With the layout of search engine results changing and the top organic spots becoming less available but still coveted, small business owners are scrambling to figure out the best way to utilize SEO and other tolls for the success of their website. While nationally recognized brands often dominant search engine results, we thought these tips could help your small business websites succeed in the coming year.
While your brand is important, many small business owners put too much emphasis on their brand awareness rather than other aspects of their business. You’re already the only business in the area with that name, and chances are you are the only one, or one of a small few, who offer your particular products or services. Take a cue from big brands and focus on what else you are capable of as a business.
Similarly, don’t focus too much on what you’re selling. The whole purpose of your website is that you have something to sell, that much is obvious. In order to get ahead of your competitors, concentrate on what sets you apart. This could be your unique business story, a bit about your company or brand, or something else you have to offer. Again, you want to provide more than your competitors can and set yourself apart.
Don’t assume you know exactly what your customer wants. Doing this could only lose you potential business. Just because a customer is visiting your website doesn’t mean they know what they want to purchase. Don’t just have a website that is extremely specific to one product, but a broader overview to catch your customer’s interest before they decide what they want. You want to help them make a decision, and when they do, be the website that they utilize for their purchases.
When working on your SEO, don’t forget local optimization. Focusing entirely on national keywords could cause you to miss out on important local business. In the same vein, you’ll also want to make sure any outside listings about your business are claimed and match what you’re presenting on your website.
Make your homepage the main attraction of your website. This might seem self-explanatory, but many local businesses are missing the opportunity to completely showcase their business on their homepage and provide quality content. This will also help with your search engine ranking and drive more traffic.
Make sure the rest of your website has valuable content.
Did you ever visit a website for more information and are met with a phone number to call instead? It’s an inconvenience for customers and will usually result in them taking their business elsewhere.
Spamming your website with local keywords does not equal optimization.
Quality content does. You also shouldn’t be including title tags that are longer than 60 characters. Any more than this and Google will rewrite them for you. Aside from that, they don’t offer any added value just because of their length.
Don’t forget to update your contact information if any changes are made. In the day-to-day of business operations, this crucial point could get lost in the shuffle, but is one of the most important parts of your website.