The Inbound Growth Blog

The Inbound Growth Blog covers all topics relating to an integrated marketing strategy. We write about inbound marketing, social media, integrated marketing strategies and the sales process.

4 Small Business SEO Best Practices

New Call-to-action

Posted by John Beveridge on Sep 4, 2013 4:16:00 PM

4 Small Business SEO Best PracticesSearch engine optimization has been the buzzword du jour for the last few years, but with Google’s constantly changing algorithm, your small business may be struggling to keep up. SEO is crucial for virtually every website. Unless you run a blog of family photos that’s just for your parents back home, then you need to optimize your website for inbounding marketing. Effective SEO establishes you as a reputable authority in your given industry and allows you to pull in reputable visitors. Higher rankings equal more money, which leads to even more business and a better reputation – both online and offline.

Whether your small business is struggling to improve search engine ranking or simply overwhelmed by all the so-called “expert” advice floating in cyberspace, it’s easy to feel like you’re drowning in a sea of SEO, SERP, CPC and PPC alphabet soup. Don’t give up! Step away from the keyword stuffing and use these best practices to refocus your SEO efforts:

1. Be original

While this sounds like pretty straightforward advice, original content creation can be challenging – especially if you’re constantly cranking out blog posts, case studies and white papers. But thanks to Google’s algorithm changes, content is king. In order for your small business’s website to rank highly, it needs to have original, informative and fresh content. If your website’s content is stagnating, consider hiring a freelance writer who specializes in your industry to breathe a little life into your website’s content.

2. Be Social

Social media mentions matter. Google’s new algorithm places greater importance on social traffic than ever before. Repackage your content into smaller “atomized” pieces so it can easily be shared. For example, after posting a link to your latest whitepaper, take key findings from the paper and tweet a different finding each day, with a link back to your website. Shorter pieces of information with interesting factoids are more likely to be re-tweeted, which not only drives traffic back to your website, but also increases your social media mentions. This signals to Google that the content on your website is fresh, original and relevant, which increases your page rank.

Download Search Engine Optimization 101 

3. Be smart

Sure, worrying about magical keyword densities or creating an intricate network of backlinks may be a waste of time, but some “older” SEO strategies are still important. For example, while no one would stuff a website with keywords, you should still include a few keywords within your content. To do so effectively, weave these words in naturally (if they don’t fit, don’t include them) and use long-tail keyword phrases. Individuals naturally search using phrases, and by including one or two that are relevant to your topic and your target audience, you’re more likely to be connected with highly qualified business leads.

4. Be effective

Last but not least, be sure that your website “works”. When creating content, for example, it’s easy to get lost in the rush to churn out more and better blog posts and forget about the value that they offer a reader. The same goes for your content pages. Do your landing pages connect visitors with relevant information, or are you sending your highly qualified inbound marketing prospects to a generic home page? Do all your text links work, or are broken links leaving prospective customers stranded?

Every few months, click through your website as if you were a customer visiting it for the first time. Identify problem areas, whether it’s a broken link or a poorly worded drop-down menu, and get these fixed. These issues may seem small, but they hold your site back from being effective, which ultimately hurts your overall Google page rank.

Summary

In many ways, Google's new search engine algorithm updates make it easier for small businesses to compete with the big buys. You don't need to pay tons of money to high-dollar SEO consultants to get found by potential buyers. If you create great content that resonates with your target audience, you will be rewarded with traffic to your website. Make sure that they have a great experience when they get there and you're well on your way to driving revenue growth with your website.

Get-a-free-inbound-marketing-consultation-from-a-certified-professional

Topics: Inbound Marketing

Get the Ultimate Lead Generation Handbook


Learn 30 tips and tricks to supercharge your lead generation.

Ultimate Lead Generation Handbook