In the last 10 years, Google has reigned supreme among internet search engines. As such, it’s become imperative that small businesses focus on search engine optimization, or SEO. With the prevalence of smartphones and other mobile devices, making sure your business is visible on the front page of search engines is a key to small business success. The front page of search engines is highly competitive and difficult to reach, so make sure you’re following best practices with these small business SEO Tips.
Small Business SEO TIP 1: Google My Business and NAP Consistency are Key
The first and most important small business SEO tip is to ensure that you have a verified Google My Business (GMB) listing. To do this, you need to register your business name, address, and phone number (NAP), at which point Google will send you a postcard with a verification code. To increase your chances of ranking, ensure that your NAP info is consistent on your GMB and on your website, as well as on any other websites or services you may use for your business (Yelp and Facebook, for instance). This lets Google know more about where you’re physically located, and the fact that you’re a verified business will give you a better chance of ranking in your local area when people search for your services.
Small Business SEO Tip 2: Reviews and Reputation Management
When your GMB is up, you’ll be provided with a built-in review platform in Google Reviews. You’ll want to encourage all customers who have a positive experience to leave a good review. Some customers, however, will inevitably leave negative reviews. It’s important to stay on top of negative reviews and respond to them in a timely and professional manner. Doing so can help to increase the star rating for otherwise negative reviews. Google will use the strength and consistency of your reviews as a local ranking factor, so this is not an area that you want to neglect. Reviews also serve as an extension of your brand, as potential customers will always look to experiences that past customers have had during their decision-making process.
Small Business SEO Tip 3: Optimize the Content on Your Website
In addition to making sure your Google My Business profile is in order, you’ll want to make sure that you’ve got a fully optimized website. There are a lot of smaller tips within this, but ultimately, you want to ensure that you’re employing a good keyword strategy and ranking well for the services that your potential customers are searching for. Make sure all of your main service pages are linked in the main navigation on your website, that the site is easily navigable and the structure is easy for Google to crawl. This is where small business SEO gets difficult, as most business operators are not web developers or SEO professionals. Though it may not seem difficult to learn the basics from reading a few articles, there are a lot of factors that go into successful SEO, including the crawlability of your site, your keyword research strategy, and your content production strategy.
When In Doubt, Hire an SEO Professional
While it’s possible to run SEO efforts on your own, it’s difficult to become an SEO expert in your own right when you’re focused on running your business. If you have questions about how to achieve higher rankings, earn more traffic, and drive more business from your website, the experts at Dreamscape can help! Call 888.307.7304 for more in-depth small business SEO tips today.
