By now, everyone, their mother, and their mother’s cousin may have heard about Search Engine Optimisation (SEO). The importance of SEO is self-explanatory: you make yourself visible to the people most likely to be looking for your products and services. This in turn increases your brand’s overall awareness, generates more website traffic, and brings in more opportunities to convert prospects into customers.
SEO allows you to lead the customer through your buying process and contributes to your company’s authority as a brand, building trust which then becomes loyalty.
However, as with many branding tactics, how to utilise the best SEO practices to build your business profile may not seem clear. Not to worry, our Mo Works team has compiled a list of things to do.
So how do you get started?
Set up your Google Business Profile
When prospective customers are searching for products, the most visible businesses are the businesses that attract the most attention and traffic. Google business profiles make you more visible on Google Search and Maps, where your potential future customers are searching for you. Make sure you choose the correct business category and that you’re keeping your information up-to-date and accurate!
Optimise content with relevant keywords
Keywords are gold in the world of SEO. Identifying and including keywords relevant to your business, products, and services wherever possible increases your chances of being found by potential customers. Focus on creating high-quality content, and look at your meta titles, meta descriptions, content headings, and any other content you’re creating, and include those keywords! You can also use SEO tools to help you identify which keywords are going to be most useful and relevant to your business. Optimising your content can also decrease your website's carbon footprint, and there’s nothing better in an increasingly green landscape than that.
Ensure your website is mobile-optimised
In an increasingly digitised world, mobile optimisation has been a focus for many companies for years. An average of 82% of mobile users have searched for businesses “near me”. Safe to say it’s one of the more common ways users are able to identify businesses appropriate to their needs. Given the majority of Google searches are made on mobile devices, this is one tactic you should make a priority. Optimising your site for mobile use means creating a smoother experience for all devices, and an easily navigable website increases your chances of a sale.
Look at your reviews
People make decisions based on reviews. Particularly as the world continues to get more and more focused on digitisation and buying and selling online, reviews can make or break a sale. Collect, encourage, respond to, and share the reviews that come your way. Not only do reviews bolster your reputation, but they can also help to enhance your GBP and search visibility on Google.
Utilise local backlinks
Networking is part and parcel of any business’s activities, and something everyone should be working to master. Connect with the local businesses around you and offer to partner together, link to each other's sites, and work together to get listed in local directories. If you’re not sure where to start, create content that other companies in your industry will want to link to. Using the steps above, you’ll increase your visibility and be able to use the content to get in touch with other businesses.
Track your efforts!
Set up a tracking campaign to keep a log of your efforts, with a primary focus on your visibility on Google Search and Maps. There are plenty of new and established digital tools that can assist with tracking, automating, and even content creation. Utilise platforms to track your target keywords in your target area and even device type, and use the information to inform your efforts going forward.
In essence, SEO is about fulfilling your potential customer's search needs by creating and targeting content. Aligning your content with potential customer’s search intent makes it easier for the people looking for your products and services to find you and engage with your business. By connecting every piece of content you create through keywords, you are extending your reach and opening up new opportunities.
Still not sure where to start? That’s why we’re here. Make the first move and get in touch today!
