SEO For Businesses Who Know Nothing About SEO
Did you know that 75 percent of consumers never make it to page two of Google? What does that mean for you?
It means that if you're not on page one (or at the very least—the top of page 2), the bulk of your potential customers will never see your site and will end up going to one of your competitors. That is no bueno, am I right? To get more traffic, more leads, and more customers, you're going to have to tackle this SEO beast once and for all. (Don't worry. I'm here to help you through it!)
I like Search Engine Land's of definition of SEO best. "SEO stands for Search Engine Optimization. It is the process of getting traffic from the “free,” “organic,” “editorial,” or “natural” search results on search engines. So, when a consumer searches for a specific type of business (let's say, "transcription services in Utah"), websites that are optimized for search engines will appear higher on the list. Those who aren't won't, which means less exposure and less opportunities to serve.
For most small businesses and start-ups, it's a real pain in the butt trying to fight their way to the top, especially when other big-name competitors are hogging all of the attention. But, there is a place for you, if you play your cards right. And, you don't need to spend a ton of money to do it.
Here are some pretty simple and straightforward SEO tactics I use. Try them out,and if you have any questions, send me a message. I'd love to help!
Start a blog. Write an article once a week about topics that relate to your business and solve problems for your audience.
Set up a Google My Business account. It’s free and helps your business stand out in local search results.
Make sure your site is mobile friendly. This means your website content adjusts to the size of each digital device. Marketers call this responsive design. (Your website should already be optimized for mobile if you're using Squarespace or Wordpress.)
Get listed everywhere. Put your business profile on local directories and review sites like BBB, Yelp, Yahoo Local, Google Places, and Angie’s List.
Ask your customers for reviews. The more often your business or website is being mentioned, linked to, or clicked on, the higher you will be ranked by search engines.
Use Google Search Console. This is another free tool that provides additional SEO tips and tracks and reports your site's performance (visitors, views, traffic attribution, and other useful pieces of data).
Get educated. My go-to SEO expert is Neil Patel. He covers everything and then some. And the best part is, most of his insights are free!
One thing to remember—improving your search engine ranking takes time. After you start applying these principles, give it at least 3 months. At that point, if you aren't seeing the results you're looking for, it might be time to hire an SEO expert. Just make sure you vett them thoroughly to make sure they have a proven and successful track record.
Good luck!
