Besides knowing it’s absolutely essential to your future stability and success, you probably also know just how broad and intimidating Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) can be. To help Small Business Owners just like you, we’ve decided to pull together a few must-dos for your very own campaign.
We’ve tried to keep everything as non-technical as possible, whilst also being realistic about the amount of resources (including your own time) you’re able to pour in.
Keep your content fresh
Although we’ve never seen one in the wild, our guess is that SEO algorithms eat fresh content for breakfast, lunch and dinner. If you’re guilty of getting a whole load of great content together during the launch of your Site, and then not uploading a thing since (and we know for a fact there are lots of you out there), you might want to see if you can hollow out a tiny bit of time to start doing so.
Fresh and recent content shows Search Engines that any visitors are going to be greeted with relevant, up-to-date information on your products and services. Additionally, once people start landing on your page and taking some to have a look at all the great stuff you’ve uploaded, Google and everybody else are going to notice just how long the average browser sticks around for, and how many pages they visit. This in turn can cause you to rank higher, as both are part Google’s quality score. It’s pretty easy to see how fresh content can really get you on a roll.
Be creative with your keywords and phrases
The phrases and key terms you’re attacking with your campaign go a long way to determining success further down the line. If you’ve gone too specific with your phrases, you run the risk of running an immaculate SEO campaign, and ranking in first position for a whole host of terms that nobody ever searches. On the other hand, go too broad, and you’re likely to start butting heads with a lot of battle-hardened campaigns.
As with everything in life, striking a healthy balance is key. Be realistic as to what a Small Business Owner like yourself can achieve, and build a plan accordingly. No, you don’t have the clout to go after trophy keyword like ‘men’s trainers’, think of all the time and money an organization like Nike has invested in that exact area. Try to marry up the uniqueness of your Business with what your future Customers are likely to be searching.
Build your links
Link building is becoming more and more integral to the success of an SEO campaign. A healthy repertoire of links from other Sites to yours shows Search Engines that you have trustworthy and legitimate content. Take Wikipedia as an example, and think about how high up the Search Engine Results it comes for almost anything you search. A large part of the reason for this is that Wikipedia is linked to by so many other Website around the world. Search Engines see this and take notice.
Don’t get lost in the technicalities
There’s no way you’re ever going to get to grips with everything and anything SEO related. As a Small Business Owner, you’ll probably need a fair bit of help to make sure that any Digital Marketing you’re running is actually serving your goals.
All that said, the 3 points above are some of the steps that just about anybody can take to lift the performance of their SEO. Focus on what you’re able to do, and don’t get bogged down in the messy world of backend development.