You had a dream, you set out to make it happen, and a new business was born. The birth of your brainchild was one of the most significant moments of your life. You put in lots of hours, marketed your business, but recognition was slow in coming. A few years later, you’re still working hard to create a name for yourself in the industry. However, did you know that you can grow your business by simply getting ranked well by Google? With over 95% of people searching for local products and services online, getting high rankings is the dream of every website owner. So, stop focusing on the wrong things and grow your business with Google.
Use these SEO tips for small businesses to enjoy high rankings on Google.
Provide Great Content
As a small business, your greatest challenge may be finding capital to invest in online marketing. However, you can start small by providing great and relevant content on your website. Post on your blog regularly to keep visitors coming back and Google will become your friend. Within no time, you will start making ripples in the business waters. These days, Google is everything. If you are not on the first page, you barely exist. Only a handful of people go beyond the first page.
Optimize for Search Engines with Keywords
Google uses keywords to rank sites. The good news is that it ranks them not by their prominence in the business world but by how specific their content is. With the big corporations having taken up many of the generic keywords long before your business was born, you will need to select long tail keywords in order to gain a competitive edge. These keywords target niche demographics and not mass audiences. For example, if you have a Spa in Miami, your main keyword should be something like ‘Best Spa Treatments in Miami’.
The best keywords are in the minds of your target audience so put yourself in their shoes. Which words would they use to look for your business? Make use of keyword tools like Google Keyword Planner or Ubersuggest that will help you to identify the appropriate keywords. Once you have identified the keywords, use them sparingly. Google, in all its fairness, will rank web pages that are crammed with keywords poorly.
Use Title Tags, Meta Tags, and Alt Tags
There are other criteria that Google uses to rank sites. These include title tags, meta tags, and alt tags. The title tag is usually displayed on the search engine results page in bold. It is the first thing that will draw people as it describes what they will find on the page. The meta tag is a short description depicting the content while the alt tag describes the image on the page. Make your meta tag as specific as possible as it is what people will see beneath the title on search engines. It should be a killer description that will lure people to visit your site. Include the keyword phrase in the three tags to optimize the page for search engines.
Use Relationships to Build a Network
Networking has always been a great way to build businesses. When it comes to Google, nothing has changed. As you interact with experts in your industry, approach them and ask if they can place your website’s links on their pages. When many authority sites link to your site, Google will see you as an industry expert and rank your site highly. However, don’t forget to return the favor by linking to other sites. Back linking is not an expensive venture but offers great returns.
As long as you adhere to these SEO tips for small businesses, your website will appear on the first page of Google. When it comes to search engine rankings, you are the only one who can determine how your site performs.
Tabitha Jean Naylor, Clearwater FL
Tabitha Jean Naylor, Clearwater FL is the Founder of Successful Startup 101, a digital magazine that provides answers to today's most pertinent questions facing startup founders, and the Owner of TabithaNaylor.com, a marketing firm that delivers 'big agency' quality at rates that are affordable for startups and small businesses.
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Great content Tabitha. It is actually not as difficult to rank using what you have shared and a little keyword research thanks for sharing also syndicated on social media for ya. Cheers
Yes focused and being consistent can reap rewards in being consistent with this strategy. Thanks for the tips!
Great tips! Thanks for sharing! I’m getting right into it!
Thanks for the tips . Very precise,
Great advice Tabitha, I thought the techy stuff was out of my league until I gave it a try, thanks to some training from Lawrence.
This is how we all can get it done 🙂 Thanks!
I have always struggled with SEO but you made it very clear here. I’m ready to go to work! Thanks for a great article Tabitha!
Great information on rank first page of Google. I will be changing up some of my seo for my blogs. Thanks for sharing.
This is next on the list of things I need to learn. Bookmarking for future reference!
Point on Tabitha, Ranking your website on Google is a great way to gain massive exposure and can be very lucrative, you have to put your content out there on a consistent basis, as the Google robots are looking.
Great advice Tabitha. I see many small business owners put up a website and think they will automatically get traffic. As you said a combination of great content and ranking on Google will see a small business getting results. And yes content needs to be consistent. Thank you!
Thank you Tabitha I really love this post. Right to the point
I love how you broke this down to simple Tabitha.
You make it sound so easy.
I love reading your articles!
I am trying to get my biography into teamprojectmayhem.com
The title of my bio is I make no apology by Gaspar Vetrano noy to be confused with i make no apologies. My book has sold two million copies and still going, if i can’t get on this site i will just go to another.