November 1, 2021
Search engine optimization is a complicated process, but it's an important one. As search engines grow smarter and search algorithms improve, search engine rankings become more difficult to achieve. But don't worry! This blog post will teach you the ins-and-outs of search engine optimization (SEO). We'll cover five ways that you can increase your website's rankings with SEO - no matter what industry you're in or how much money you have.
Let's kick this off with 5 simple ways that you can improve your small business's search engine results:
1. Content is king
First thing's first: you need to start by writing some great content After all, search engines are just looking for websites that have fresh, relevant information that their users will find useful. It doesn't matter what industry you're in or how much money your company has - every website should be publishing high-quality content on a regular basis (at least once per week).
Content can include things like blog posts, social media updates, downloadable PDFs, interactive tools/calculators, infographics, and videos. If it helps one of your customers accomplish something or makes them feel inspired about solving a problem, then it's worth sharing
2. Build links to your website. Links are like "votes" for search engines, which help determine how valuable/important a particular webpage is (and therefore the search rankings of that page). So what you want to do is find other websites in your industry and reach out to them asking if they would be willing or able to link back to yours. This can come in the form of guest blogging on their blog, sharing relevant content via Twitter, etc. - just make sure not to spam people!
Build links slowly over time so that search engines understand exactly who's linking back and why it makes sense for those two sites/pages. You don't want search engine traffic coming from random places because then the value of each incoming link will drop
3. Use search engine friendly keywords and phrases in your content. This is another important way to increase search rankings, but it can't be done haphazardly - you need to know what search terms people are actually using when they type something into a search box on Google or Bing! Here's where those analytics & keyword tools come into play:
With these tools, you'll have access to information like which keywords/phrases people use most often, how many times per month each one gets searched for online, etc. After all of that research, you should take the top two-to-three target words/phrases and weave them naturally throughout your website/blog posts. Don't stuff too much text with unnecessary keywords because this will only annoy search engine bots and users.
4. Optimize your website and blog for mobile search. This is a really important one especially if you're trying to reach people who search on their phones because search engines are now more likely to show mobile-friendly websites in search results. So if your site isn't responsive or you have a "substandard" website that doesn't load properly on mobile devices, then it might be time for an upgrade
5. Focus on search engine rankings and traffic. This might sound like common sense, but you shouldn't just focus your search marketing efforts on increasing search rankings for one particular page - instead, think about how all of your search strategies can work together to ultimately increase website/blog traffic. After all, the ultimate goal is getting people interested in what you have to offer so that they become customers!
When it comes down to it, search engines are only as smart as we allow them to be. The more effort we put into making our websites worth visiting (i.e., publishing great content), the higher up those sites will rank when users type specific queries into a search bar and click "search." this blog post helps clarify some things about search engine optimization and how to use it as a marketing/business tool.
If your small business needs assistance climbing up the ladder on search results, contact Oddball Creative. We perform search engine optimization for clients in Owensboro, KY.
