Small businesses face unique challenges when it comes to search engine optimisation (SEO). They don’t have the brand recognition of larger businesses, often don’t have the budget for expensive SEO campaigns, and may not have the in-house expertise to implement complex SEO strategies.
Despite these challenges, there are a number of SEO opportunities that small businesses can take advantage of to improve their visibility in online searches. With creativity and effort, you can easily take advantage of opportunities that larger businesses miss.
Many small businesses focus their SEO efforts on optimising their website for Google. This is certainly important, but it’s not the only search engine you should be targeting. Bing and Yahoo together account for about 30% of all search traffic, so it’s important to optimise your site for them as well.
Today, we’ll share some of the top SEO opportunities for small businesses. These tips will help you rank higher in online searches and get more traffic to your website.
1. Focus on Niche Keywords
As a small business owner, you have a unique advantage over larger businesses when it comes to keyword selection. You can target niche keywords that larger businesses wouldn’t bother with because they’re too specific.
For example, let’s say you own a small bookstore in Bloomsbury. A large chain bookstore isn’t going to bother optimising for the keyword “best Bloomsbury bookstore” because they’re trying to rank for more general keywords like “bookstore” or “books.” But as a small business, you can focus your SEO efforts on that specific keyword and have a good chance of ranking for it.
2. Optimise Your Pages For Users, Not Search Engines
One common mistake small businesses make with their website is optimising their pages for search engines instead of users. They stuff their pages with keywords to rank higher in online searches, but this comes at the expense of delivering a good user experience.
Instead of focusing on keywords, focus on creating high-quality content that is relevant to your niche. Write for users first and search engines second. If you deliver a good user experience, the search engines will take care of themselves.
3. Build Quality Links for Your Business
It’s a common misconception that you need a ton of links to your website to rank higher in search engine results. This simply isn’t true.
What matters more than the number of links is the quality of those links. A small number of high-quality links from relevant websites will do more to improve your SEO than a large number of low-quality links. For instance, one link from the chamber of commerce or a university website will do more for your SEO than 10 links from random directories.
Moreover, Google’s recent update to its algorithm penalises websites that have a lot of low-quality links. So it’s important to focus on building links from high-quality websites.
4. Ensure User Friendliness of Your Website
As a small business owner, you may not have the budget to hire a professional web design company. However, it’s important to ensure that your website is user-friendly and easy to navigate.
Your website should be designed with your users in mind. It should be easy to find the information they’re looking for, and the navigation should be simple and straightforward. Use a lot of headings and subheadings to help users find what they’re looking for.
Site speed is also important for SEO. Users are impatient, and if your site takes too long to load, they’re likely to bounce back to the search results and click on another result. Make sure your website is optimised for speed and performance.
Finally, you also need to ensure that your website is mobile-friendly. More and more users are using their smartphones to search the internet, so it’s important to ensure your website is designed for mobile devices. Google now penalises websites that are not mobile-friendly, so this is an important SEO consideration.
5. Optimise for Local Searches
If you’re a small business owner, optimising your website for local searches is important. Make sure your website includes your business name, address, and phone number. These are called NAP+W (name, address, phone number, website) citations.
Include your NAP+W information on every website page, and include it in the footer, so it appears on every page. You should also list your business in local directories and review sites. Include keywords in your listing to help improve your chances of ranking higher in local search results. If you have the budget, consider hiring a professional SEO company to help you with your local SEO efforts.
Don’t Forget About Google My Business
Google My Business is a free listing that appears on Google when people search for businesses in their area. As a small business owner, you have the opportunity to claim your business listing and fill out all the information about your business. This is a great way to improve your local SEO.
It is also helpful to get some customer reviews on your Google My Business listing. Reviews help to improve your ranking in local search results.
6. Increase Your Social Visibility
People often forget about social media when they think about SEO, but social media can be a powerful tool to improve your SEO. In fact, social media signals are now a ranking factor for SEO.
When you post something on social media, it has the potential to be seen by thousands or even millions of people. This can increase the reach of your content and help you attract more links and citations.
Make sure you’re active on social media and regularly share your content. You should also include social sharing buttons on your website to make it easy for visitors to share your content on their own social media profiles.
7. Use Your Knowledge to Build Topical Authority
Google loves experts. The more you can position yourself and your business as an expert in your industry, the better.
One way to build topical authority is to create content that covers all aspects of a topic. For example, if you’re a plumber, you could write an article that covers the topic of plumbing from start to finish. This would show Google that you’re an expert on the topic of plumbing.
You can also build topical authority by creating detailed, in-depth content. The more comprehensive your content is, the more likely it is that people will see you as an expert on the topic.
You can also build topical authority by creating content that is updated regularly. This shows Google that you’re keeping up with the latest industry trends and that you’re committed to providing accurate, up-to-date information.
8. Monitor Your SEO Progress and Make Adjustments
As a small business, you need to be proactive about your SEO efforts. You can’t just set your website up and then forget about it. You need to monitor your progress and make adjustments as needed regularly.
You can use free tools like Google Analytics to track your website’s traffic and see where your visitors are coming from. This is valuable information that can help you to adjust your SEO strategy. You should also use Google Search Console to track your website’s performance in the search results. Google Search Console will alert you if there are any issues with your website, such as penalties or errors.
9. Set Your Goals High and Always Be Learning
SEO is a complex and ever-changing field. As a small business, you need to be prepared to invest time and resources into your SEO efforts. The good news is that even a small amount of effort can go a long way.
Set your goals high and always be learning. The more you can educate yourself about SEO, the better equipped you’ll be to take advantage of opportunities and make your small business successful.
10. Be Patient and Seek Professional Help When Needed
SEO can be a lot to handle, especially for small businesses. If you’re feeling overwhelmed, don’t hesitate to seek professional help. Many businesses hire SEO agencies or consultants to help them with their SEO efforts.
SEO takes time, so be patient. It can take months or even years to see the results of your efforts. But if you’re dedicated to improving your SEO, the rewards can be worth the investment.
SEO can be a complex and time-consuming process, but it’s worth the effort for small businesses. By taking advantage of the tips and strategies in this guide, you can improve your website’s ranking in the search results and attract more visitors.
