Tuesday 11 March 2014

SEO Tips for Small Business Owners



If you are an owner of a small business and have just begun your social media campaign, you must have realized that the complexity and depth of search engine optimization are endless. It is a common tendency for small business owners to get inclined towards the do-it-yourself approach. However, in most cases, it results in a sloppy implementation, which is stuffed with keywords and irrelevant web pages. In fact, some of these implementations are so sloppy that they are classified by Google as spam. As a result, they are ranked lowly in the search results. 

Starting and running a new business can be particularly challenging. The daily errands of running a business are so complex that brand management and internet marketing tend to take the back seat. Moreover, they are not experts in this domain. Therefore, there is no guarantee of success. SEO campaigns, which are not handled in a proper manner, are a common phenomenon these days. Here are a few tips that you, as a small business owner, can use, to make your SEO efforts effective and efficient. 

Identify your Target Audience

You cannot expect to achieve success at SEO unless you concentrate on the basics and get them right. You must realize that you are selling an offering and unless you know whom your customers are, you will not be able to design a program that can compel them to have a look at your offering. Therefore, your product or service should be your primary keyword and everything else should revolve around this keyword.  

Broaden the Focus of your Keyword 

Most of us like the idea of thinking like a user and deciding the keyword. However, in some cases, you may not be able to predict the user behavior well enough. Therefore, it is always good to do some research before zeroing down on the primary keyword. 

Refine the Page-to-Page Connectivity of your Website

A website is considered well-designed only if your users are able to move from one webpage to another effortlessly. Therefore, your website will generate good traffic if the relevant pages of your website are intuitively connected. 

Keep Dynamic Keywords

You may have found that a particular keyword generates more traffic than other keywords. However, it is important for you to realize that search trends change rapidly. Therefore, experiment with your keywords because there is no guarantee that one keyword will work better than others. 

Use Social Media

If you are looking to generate traffic on a long term basis, then there is no tool better than social media. In fact, many agencies are exploring the potential of social media for attracting attention and developing a follower base for your product or service.  

In addition to the ones mentioned above, you must also look for areas with no competition and develop content that is high quality and high performing. Lastly, it is beneficial to remember that the key to the success of your SEO efforts is patience. The rankings of your page will not shoot up overnight. However, if you continue to work persistently and patiently towards your goal, you will certainly meet your objectives.