What are some SEO problems small business owners face? There
are many SEO problems for small business. In this article we will focus on
three: keyword research, on-site SEO, and local SEO. Each of these issues could
cover an article in and of itself so we’ll be brief, and give you some quality
information that you can begin using today.
Keyword research
Why is keyword research such a big SEO problem for small
businesses? Keyword research is not something most small business owners know
how to do. Many small business owners think that they can build the content and
the keywords will come. In fact, it works the other way around. You need to do
your keyword research before you build your content and structure of your
website. You must keep doing research as you continue to add new content,
update content and create content for your business blog.
Understanding the search terms your customers use to find
you online is very important. You will want to think of different ways that
people could potentially search for your online. This includes using long tail
keywords and local keywords. Long tail keywords have less competition and make
great sense for a small business to use.
You can use many tools to find relevant keywords. Google’s
Keyword Planner is just one. You should group your keywords into categories so
that you can build your content in a logical manner. With proper keyword
research, you will know which keywords mean the most for your business. You
will want to optimize for them first.
On-Site SEO
Another big SEO problem that small businesses face is
performing on-site SEO. On-site SEO is a specific series of actions you can take
to make a user’s experience enjoyable and informative. It includes the title
tags and meta descriptions you use on the page. These will show up in search
engines and should entice people to click through to your website. Your title
tag should be your page’s primary keyword and the meta description should
include it in a natural and actionable way. Your web pages themselves should be
named according to the keywords they are written about. Yes, your URLs should
include keywords. Not only is it good for SEO, it is helpful for the user to
understand the topic from the URL.
You will also need to have a good structure for your website
content. Think of your website as a filing cabinet. The site is the cabinet,
the drawers within you cabinet are the subjects or categories you’ll be
focusing on and the files within the drawers are subsections and the documents
are the pages.
Finally, you will need to have great website content. You
should write well, with no grammatical errors. You should focus your content on
relevant keywords and topics. Your content should be informative and written
for people as well as for search engines.
Local SEO
Many businesses ignore local SEO altogether, and that’s a
shame. Small businesses have the most to gain from local SEO. Local SEO means
that you include your location in your keywords, title tags, and meta
descriptions. You do it seamlessly so that it your content flows naturally. You
should also add your business to directories and citation sites. Make sure you
keep your name, address and phone number, or NAP, consistent across the board.
This will keep people from getting confused about your location. You will
definitely want to submit your business to the Google My Business directory.
It’s a highly visible directory and one that can help your search engine
rankings in Google.
We encourage you to find out more about these topics on our
blog. We look forward to teaching you the ins and outs of
small business SEO.
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