Krista Basham — March 12, 2018 The Content Marketing Institute found that 86% of B2C marketers are using content marketing to draw traffic. To make content marketing successful, knowledge of search engine optimization basics is necessary to use business sites effectively. In B2C marketing, the individual customer is the primary target for marketing, which means information must be relevant and attract a core audience.
When creating and managing content, it’s important to remember that in B2C, SEO content involves both onsite and offsite content. Onsite SEO involves your website, titles, and content. Offsite SEO involves inbound links from external websites – such as press releases and guest blogs that link back to your site. Both are important, so be sure to have a mix for SEO optimization.
Optimize Your Local Area SEO Content
To make your business stand out to consumers, concentrate on the local market. Mobile searching is the most common method used to find local businesses in 2018, so make sure that your business is near the top of Google’s search results. The best way to do this is to claim your Google My Business Listing and add as much information as possible to the listing. It’s a good idea to list multiple services or products in the business description section to widen your audience.
Another pertinent piece of dominating the local market is to make it a priority to request reviews for your business. Claiming your Google My Business listing will allow you to respond to reviews, both positive and negative. Encourage satisfied customers to leave reviews for your business to help you stand out from your competition. Do not offer incentives to consumers for leaving reviews, as the Federal Trade Commission forbids this.
Use Descriptive Title Tags and Headers
Choosing the right keywords to use in descriptive titles, tags, and headers can optimize your site. While it may seem that keywords for your site are straightforward, that may not be the case. A tour guide business in San Francisco could improve its keywords by determining what its audience is seeking. Keywords could include San Francisco tour book, tourist guide to San Francisco, sites to see in San Francisco, and private tours in San Francisco.
Luckily, websites are available to help you think outside the box. These sites are free and allow you to type in keywords to find more suggestions:
These sites can help you optimize your title tag and headers, which will work to draw more traffic to your site. The addition of keywords will also help users find the content most relevant to their searches, which will lead them to your business.
Add Products to Google Shopping
Google Shopping is not just for large businesses, it can easily be set up for small businesses too. To begin with, be sure that you have quality product images online. Photos that are in focus and professional will signal to consumers that your business is legitimate and has high quality standards. Images for Google Ads should be 250 x 250 pixels and can be up to 4MB in size. The photos must be of high quality and will be the most time-consuming step in the process.
The second step is to create a free Google Merchant account, by uploading product information. This will enable you to create shopping campaigns to help drive sales. An additional perk for small businesses is the location-based technology, which will allow local shoppers to view in-stock options to visit the brick and mortar store.
Once you have a strong picture library and a merchant account, you will need to optimize the Google data feed. These fields include everything from description and pricing to tax amount and will be completed through the Google Merchant site. Google shopping is a time-consuming method of marketing but will be a huge draw for revenue if done correctly.
Engage Customers Through Social Media
Every small business owner understands that social media is a necessity for marketing. What many owners fail to realize is that social media platforms bring noticeable results when properly used. Instead of one-way advertising, social media accounts need to be used as a means of two-way communication between business owners and consumers. There must be interaction between both parties to build customer engagement.
Focus on adding new social media content at least weekly. This can include current events, local news, new products, and links to relevant articles. Once the posts have been updated, be sure to like and respond to comments from followers. Keep conversations flowing and build relationships around that loyalty. It is also important to check your social media accounts daily to answer inquiries and questions from followers. Being actively engaged will show your customers that you are professional and receptive to their needs.
Use Google Analytics for Data Collection
Google truly is your friend when it comes to managing your business. Google Analytics is a commonly overlooked tool that will track visitors to your site, and it is very easy to use. Once properly established, the data will relay exactly how many visitors your site is receiving, where they live, which posts on your site are most popular, and which marketing tool has driven the user to your page.
To begin, you will need to create a Google Analytics account, which can be the same account used to open your merchant account. Once created, you will need to fill out general information about your site, including site name, URL, industry, and time zone. It will then give you the option for shared data settings; choose all recommended. You will then sign up for a tracking code that will be applied to every page you would like to track. Once the tracking begins, you will be able to view the data from the pull-down menu in the top-right portion of the screen.
Seek SEO Help for Small Business
SEO is an entire field of knowledge that is just the tip of the iceberg to optimizing content for B2C businesses. Many business owners may not be tech-savvy or lack the time to add much in the way of SEO. If this is the case, hire someone to help. To stay competitive in a modern market, you should view SEO as an investment, not an option.
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