Beginners using SEO to create a new website for their small business

Even though search engine optimization (SEO) was first introduced in 1997, many say that it began with the advent of the internet in 1991, this does not mean that everyone has the same degree of skill. You may be encountering this term for the first time if you’re a small business owner seeking to create a website for your freshly founded firm.

With the ever-changing rules, facts, information, and techniques that have either been effective or reinvented by Google’s Algorithms when certain pages didn’t perform as expected, SEO has gone through a lot of changes over the years.

Without a fundamental understanding of SEO, someone who is just starting an internet business or building a website may find it daunting.

Check out this list of SEO strategies, tactics, and easy hacks that can help small companies’ websites rank higher in search engines.

Create compelling page titles and meta descriptions with optimal keywords

• Find out where you are in the rankings and adapt your approach accordingly.
• To find out where you appear on the search results page, use Google Search Console or do your own searches. (Note: if you search incognito mode, your results may be tailored to your previous searches.)
• Make the necessary changes to your page title and meta description based on the results.
• Invest in a keyword tool like SEMrush or Wordtracker to help you identify the most popular keywords in your field.
• Limit the length of your title tag, which is particular to your page’s primary title, to fewer than 60 characters to avoid it being shortened in a search result.
• Don’t stuff your title with keywords–preferable it’s to start with the highest-ranking keyword or the name of your company.
• Fun fact: SEO titles with an odd number of elements are more likely to rank well. Top ten lists also do well. Consider the following examples:
• 5 methods to expand your company
• The 11 most frequent methods for preventing credit card theft
• Top ten strategies to ensure good sales following the holidays
• On the Google search results page, your meta description shows beneath your site’s title. Meta descriptions should be between 155 and 160 characters long, long enough to be detailed but short enough to avoid being shortened, and provide enough information and value to encourage clicks. This is also a fantastic place to insert important keywords that explain your company’s mission and the products and services it offers.
• Maintain user relevance in your meta description and, if applicable, create a strong and unique call-to-action (CTA) to stand out in the search results.

Write quality content

• If you don’t want to invest in a keyword finder like Google Keyword Planner, get your marketing team together and create a list of keywords that you think would catch your target audience’s attention.
• It’s important to understand the difference between a long-tail and a short-tail keyword:
• Long-tail keywords or key phrases are more specialised than more widely searched for keywords and are usually lengthier. Long-tail keywords have a contradiction in that they receive less search traffic yet have a better conversion rate owing to their more specialised nature.
• Flower stores that deliver, for example.
• Search phrases with only one or two words are known as short-tail keywords.
• Consider a floral store.
• Start producing excellent content pages for each of your keywords now that you’ve gathered a list of keywords and phrases that best represent your company and brand.
• You should also eye on keyword density–a it’s fine line to walk to avoid oversaturation on your sites. Otherwise, Google could penalize you.
• Create landing pages for each of your items by categorizing them and using keywords in the title tags.
• Create a storey for your blog based on some of the products and services you offer–if you don’t have a writer on staff, use a freelance service like HARO (Help A Reporter Out) or hire a graduate student as an intern, ideally with SEO experience.
• It’s also a good idea to eye on what your competitors are doing and attempt to figure out how you might improve. Find out what some of your users are having trouble with and provide fresh solutions.
• It’s best for your blogs between 1,000 and 2,000 words long–this will show that you spent enough time on the site without overloading your readers with too much content.
• Including photos is also a good SEO technique since you can utilise alt tags to incorporate keywords, allowing you to use your visuals to help you rank higher.
• Once your blog is up, post it on social networking sites like Facebook, LinkedIn, and Reddit to increase traffic to your website.

Target long-tail keywords and post client testimonials

• Post your firm’s portfolio or latest job page to generate interest in your company. Post photographs of some of the properties you’ve recently painted (with the owners’ consent, of course) if you operate a painting firm. Use this chance to include long-tail keywords in some of the alt tags or picture captions so that Google can index them.
• On the homepage of your website, you may also display client testimonials and reviews.
• Long-tail keyword targeting is a form of SEO that allows you to target a specific region or place. Transform each case into content on your website to increase the likelihood of organic visitors.
• Don’t skimp on your research; look for particular long-tail keywords with low volume but high-quality leads. With all of the developments and advancements in your business, and be the first to report on new trends, positioning yourself as the go-to source for certain subjects before anyone else.

Build a backlink network

• As previously noted, HARO is an excellent networking tool for bloggers. On a daily basis, it assists reporters in locating a wealth of materials for forthcoming articles and media coverage.
• It connects authors who wish to build high-quality backlinks from a variety of authoritative websites.
• Focusing on giving high-quality information on the requests, practical methods, and resources is the key to gaining connections from your HARO activities.

Create online tools for your industry

• Create a one- to two-minute YouTube video that outlines your company’s mission and some of its most popular items. Upload it and make sure the metadata on the back end is complete. This is where you may use keywords from the video’s meta description and tags in your meta description.
• Once your link is online, pick “Embed” from the “Share” menu underneath the video and paste it into your website. Copy and paste the code above the fold on your website (In internet speak, that means within the top half of your landing page).
• A weekly podcast is another type of multimedia you should consider putting on your website. The same principle applies: record a podcast and send the MP3 or MP4 to Libsyn or Buzzsprout to ensure that your audio is disseminated to major podcast networks like iTunes, Google Play, iHeartRadio, Spotify, and others. During the uploading procedure, these programmes also allow you to fill in metadata and keyword tags.
• Another approach to improve your results is to convert your podcast audio into a YouTube video, which can then be integrated into your website.
• Both of these strategies will boost user engagement and time on site, lowering your bounce rate and improving your Google results.

Repurpose your content

• Repurpose a blog you’ve written into an infographic or how-to video, using the same keyword strategies as before on the back end.
• You may also create a blog out of a webinar by gathering questions from attendees and turning them into a FAQ page for your website or a series of blogs addressing each issue.

Create internal links and sitemap

• If you have a new website, you should take the following steps to improve your internet visibility:

1. Create a link building campaign

The better the quality and number of links, the stronger the brand authority and domain authority, and the higher the search engine visibility ranks.

2. Create internal links on your content

Internal linking makes it easier for people to traverse your website, resulting in a more structured structure that boosts your total domain authority.

3. Create a sitemap page

A sitemap shows every possible page on your website that’s categorized and structured. Each page on your website has a unique identity so having a sitemap will make a stronger case for Google as to why that page belongs to your website. Even if your website starts out relatively small, be proactive and add pages to your sitemap once you start building, getting the ranking factor completed as soon as possible.

Post job listings

• Create a job posting on one of the many online employment sites, such as Indeed, Glassdoor, or LinkedIn. Prospects want to learn more about your firm before applying, so include keywords in your job descriptions and provide links to your website.

Promote giveaways and discounts

• Giveaways and discounts, whether through email campaigns or CTAs on your homepage, are a wonderful way to increase visitors.
• Create an incentive by delivering a message that leads people to your site with a giveaway such as a gift card, a free item or service, a prize for introducing a friend, or a promotional discount if you’re currently sending promotional emails to your client list. (The Charming Charlie example below offers an eye-catching CTA offering a 10% off discount for loyal customers who waited for the firm to rebrand and are now being rewarded for their patience.)
• For keyword use, make use of the CTA button and promo codes.
• Creating a feeling of urgency is another effective approach to increase traffic.

Be user-friendly

• Create a website that is well-organized, well-coded, visually appealing, and user-friendly.
• Make sure it takes less than three seconds to load. (Metrics show that if the load time surpasses that amount, visitors will leave.)
• Create a mobile-friendly version of your website utilizing responsive design so that it isn’t confined to desktops. Many people purchase or do research on their phones, so make sure your site is easy to browse on a smaller screen.
• Create relevant material that is simple to understand for the typical member of your target audience.

Benchmark against competitors

• Benchmarking is the process of comparing your company’s business operations and performance indicators to industry benchmarks and best practices.
• It’s important to remember that not all SEO concepts apply to all websites.
• Examine your industry, in particular, to determine what works and what doesn’t.
• Choose two or three top firms in your sector that generate a lot of organic traffic and make a list of key performance indicators (KPIs) like the number of linking domains, the number of keywords they rank for, the volume of organic traffic, and so on.
• Do this on a monthly basis, and create a spreadsheet that you can update often to track progress and metrics.

The SEO waiting game

My final piece of SEO advice is to remember to be patient no matter what you do. One disadvantage of putting in so much SEO effort is that the changes are slow and results take time to appear, so don’t be disheartened if your website doesn’t improve right away.

It also doesn’t imply that all of your efforts were in vain; SEO is a full-time profession in many aspects, requiring you to follow Google’s numerous rules and regulations on a daily basis. When the traffic bump comes in and conversions start pouring in, it’ll all be worth it.