Taking a fresh look at how best to implement SEO into your small business social media marketing strategy? Aiming to improve your Google and Bing organic rankings for your selected keywords? While it isn’t easy, there are a few common SEO-related questions you should be asking:
Is your web design up to date?
A well-designed, cutting edge web presence will engage readers, help your organic ranking and drive more traffic to your site, which will in turn increase your bottom line. If you’re hopelessly behind the times, talk to a web design firm that knows their stuff – you’ll see results.
Are you providing high quality blog content?
If you can’t write well, hire someone who can and pay them! Visitors who don’t find quality content will quickly continue clicking on through competitor sites until they find something worth reading. The most popular types of content for link sharing are “best-of” lists, video or text tutorials, and splashy infographics.
How much of your web traffic is actually converting?
Don’t waste time (and money!) competing for those high traffic keywords. Search and track keyword phrases which are less common and convert traffic to sales – that’s the whole point of web traffic anyway, right? It’s about quality, not quantity.
Are your keywords “key?”
Don’t waste time on global keywords if you’re a local business or utilize generic keywords which don’t prequalify interest. Rather, be as specific as you can and target a narrow client niche or location. Use location in keyword phrases, like “SEO Company Arizona”. Getting the people who are interested in what you’re selling, the specific info they need, that’s what created quality traffic that converts.
Are you optimizing for local visitors?
Optimizing your website for traffic in your own city or region means that search engines will handle searches differently than global searches, so include region or city specific keywords in your content, page titles and meta tag descriptions. You can also include city specific keywords in image file names.
Also include your address and local phone number on the header or footer on each page. Make sure these details match the info you have on your Google Places page. Don’t forget to register your business on Yelp and FourSquare with this same address and number too.
Are You Using Title Tags and Meta Descriptions?
Each web page on your site should have a unique title and focus on the keyword phrase which that page is targeting. Carry your brand throughout your site while still focusing on specific keywords. A good working rule of thumb is Keyword Phrase | Company | Location or Keyword Phrase – benefit or unique value. Meta descriptions are a 160 character pitch for each page within search results, so include a compelling description which will trigger searchers to want to click on your listing in search results.
Are you using anchor text for internal links?
When you create internal links around your website, be sure to include specific keyword anchor text instead of generic calls to action such as “click here” or “read more” and the like. Google and the other search engines actually count internal links and use them to help determine what keywords your site should be ranking for in their result pages.
Are you switching up anchor text on all your backlinks?
Using identical anchor text repeatedly won’t fool the search engines! Select your target phrases (root keywords) and then find at least 10-20 good supporting secondary terms that include that root. Also, besides randomizing your keyword strategy, you can use “click here”, brand keywords, a direct URL link or other calls to action as your anchor text every once in a while to help keep your backlink portfolio looking natural.
We hope this helps! If you’re too busy, or this all seems like too much for one small business owner to handle, you can always consider outsourcing social media and search engine marketing. We’re here to help and we have solutions to fit every budget.
Although a lot of this stuff is pretty basic SEO, you’d be surprised how many clients (and “SEO’s” for that matter) still miss the BASICS! Just a few simple changes in your day to day website management and content creation can make a HUGE impact. I know not everyone has the time, that’s why they come to us – but if you do have the time, ask yourself these questions and go actually LOOK at your website and your content. How are you really doing?