industry news updates are great tools for keeping visitors on your site.
4. Adding Relevant and Informative Content
Your website should feature relevant content based around the keywords and key phrases that your target market will be searching for. When the content is high quality and informative, Google identifies the site as an ‘authority site’ and it will be ranked higher in the search engine results page (SERP).
5. Targeting Local Searches
Google Adwords helps uncover keywords frequently searched within a specific area. For example, “plumbers in San Francisco” is the perfect keyword for a plumbing business in San Francisco. If you are a small business owner, then understanding small business SEO is crucial for your success online. Master these five factors and you are sure to succeed.