SEO doesn’t have to be complicated.
SEO basics for small businesses. Did you know that people rarely go beyond the first page of organic search results on Google and other search engines? In fact, people rarely look beyond the top rankings.
What does this mean for small businesses? This means that, if your website isn’t ranked on the first page, you won’t get the visibility you need. Fortunately, with SEO (search engine optimization), you can change that.
Search engine optimization has a reputation for being difficult or complicated, but it doesn’t have to be. In fact, knowing the basics is all it takes for your company to rank higher in the SERPs ( search engine results pages).
The basics of SEO
Keyword search
Before you start creating content or optimizing your site for search engines, you need to know which keywords you want to target. Keyword research helps determine which keywords your company should target, and it’s essential that you choose the right ones.
Not only will the keywords you choose have an impact on the volume of traffic to your website, they will also have an impact on the quality of that traffic. If someone finds your website because it’s ranked for an irrelevant keyword, they won’t stay there long. To get qualified organic traffic, you first need to find the right keywords to target.
Contents
The expression “content is king” has become a mantra in the world of SEO. In fact, regularly adding content to your website is the single most important thing you can do to ensure its ranking in the SERPs (search engine results pages).
Content creation can be a daunting task for many small business owners. But you should know that search engines don’t expect Pulitzer-Prize quality writing, and neither do your visitors.
As a business owner, you have a lot of knowledge to share about your industry and the products or services you offer! When developing a content marketing strategy, start by sharing some of these insights.
Whether you’re writing a how-to guide, a case study or giving your visitors a few tips and tricks, make sure you include relevant keywords. But be sure to do it naturally. If you force keywords into your text, you’ll look like a spammer and may even harm your organic ranking.
Links
When people link to your content, it becomes more valuable and ranks higher. Link building requires a little more effort on your part, because it’s not something you can do on your own. But it all starts with creating content that deserves to be linked to your site.
What makes content linkable?
- It’s useful-When you create content that is genuinely useful to your readers, they are more likely to link to it. How-to guides, explanations of concepts and tips are all excellent examples of the kind of useful content you can create.
- It’s original – If you create content that your readers can find anywhere, they won’t link to it. Use your knowledge of the sector and your experience to bring something new to the table.
- It’s entertaining- If you can create content that entertains your readers, you’re much more likely to get a link to that content.
