Spring is coming. Bright green blades of grass are beginning to peek up from under leaves on the ground, bulging flower buds are preparing to burst, bringing radiant flowers back into the world and along with all this new life comes a feeling of rejuvenation. It’s time to spruce things up for your online business.
Here are 5 SEO tips you can do this spring to add growth, color and life back into your organic marketing campaign.
1. Dust Off That Blog
The cliché “Content is King” can be cast in many different lights but in this case, we’re going to view it from an SEO perspective. Regularly adding content to your websites blog shows search engines like Google that your business is alive. A stagnant site is a boring site and there is no reason for users to keep coming back if you don’t have something new and exciting to offer each time.
Where do you start? Well, you need to start by adding 500 words of content to your blog a week but make it a goal to hit 2,000 by the time spring starts.
Do you need some ideas for adding content? Search for blogs in your niche. You don’t need to copy them but looking at what they are doing will most likely spur some ideas.
2. Shake Out Those Old Social Media Accounts
Yeah, I know. You already have your social media accounts set up, but are you using them?
Social Media signals are proving to have slightly more of an affect on SEO then they have in the past and so they should. If you stop and think about it – links from social profiles to your website are backlinks. The only question is how much authority do they actually pass? Why Google tries to figure that out let’s make it a goal to start posting more!
Post once a week to start. Then, after a bit, bump it up to twice a week. Before you know it you’ll be thinking “Oh, I should post this!” every time you see an article or meme that you think your customers would like.
If you’re looking to save time while managing multiple accounts a social media management tools like Hoot Suite. It can come in handy when you want to submit to Facebook, Twitter and Google+ all at once.
3. Clean-Up That Clutter On Your Landing Pages
How does landing page optimization improve SEO you ask? This reason won’t surprise you. In fact, it will make perfect sense.
Improving engagement on your landing pages directly affects your bounce rate (BR) and click through rate (CTR) which are pretty much the same thing but that’s for another day.
Decreasing your bounce rate tells search engines that people like your website. In the end, search engines are all about the user experience. If they fell like users are not finding what they are looking for then why should they keep sending them back?
Using a tool like Crazy Egg to do A/B testing to fix roadblocks, boring titles and poor performing pages in general. With all the testing you’ll be doing you’ll likely increase sales too, so it’s a win-win really.
4. Lastly, Plant Some SEO Seeds
SEO seeds, in this case, are inbound links that serve a dual purpose. The first being that they are placed with the sole purpose of driving potential traffic to your site and the second purpose is that they placed on trusted sites that may pass authority to boost your natural search rankings.
Here are 3 quick ideas for how to accomplish this:
Blogger Outreach
Look for key influencers in your niche and get to know them. When the time is right, reach out and ask them if you can contribute. If that doesn’t work, then be prepared to transfer some funds over from the marketing budget. They may offer sponsored reviews or blog mentions. When going down this road, it’s recommended that you follow guidelines set by Google and other search engines on how to properly sponsor posts or advertisement links.
Link Building
Links build authority, it’s a fact. They also generate organic traffic when placed on relevant sites. The question though is how do you get backlinks if you don’t know how to get backlinks?
For the newbie there is a solution, if you know what to look for, it’s SEO software. The most important thing to look for when shopping for SEO software though is a “DIY” version that tells you what to do and does not do it for you. The human element is key to your SEO success. Something like Website Rocket is a perfect example of a “Do It Yourself” SEO platform that can help small business owner learn how and where to get relevant links.
As you build backlinks to your website this spring search engines like Google will become more aware of your business and start sending bits of traffic. Nothing is more invigorating that a website humming with new visitors.
Natural Website Promotion
What’s the best way to reach your customers? Sure, some will tell you that directory submissions are outdated however that’s not entirely true if we’re talking about submitting to local business directories like CitySearch, Foursquare or Better Business Bureau. Consumers all over the U.S. use these directories to find legitimate businesses with great reputations. And if you think adding your site to some of the higher profile (paid) directories doesn’t lend credibility to your rankings then you’re not thinking like Google.
I heard a quote once from a well respected professional that has stuck with me for a long time and I believe it applies directly to business. The saying goes, “Be where you are supposed to be, when you are supposed to be there, doing what you’re supposed to be doing.” I’m a firm believer that if you’re actively engaged in pruning, nurturing and caring for your business that it will grow. Do nothing and nothing will happen. Now it’s time to get to work, mopping the floor with your competition.
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