Many small businesses now feel helpless against the weight of competitive demands from search engines but SEO for small business can yield gradual success.
Discontent, it’s all over the internet, small business owners, here, there and everywhere complaining that it’s impossible to compete in the search engines with the big boys. I’ve read countless blog posts that all say the same thing….make great content and you can compete. Our assessment of the situation is if you aren’t willing or capable of going the extra mile then don’t expect to compete with those that do.
Depressing as that may sound, has it ever been any other way? Ok, maybe it has, in the early days of the search engines seo for small business websites worked just as well as for any other company’s website. Hey, ya’ll had it good, real good, but those times are gone and instead of dwelling on the successes of the past it’s time small business owners knuckled down and embraced the present!
Google Keyword Planner Screenshot
Firstly, stop comparing yourself to the gigantic seo campaigns and strategies of bigger companies, they’re not you and you’re selling what you have to offer short. You may be a small business owner but there’s nothing stopping you from having your own level of seo success. As i’ve said, knuckle down, learn as much as possible about seo and focus your resources.
Here’s a couple of ways to achieve great seo for small businesses.
Link Building – Quality NOT Quantity, Diversity NOT Homogeneity
Anyone who’s anyone knows that high quality backlinks pointing at your web pages are like high scores from the judges at the Google Olympics.They are absolutely integral to the success of any small business in Newport seo campaign and the key to it’s success is quality NOT quantity.
You’ll also need to vary the anchor text of the links and the websites that your links end up on. This level of link diversity is so, so necessary to protect you from being penalised as Google puts the squeeze on its content rating and delivery system.
Always keep in mind, if you’re building high quality and / or contextually relevant backlinks none of those links will need any justification and won’t drag you back if Google cranks things up a knotch.
Content Creation – For Customers AND Search Engines.
It’s been shown time and time again that small businesses who make a regular effort to engage with their loyal customer base end up becoming much more responsive to their needs and in-turn the needs of customers in general. Not only that, it really doesn’t have to take up masses of your time writing 1500 word treatises on the latest product or service you’re offering.
A couple of hundred words a couple of times a week should do and you should combine this with a few short announcements here and there posted out to your social media channels. Gradually over time you will build up a useful resource for both your customers and potential customers, you will also increase your search engine footprint, visibility and pick up a few good backlinks along the way.
It’s also important that you conduct some thorough keyword research for sector and incorporate this into any seo copywriting and content you create. Ask your customers questions, listen to their feedback and balance your content creation between your keyword research and your customer feedback.
Don’t expect overnight results, our experience with seo for small business is you’re going to need at least a 90 page website that is rich in fresh, interesting, regularly updated content if you want to really compete seo wise.
