SEO Tips Every Small Business Should Know

You probably already know about SEO if you have a website for your small business. You know it can help your site rank better in search results and direct more traffic to your pages. If you have been at it for a while, you know a little about using keywords and you might have a favorite SEO tool that helps you manage your efforts.

Even knowing how important SEO is, so many small business owners are not doing enough to maintain or improve their search rankings. They might know the basics, but they don’t have time to learn more and implement new strategies. 

While you could always do more with a professional on your side, there are things you can do to get more from your SEO efforts. In this post, we are going to look at some simple SEO tips that should be doable for most small business websites.

Time to Get Mobile

Having a mobile-friendly website is one of the most important points to cover for SEO. Close to 70% of internet traffic comes from mobile devices. If your site is not optimized for mobile, it is not serving these users well. What is even more important is that search engines prioritize mobile-friendly sites when people search using a mobile device. 

One of the first tips for creating a mobile-friendly website is to use responsive design so the site adapts to the screen of the device. You should also consider simplifying content on some of the pages. Beyond that, think about navigation and menus from the perspective of a mobile device user. 

Think Local 

Lean into the local customer base if you operate a local business. When people search for products or services like yours, you want the local customers to see your offerings first. This is where focusing on local SEO can do a lot for small businesses.

One of the top tips for local SEO is to set up your Google My Business profile. That one step on its own can do a lot to help a small business rank better for local search. You should also optimize content for local keywords that relate to your business. Another great tip is to create content that focuses on the local market.

Optimize for Voice

Voice commands are becoming a common part of the internet experience. According to eMarketer, about one-third of all internet users in the US already use voice assistants. One of the most common uses is to search with voice commands. With voice search becoming more common, small businesses should optimize for voice.

One of the first things to know is that you do not need to optimize every page of your site for voice search. Consider the types of customers your business has and the context under which they might use voice search. You also need to think about the types of search terms they might use when searching by voice as opposed to text.

Website Speed

The performance of your website can be a significant factor when search engines determine rankings. If your site is slow, it will not rank as well as a similar page that loads quickly. If you want to ensure a spot near the top of the listings, you need to make sure your site is fast.

Start by testing the speed of your website. There are free services that offer testing and many of them even identify issues that you could address. Furthermore, you could optimize images so they load faster or enable caching on your website. You should also consider the quality of your hosting service.

Refine Your Keyword Strategy 

Keywords play an important role in SEO strategy. You might already have a list of keywords that are relevant to your brand. Having a core group of relevant keywords is good, but there is probably a lot more you can do. 

The first thing you need to know is that keywords can shift in relevance over time. Changes to the market, new developments in consumer behavior and changes to the ways people view or use products can change the relevance of a keyword or give rise to new keywords that might be important. You don’t need to do new keyword research every day, but you should occasionally take the time to refine your keyword strategy.

Effective SEO takes time. However, if you develop a good strategy with the right techniques, you will get results. With the tips mentioned in this post, most small business owners should be able to achieve better search rankings and increase organic clicks.