4 SEO Tips for Small Businesses
Every small business must take the necessary steps to secure a prominent place in the search engine results pages. Fortunately, there are a variety of marketing tactics to help your brand establish a place in the search results. Check out our four local SEO tips for small businesses.
- Successfully Optimize Your Website
Your website is your business’s most valuable asset online, which is why it must be successfully optimized to boost your presence in the likes of Google and Bing. There are a variety of tactics you can embark on to increase your ranking. For example, the first thing you could do is create a domain name that promotes both your business and your location, so Gill’s beauty salon in NYC could use the domain “gillsbeautynyc.com”.
It’s also essential to add keywords into your web page titles, which should reflect your brand, services and location. Also, try to incorporate relevant information about your local area within your content, which will associate your company with a vicinity.
- Business Listings on Local Websites
Improve your local SEO by adding your business information on many third-party listing sites. The search engines will crawl the listing sites to gain a greater understanding of local websites, so they can easily identify your business and address. If your website is not listed, it may affect your place in the local search results, as other companies will rank higher in Google and Bing. Add your company to various leading local business websites, such as Facebook, Yelp and Yellowbook.
- Create an Effective Link Strategy
A strong link building campaign can dramatically improve your company’s SEO visibility, as it can increase your online credibility and trust. You must therefore link to relevant websites, and encourage other relevant sites to link back to you.
We therefore recommend sharing your links across social media, whilst encouraging people to pass along the information to their followers. You should also feature web links in your email marketing newsletters to drive web traffic. Another effective link building tactic is to sponsor or host a local event, whilst encouraging the organizations to link back to your site on their website or when promoting the event online. If in doubt, discuss a link building strategy with a local SEO company.
- Encourage Online Reviews
Want to naturally boost your brand’s exposure in the local search results? Try to encourage users to write online reviews about your brand. Send a past customer an email, leave a flyer at the checkout area or advertise online reviews on your website, which should encourage people to share their opinion and rate your services. The more positive reviews you receive online, the higher you will appear in the search engines and on the local review websites.
Don’t forget to respond to any negative reviews, stating you appreciate their feedback and provide a contact number for them to resolve a problem. Also, thank all users who took the time to write a positive review about your company.
