Read on! There’s a free download in this post!
When you start Googling the term SEO, you’ll quickly find yourself lost in a long list of websites all telling you what to do, how to do this, the newest trends in the field of SEO, and why you should hire some expensive fancy agency to improve your website for you. I mean, who wants that headache, trawling through all that? Exactly.
I just want to bust that myth right here: SEO is not rocket science.
It means nothing else that making sure your website contains the right keywords and phrases so that potential clients find your business in the search engines when they type in their query. Agencies make it look all super technical, and when you have to believe the web results, SEO is done mainly by men in suits looking very important, who deal with this kind of sh*t. Nope. I have recently woven in plenty of relevant keywords and phrases into my website, and within weeks I attracted clients from Hawaii, simply because they found me in Google. You can do this too. So how do you start?
Psst, if you want to skip the reading, and dive straight in, go and download this freebie!
Making your website found in search engines is essential if you want to market your business outside of social media. We all know that social media is very temperamental, your posts don’t get shown half the time, and if tomorrow Facebook and Instagram would cease to exist, you would have lost all of your followers on there. It is therefore important to not put all your eggs in one basket, but promote your offer on other platforms too, such as your email list – and your own website.
How to rank high in Google as a small business
But the world wide web is ginormous, and competition is fierce. If you are a photographer, for example, how on earth do you stand out from the crowd and get found in the search engines?
The key is in…the keywords. Keywords and key phrases are nothing else than the things your ideal client (the person you want to come to your website) types into Google, or similar search engines. They have a problem, or want to find out something, and they search for it online. What do they type in?
One of the first tips for SEO is therefore: don’t use jargon, use the words your client would use when searching online. Keep it simple, and crawl into the mind of your audience. What are they going through, what problem do they have, what are they interested in? Try and rank for those terms.
Of course, if you are location-based, you don’t have to try and attract clients on the other side of the world. What you then do, is using your location, your area, and your state or province in the keywords and phrases, in combination with whatever it is that you offer. Wedding photograher in (location), for example. Or English yoga teacher in Valencia. You make your search terms a little more specific, and detailed, so you increase your chances to be found by the right people, who are looking exactly for what you offer.
Find that sweet spot in your SEO keyword selection
The more niche you go, the more your ideal client will be able to find you. Don’t go too niche either, however. You want to stay clear of the big boys and huge competition, but if nobody uses the keywords and phrases you have included in your website content, then there will be no traffic either. So try and find that sweet spot. Niche, but a big enough niche so enough people are looking for those terms.
And add more content than just the Home page and your About. Blog posts are the ideal way to boost your SEO for your small business. Blogs are also a fabulous way to add value to your website, position yourself as an authority in your industry, and offer quality information to your readers and potential clients. But think outside the box too. Just because you are a small travel business, that does not mean that you only talk about your next package deals on offer.
Talking only about yourself in your blog posts quickly gets boring. See your blog as a magazine: what are you going to talk about this week, or month that is of interest to your ideal client? A small travel business, for example, could share itineraries of the location they are in, top tips on what to bring on their holiday, or books and novels to read about this destination. Possibilities are endless, really.
Free e-book download: Simple SEO for small businesses
I have created a mini masterclass, or e-book, on SEO, which I am giving away for free. I take you through a number of lessons on what to think about when improving your own website, and it even has a blog template included.