Paul Morris
If you are the owner of a small business, you probably already know how hard it is to increase your visibility in search engine results. Marketing your business online is tough as the fight for space on search engine results pages (SERPs) has never been more competitive. But, by following SEO best practices and a few simple guidelines, you should start seeing positive results sooner rather than later.
Top SEO tips for your business
If your company generally does business in one particular region, it is vital that Google recognises this, which means you must be very clear where you are based. For example, if you are a plumber in Bristol or [insert your location here], make sure you mention it on your homepage and about us page. Following Google’s “Pigeon” algorithm update, the search engine now favours local businesses when people in your area enter a query, but unless you make this clear, you may miss out on the benefits. In addition, make sure you have a local listing on Google+ as this can make a big difference to the visibility of your site.
However, the biggest thing you can do now to improve your ranking is create engaging, original and good quality content for your site. We can’t stress enough how important this is, and you should never, ever use content copied from another site. Doing this will see your site penalised – it could drop down by as much as several hundred pages. No content at all is better than duplicated content and you should also avoid “black hat” tactics that some web agencies still use. This involves spamming multiple links and “stuffing” keywords into your content by mentioning the same terms over and over again.
Also, if you have social media accounts on the likes of Facebook and Twitter, you should aim to be as descriptive as possible when talking about your business. You should also ensure there are plenty of links back to your site and interact with people rather than just trying to aggressively sell your product or services.
Basically, if an agency promises they can get you on the front page of Google in a week, they are lying. Good SEO is a long-term investment that over time, will work wonders for your business.
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