SEO Strategies for Small Businesses

A small business needs to be visible on search engine results in pages to win new customers. A search marketing strategy can help your small business reach those looking for information or solutions.

When someone is looking to make a purchase, they will start by conducting a search. If they find the content you've created that appeals to them, they'll contact you. The best way to get your content seen in search results is to combine your content marketing efforts with search marketing strategies that get your target audience's attention.

How does search marketing work?

An important part of search marketing is focusing on what happens when someone searches. It helps your website rank higher in search results for searches related to your business.

Search marketing includes:

This valuable insight helps you tailor your content creation efforts to what your target audience wants. Keyword research - Is identifying the most relevant and valuable keywords for a website based on what people actually search for and how often.
You can generate more leads by improving your website's content and structure in order to increase its visibility on search engine results pages. Since most purchases begin with a search, being visible when people search for products or services related to your business is crucial.
Link building involves acquiring inbound links to your website from authoritative sources in order to enhance its visibility and ranking in the SERPs. Search engines use inbound links to determine a page's authority and relevance.
PPC (Pay-Per-Click) - Paying a fee each time someone clicks on an advertisement on a search engine. This includes paid display ads, paid search ads, and shopping ads.
When people are searching for the product or service you offer, using some of these search marketing strategies can help them find you.

Your marketing strategy should incorporate search marketing strategies

Do a keyword search first

An SEO content strategy, which leverages organic search, is one of the best strategies for small businesses.

Using this strategy, you know what content your audience needs, and then you create and optimize it to reach your audience. Then you can tailor your content creation efforts to what your target audience is interested in and what they search for most often. By conducting keyword research, you can gain valuable insight into what people actually search for and how often.

It does take some time for organic search to show results, but it is more effective over time. However, you must maintain and update your content regularly.

Search engine optimization of the website

Making sure your website is optimized to create a positive user experience includes:

It is easy to use and has a clean structure
Has a mobile-friendly design,
Content that is relevant and of high quality

It is also important to learn the basics of on-page SEO so that your website is properly indexed by search engines. Your website must be easy to crawl and understand by search engines.

PPC marketing is a good option

By paying to appear on the first page of the search results for specific keywords, you can expedite the process for your business if it needs to get immediate visibility in the search results. It is possible to drive traffic to a website quickly with paid search campaigns on search engines like Google and Bing.

A paid ad appears on a search engine results page (SERP) when a user types in a specific keyword into the search bar. Advertisers bid on keywords that they believe their target audience will use.

You can use this strategy to generate leads quickly and drive targeted traffic to your website while building up your organic ranking. Some industries, however, require ongoing paid search campaigns based on the competitiveness of the industry. You need to determine how important it is for your business to gain quick first page search results since this strategy requires a budget for ad clicks.

If you send people to your homepage that is not aligned with your ad, you will spend more with few results.

Marketing your business locally

Your marketing activities can be tailored to a particular geographic area if you primarily serve customers in that area.

Local SEO extends organic SEO with a combination of online tactics to promote your business to local consumers. These tactics include:

Your website should have localized content
Listing on the Google Business Profile
Business listings on Bing
Directory citations
Reviews on the internet

Paid local ads should be implemented

If you need to reach your audience as quickly as possible, you can use paid advertising to target a local market.

Google Ads - Add localized keywords to your ad content and narrow your service area.
You can use Facebook ads to target a very specific area on your website.
You can also run a local search ad if your business is a home service business (such as an electrician, plumber, or roofer).

When considering paid ads, work with someone who knows how to run them properly. Also, make sure you use landing pages for your ad campaigns.

Boost the number of legitimate backlinks

When you create great content, others will link to it. The quality of your content is determined by these incoming links, or backlinks. If no one links to it, this indicates that your content may not be that great. You should, however, note that if quality sites link to your content, it indicates that it is worth the time and effort.

Here are some easy ways to get links:

List your business in industry directories.
If you are willing to link back to the sources, subscribe to HARO (Help a Reporter Out).
If possible, write unique guest posts. Be sure to give your website a link back.
When we are writing posts for our audiences, we do look for reputable sources to support our posts.

You should add your website links to your social media profiles. Even though these are no follow links, they still help drive traffic to your website.

It's not easy to build backlinks, and many small business owners don't have the time or budget for it. However, if you write and promote good content, you'll get backlinks naturally, which is what Google wants.

Optimize and measure

Keep track of your search marketing efforts with tools like Google Analytics and Google Search Console. As with any marketing strategy, you need to know which strategies are working and which are not. Measuring results doesn't have to be difficult.

Keep doing what you're doing if your activities are achieving your goals.
Assess your campaign if the results are less than optimal and you are not achieving your ROI.

The biggest mistake many small businesses make is when they turn on a marketing effort, they don't track and measure it regularly. That is why we set up plans for 90 days and review them every two weeks. Using this method, you can stay on top of your efforts and identify what needs to be done.

Utilize search marketing to your advantage

In order for small businesses to succeed, search marketing should be included in their marketing plans, as it is a long-term strategy.

If you want to make sure your business is visible in search engine results, you should invest in a resource that helps you stay current with search marketing best practices.

Got questions? Visit us @ www.sirkle.com and we’re happy to help.