Simple and Effective SEO Practices for Small Businesses

Featured article by Muhammad Talha

In the digital age, no small business should be without a comprehensive web marketing strategy – and no comprehensive web marketing strategy should be without search engine optimization (SEO). Since prominent search engines have become most consumers’ primary vehicles for seeking out new businesses, obtaining a favorable search ranking should be among every small business owner’s top priorities. So, if your business’s SEO practices could use some refinement – or you’ve yet to utilize SEO altogether – consider the following pointers.

Regularly Create New Website Content

There are two key ways you stand to benefit from committing to regular content creation. For starters, this can help give your site a more favorable search ranking. When search engines locate relevant results and determine site rankings, regularity of updates is among the factors taken into consideration. So, if you produce new web content on an irregular – or nonexistent – schedule, this may be contributing to a less than ideal search ranking. Secondly, consistently creating new content will provide people with incentive to visit your site on a regular basis and recommend it to others.

If you currently lack any semblance of an update schedule for your site, now would be a good time to remedy this. Creating just one or two new pieces of content each week can be an effective way to boost your search ranking, increase visitor traffic and keep your existing audience engaged.

Work with Experienced Content Creators

If neither you nor any of your team members have the time or inclination to craft web content on a consistent basis, consider farming this task out to experienced content creators. This will help ensure that you’re able to post first-rate content on a regular basis without having to sacrifice time that you’d rather devote to other facets of business management.

Seasoned content writers can be particularly beneficial to your SEO efforts, as they’re likely to know their way around keyword integration and have experience crafting many types of content for many types of clients. Furthermore, depending on how much success you see with your content creation endeavors, you may even want to consider extending full-time opportunities to writers whose work you find particularly impressive. This can be a great way to retain top talent and ensure that you’re the only client for whom they work. As an added bonus, it will provide your other contract employees with incentive to do their absolute best.

Create Online Listings for Your Business

Although the Yellow Pages are still around, search engines and online directories are now most people’s preferred method of finding new businesses. As such, you’d be wise to create listings for your business in various directories. This simple step will be a drain on neither your time nor your resources and can effectively boost your search ranking in a timely manner. So, if your business isn’t listed in any of the leading online directories, take care to correct this oversight posthaste.

Embrace Mobile Optimization

Any business that wishes to be successful in the age of mobile browsing needs to embrace mobile optimization. With the majority of web traffic now comic from smartphones, no business, large or small, can afford to overlook the importance of a mobile-optimized website. So, if your current site is slow or nonfunctional on smartphones and other mobile devices, mobile optimization is long overdue.

When it comes to mobile optimization, there are a number of different routes you can take. For example, if you have any employees who are experienced web designers or developers, entrusting this task to them can prove extremely cost-effective. Alternatively, you can leave the optimization of your website in the hands of an experienced web marketing company. In addition to rebuilding your site from the ground up, the right web marketers can assist you in creating a convenient multi location SEO URL structure.

If you’re looking to maximize your small business’s online presence, search engine optimization can be an invaluable tool. Integrating the right SEO practices into your digital marketing efforts stands to heighten awareness for your brand and drive scores of prospective customers to your website. If you’ve never tried your hand at search engine optimization, making SEO work for you is liable to seem daunting. Fortunately, many of the most effective SEO strategies are easy to implement and won’t prove draining on your business’s time or resources.