Many companies know they have good products or services, but they lack the visibility for customers to find them. Their social media channels are small, and they don’t have the history and content to rank highly in search engine results.
Fortunately, you can take steps to increase your visibility, no matter how small your brand is. Follow these tips to build a strong SEO strategy that you can scale as you grow.
Keep your Google My Business profile updated.
SEO isn’t just for standard Google rankings. It’s also possible for customers to find you through Google Maps and other local listings. If you have a brick-and-mortar business and want to drive foot traffic to your store, focus on Google My Business for visibility.
With GMB, you can upload photos, change your hours, post business updates, and answer customer questions. This is also where your company reviews show up. The more reviews you have (and the better they are), the more you will show up in search results. Consider asking your customers to leave reviews if they are happy with their service.
Updating GMB might not seem like a complex SEO task, but this is a great step to increase your visibility.
Optimize your website content.
Search engine optimization is a process, and you won’t reach the top of the search engine results pages (SERPs) overnight. You may need to run a full audit of your website to identify weaknesses in your optimization efforts. There are a few ways to do this. You can download an app if you use WordPress, which will tell you if your content is optimized. The app will ask you to assign a keyword to each page and then help you write a relevant meta description and slug for your URL.
You can also work with an agency that specializes in SEO visibility. Find a company that works with small to medium-sized businesses; that way, they can propose something within your budget. (You don’t need the same agency that Nike hires just yet.) They will propose a list of optimizations for your current content and draft a plan for long-term growth. Outsourcing can help you save time while handing your search visibility efforts off to the experts.
Build content around your customers’ needs.
Content allows you to target additional keywords and phrases with your SEO visibility efforts. Each page has a specific keyword and content that is relevant to the search term. This is where some business owners get overwhelmed, because they don’t know which terms to target and don’t have time to write new pages and strong blog content.
There are two questions to ask when drafting new content ideas:
- What words or phrases would bring people to my website?
- What questions would my customers have when landing on my page?
For example, a spa located in Nashville would create content for people who are trying to find local services. They might create a page for visiting bachelorette and wedding parties who want some pampering. The spa would answer questions related to their pricing, types of services, and how these services help the body heal.
It’s better to publish high-quality content over low-quality posts. Try to publish new content at least once per month and then scale up to weekly articles.
Some people will try to manipulate search results to increase their visibility. Not only is this unethical, but your website is also more likely to get punished by Google and have reduced search visibility. If you want to improve your search efforts, find an agency that can evaluate your website and offer a plan for growth. This can give you a road map for improvement.
