SEO for Small Businesses: Top 10 Tips To Rank Higher on Google
There’s no question that SEO is important for small businesses. Well some may question it, but the truth is, it is effective. I know. In order to rank higher on Google, you need to optimize your website and content for search engines. But it can be difficult to know where to start, especially if you’re not familiar with the terminology or the process.
You might be thinking, “I don’t need help with my website. I’ve got a small business and I’m doing just fine.” But trust me, if you want your small business to thrive, you need to pay attention to your SEO. Just like you need to pay attention to your personal hygiene, how fly you look and the way you show up when it’s time for your debut interview on Good Morning America, I promise, you need to make sure your website is clean, keyword-rich, and user-friendly. That’s where SEO comes in.
SEO stands for “search engine optimization.” Basically, it’s the process of making your website more visible to potential customers who are using search engines like Google, Yahoo!, or Bing.Bing you’re it! I know – I’m corny – hah!
The point is, when you optimize your site for search engines, you’re more likely to show up in the top results when someone searches for keywords related to your business. And that means more traffic to your site and more customers for your business. Soooo whhat are you waiting for, friend? Start optimizing your site today!
I’ve put together 10 tips on how to rank higher on Google. Implement these tips and you’ll see your website traffic start to increase.
What Is SEO & Why Do I Need to Know About it?
For example, let’s say you own a small business that sells widgets. If someone searches for “Buy Widget”, you want your website to come up as one of the top results. That way, potential customers can find you easily and are more likely to buy from you. Or if someone is looking for “Hard Kombucha,” don’t you want to come up, and first, or third or just maybe on the first page! I seriously love hard kombucha, btw!
When it doubt, SEO is important for small businesses because it levels the playing field. Large companies have big budgets and can afford to pay for expensive SEO campaigns and even ads, but let’s be real, small businesses don’t have that kind of money. You can invest some of your funds into a long lasting brand builder that works to help you build trust with potential customers. When your website shows up in the top results for a search, people see it as more credible and trustworthy. They’re more likely to buy from you if they think you’re a credible source.
Top 10 SEO Tips to Rank Higher on Google
Let’s get started with some tips on how to improve your website’s ranking on Google.
1. Find the Right Keywords for Your Website
The first step in SEO is finding the right keywords. These are the words and phrases people use when they search for businesses like yours. For example, if you sell widgets, your keywords might be “Widget”, “Widgets for sale”, or “Buy Widget”.
Now the question is “how can I find the targeted keywords for my content?” I will not recommend you to just go on guessing the keywords by yourself. It will put all your efforts and investment at risk.
To find the right keywords, start by thinking about what potential customers might search for. Then, use a keyword research tool like Google Keyword Planner to see how many people are actually searching for those terms.
Once you’ve found the right keywords, add them to your website and help search engines understand what your site is about by creating keyword-rich content Now the following may be a foreign language to you, but it is good to know when you decide to hire me. I want you to know the terms, and I want you to know what I’m kind of talking about – feel me?
You can take help from any of the following Keyword Research SEO tools. Some are pricey. Most I have access to, so no reason to pay twice.
- Ahref
- MOZ
- SemRush
- Keyword Generator
- Google Keyword Planner
- Keyword surfer
While writing, always focus on the search intent of the user. You must naturally place all the competitive keywords in your content in. Yep, this is key. It’s important to have a sit down conversation with yourself and me so we can get to the nitty gritty of the topics we want to cover to appeal to your target audience and we want to speak to them in a voice that resonates and sounds like you. I will handle this and the technical part that follows.
- Title tags
- Meta descriptions
- Alt tags
- Throughout the content
Invest some more time in improving your on-page SEO optimization and keyword research. Targeted keywords also help you with local SEO and reach local customers. This is exceptionally important with product based or brick and mortar businesses. The truth is though, once you start ranking high enough for what you want, we can structure things to make sure you rank for whatever you want. Cake, icing and cherries on top 🙂
2. Build High-Quality Backlinks
One of the most important ranking factors for Google is backlinks. That’s why it’s important to build links to your site. The more sites that link to yours, the higher you will show up in local search results, and the more authority you receive in the world of search engines. It’s like being the person that everyone comes to for advice. You have earned being the friend everyone calls on – whether that be a good or bad thing!
I talk a lot, so my bad for getting off topic a bit. I bet you are wondering what are backlinks? Backlinks are links from other websites to yours. They’re also called inbound links or incoming links.
Google sees backlinks as votes of confidence. The more votes you have, the more likely you are to rank high in search results. That’s why it’s important to get high-quality backlinks from reputable websites.
How do you get backlinks? There are a few ways to get backlinks:
- Reach out to other website owners and ask for a link.
- Write guest posts on other blogs and include a link back to your site.
- Submit your site to directories and include a link back to your site.
- Create helpful resources (like infographics, ebooks, etc.) and include a link back to your site.
- Share your content on social media and include a link back to your site.
Let me just tell you, the above is a whole task in itself. It’s like thinking creating daily social media posts or IG reels as being a walk in the park – not so much. Backlinks can strengthen your content as they are the core of off-page SEO, and getting backlinks truly takes time. But you can most definitely be adding back links in your relevant content from reputable sources.
Make sure you’re only building links from high-quality websites. Otherwise, it could hurt your website’s ranking. We don’t accept backlinks from scrubs!
You can see Yoast’s guide for link building.
3. Add Your Site To “Google My Business”
Google my business is FREE for everyone and you can make your business profile in it. Whenever a customer searches for your company or the product in that local area, Google My Business will allow you to take control of your:
- Business or product description
- Address information
- Contact details
- Links to websites
- Opening and closing times
It will also help you to add your business company on Google Maps and take benefits of ranking for local research on Google Maps.
Add your local business to Google My Business now and note the trick of the trade, you don’t have to have a physical location to have a profile. #justsayin.
4. Optimize Your Website for Mobile Devices
I don’t know if you know, but upwards of half of the United States use mobile versus desktop at any given time. Are you on your phone now?? Let’s be real, in today’s digital world, more and more people are using their smartphones and tablets to search the internet. It’s important to consider this and see whether your website is mobile-friendly or not. Websites that are difficult to see on a smartphone are now discouraged by search engines. Almost 81% of mobile phone users search for a service or product online. Mobile-friendly, anyone.
Mobile optimization involves making sure your website can be easily accessed and used on a mobile device. This includes things like making sure your website loads quickly, is easy to navigate and has a responsive design. I don’t know about you, but far too many times, I have seen websites on mobile in which the design is cut off – no bueno. I contact them immediately.
That’s why it’s important to make sure your website is optimized for mobile devices. If it isn’t, you could be missing out on a lot of potential customers, because search engines will prevent your website from even being shown. Direct traffic will have to be your best friend, but really, ask yourself, how many people know your website url by heart?
5. Use Google Search Console
Google Search Console is one of the most reliable SEO tools. It is FREE of cost. If you connect your site to this platform it will provide you with insight on
- Site performance
- Enchantment
- Coverage
The “coverage” feature shows you the errors found on your website during Google crawl. If you correct these errors it will improve your site visitor’s experience.
Google Search Console has an additional feature of tracking the SERPs (Search Engine Results Pages) for your inserted keywords. It will surely assist you with keyword research and you’ll be able to add new long-tail keywords related to your business.
6. Monitor Your Progress With Google Analytics
Google Analytics is a free tool that shows you how people find and use your website. It’s important to track your progress so you can see what’s working and what isn’t.
To set up Google Analytics, create an account and add the tracking code to your website. This is my favorite. The data. Start monitoring your progress by looking at things like the below. Keep in mind, this is what my team does too when we create a unique SEO plan just for you!
- The number of visitors to your site
- The average time spent on your site
- The number of pages viewed
- The number of new visitors vs. returning visitors
- The countries your visitors are from
- Find the pages that convert best and can be made more SEO-friendly.
- Keep track of internal site search queries to find keyword opportunities.
Google Analytics can help you track your progress and make sure your SEO efforts are paying off.
7. Make Business Profiles On Social Platforms
I look for people and companies on social media these days. I gotta verify their presence and their personality. I’m not the only one. People search for local businesses, products, or companies on Facebook or Instagram’s search engines. The social media platforms will assist you in your SEO strategy. Your business profile will appear in the Google search results if someone searches for your company or the product. It will also help you to get clients from different social media platforms.
The most common and widely used social media sites are:
- TikTok
Creating a business profile on social media sites will help you to interact with your potential customers and know their needs. We all know, you can also use social media platforms for content promotion, so get to it!
8. Publish High-Quality Content Regularly
One of the best ways to improve your website’s ranking is to publish high-quality, keyword-rich content on a regular basis. This helps you attract more visitors to your site and keeps them coming back for more.
Create evergreen content. Evergreen content is the kind of content that’s always relevant and never goes out of style. This could be something like “How to start a business” or “10 tips for saving money”.
When creating content, keep in mind that it should be:
- Relevant to your audience
- Informative and useful
- Keyword-rich
- Well-written and error-free
Posting new content on a regular basis also helps you stay ahead of your competition. If they’re only posting once a month, you can easily outrank them by publishing two or three times per week.
9. Improve Your Website’s User Experience
The next step is to improve your website’s user experience (UX). This is the overall experience a person has when they visit your site. You want to make sure it’s positive so they’ll stay on your site and continue browsing. There are a few things you can do to improve your UX:
- Make sure your website is mobile-friendly. More and more people are browsing the internet on their phones, so it’s important that your site is optimized for mobile devices.
- Make sure your website loads quickly. No one likes waiting around for a slow website to load. Check your website speed with Google PageSpeed Insights and make sure it’s loading quickly.
- Make sure your website is easy to navigate. Your website should be easy to understand and use. That means having a clear navigation bar, easy-to-find contact information, and well-written content.
- Make sure your website is visually appealing. People are visual creatures and will judge your website based on its appearance. Make sure your site is pleasing to the eye and easy on the eyes.
- Make sure your website is secure. Security is important for two reasons: first, it protects your customers’ data; second, it helps you rank higher on Google. To make sure your site is secure, install an SSL certificate.
10. Improve Site’s Technical SEO
Most small business owners are unaware of the number of technical SEO issues that need to be corrected on their sites. They also do not know how these errors can highly affect small business SEO.
Internal site flaws that may be harming your ranking power are known as technical SEO problems. Technical SEO deals with the following:
- Site speed
- Structured data
- Site structure
- Correcting the Google crawling errors
To have these difficulties resolved as soon as possible, you may work with a small business SEO agency that will provide you with SEO expertise.
Final thoughts!
That’s it! These are just a few tips to help you rank higher on Google. But keep in mind that SEO is an ongoing process, so don’t be discouraged if you don’t see results immediately. Just keep working at it and you’ll eventually start seeing the fruits of your labor.
SEO is a complex and ever-changing field, but it’s definitely worth the effort. After all, what’s the point of having a website if no one can find it? By following the tips in this article, you’ll be well on your way to getting more traffic and exposure for your business and making mo moneyyy!
Connect with the team to get a unique SEO marketing plan set up just for you. If you are wanting to get more relevant, keyword induced content added to your website, but don’t have the time to write, we have you covered with our monthly blog writing subscription plan. Cheers to success!