7 ways to improve your Online Presence

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) has the potential to maximize the sales of small businesses. Businesses have started to realize that spending time and money to build a stunning website might be fruitless if the customers cannot reach it, and the best way for that is SEO.

The importance of SEO is given by a 2021 survey by business how-to and data website, the Manifest. They concluded that 49% of small businesses consider SEO as a worthwhile investment, and 31% who haven't yet invested in SEO plan to do so in the future.

This success has either been achieved by hiring small business SEO services or by investing time and resources in SEO within the company itself. The return on investment by SEO only proves how vital working on SEO can be.

Other than this, other studies have shown the value SEO brings to a website's traffic and sales. To set up your business's online presence for success, here are 7 of the most valuable checklist items you need to implement for your small business SEO plan as soon as possible:

Make the best use of tools by Google

Getting listed on the first page of Google search results is fantastic for your business, and Google provides resources to make that easier for you too.

Make sure your business is actively using Google Analytics to make SEO stress-free. Set your Google console so that you easily monitor all the necessary traffic and tracking information regarding your web pages. Setting up a free Google My Business account will make ranking easier, and asking customers to give online reviews on Google will be the cherry on top.

Be thorough with your keyword research

Keyword research is always emphasized when it comes to SEO, so it should be as stressed as possible. Find your primary keywords and take advantage of them in your content. Small businesses can make good use of niche keywords because it allows them to target a particular group of people. You can also find keywords that address gaps in the market.

Have a clean and structured website

Don't think that people will come to your site only to purchase as they do with established brands like Apple or Nike, simply because they know what they want to buy. First, your brand needs to establish itself, and until that happens, people will come to your website to either study the products, make a purchase, or both.

Your website should be organized and designed in a manner that gives visitors the necessary information they want without being flooded with information. Take a look at products listen on Amazon, for instance. Buttons, drop-down menus, and tabs should be neat. Your website should be appealing enough that it eventually drives the visitor to a lead or purchase.

Also, because most searches come from mobile, make sure that your site is optimized for mobile. If your site takes too long to load, get the issues fixed because this might annoy a potential customer.

Analyze your competitors' keywords

It can't be emphasized enough that for every business analyzing your competitors is extremely important. You can judge their performance by looking at the keyword they use. Not only are you competing in terms of products, but you're also competing with them for domain authority. If you're hiring some SEO agency, make sure to tell them who your competitors are. Analyzing your competitors' strategies can be a game-changer for your business.

Create high-quality, optimized content

A great way to get backlinks is great content, and it can increase your domain authority if some major player in the market links to your website. And, for that, you will have to produce high-quality content frequently.

It's been estimated that more than 80% of incoming traffic by 2023 will be video. So make sure to incorporate video in your content. Simply text will not be enough because some people find it better to watch a few minutes' long explainer videos than read 1000 words of text. On top of that, use alt texts to optimize images for SEO.

Optimize your code for SEO

It can seem like a simple fix to optimize H1 and H2 tags in your website's code. Search engines do read the HTML code for the tags. A relatively lesser-known factor for relevancy is how the H1 and H2 tags are optimized, and they can be seen as indicators for relevance. H1 tag, which represents that first header, does take some precedence, however. You should ideally have only one H1, so make sure it counts, and it does have the necessary keywords. H2 tags are considered subheadings, but they shouldn't be dumped or stuffed either.

Invest in social media

It's no surprise that social media is booming, and people often use social media as search engines of sorts. For example, it's easier to find the best pizza in town and their reviews on social media platforms because people and your potential customers engage on social media. Social media should be an essential part of SEO for small businesses because you can engage with potential customers directly, facilitating the scaling of your business. Running inorganic SEO plans and ads on social media is also easier and cheap. For as little as $1 per day, you can reach your target market quite effectively.