If you’re a business owner, specifically a small business owner, SEO is no doubt a priority in your company. In fact, 57 percent of B2B marketers stated that SEO generates more leads than any other marketing initiative.For anyone not familiar, search engine optimization is the process of growing your online visibility through organic search engine results. Aka increasing your digital footprint without having to pay for it. That said, it’s a complex discipline and can be hard to navigate. To help everyone get a little bit better of an understanding, we put together our own list of DOs and DON’Ts when it comes to SEO!
DO: Generate Engaging Content.
Putting out blogs and videos that resonate with your audience is one of the simplest ways to improve SEO. As more people are drawn to your website, the more naturally it will rise in the search engine rankings. Though it’s worth noting that quality over quantity should always be at the forefront when it comes to content creation. Focus on creating well-researched articles with quotable content to substantiate your reputation, but also increase your chances of your content being referenced on another website, more commonly known as “back-linking.” Search engines will automatically interpret back-links as a vote of confidence, however, be weary of walking the fine line when it comes to links.
DON’T: Become Too Obsessed With Links.
While of course links are important, as we said above, a common mistake is including too many links. Including your source for a statistic or news story is one always good, but having every other line in your article include a link not only makes it hard to follow along, it also makes it look like spam. People on your site want to hear your unique take on a subject, they don’t need every sentence to be one click away from navigating them off your page. Also, make sure when you do include a link, it’s to a reputable source. Nothing will discredit you faster than using a link that leads to an irrelevant page.
DO: Focus on Keywords.
You want to increase your visibility, so find out the keywords people use when searching and implement them into titles and meta descriptions where you can. Google Ads even offers a Keyword Planner to assist you in choosing terms. In the body of text, stay on topic as much as possible so the search engines recognize what you’re talking about, getting off on an unrelated tangent could cause your article to decrease in searchability.
DON’T: Try to Take Shortcuts.
Don’t fall prey to scams offering for you to buy back-links or participate in reciprocal link networks, not only is it a waste of money, but they can actually harm you. Search engines are smart and are learning to pick up on these loophole tactics and the consequences for trying to cheat the system are reflected in your decreased ranking. SEO takes time and patience, nothing is going to change overnight.
DO: Focus on Local.
If your company’s target audience is local, it only makes sense to keep that in mind when strategizing for SEO. 43 percent of Google search queries are local, as are 25 percent on Yahoo And Bing respectively. Be sure to add yourself to Google My Business, a service dedicated to helping business owners have more control over what is seen when searching for a specific entity. You can also add a location page to your website so search engines can more readily deliver apposite results.
DON’T: Forget About Analytics.
You can read every article in the world about SEO, but at the end of the day if you don’t know how it’s helping or hurting it is just useless. Regular audits through your site, social media accounts, and Google Analytics will help you understand which tactics are working for you and which are a waste of time. Optimization means staying on top of it, not just coming up with a plan and letting it play out regardless of the results.
