7 SEO Strategies for Your Small Business Website

Search engine optimization (SEO) is crucial if you want your small business to stand out online. Tailoring your website for SEO establishes your online presence, making it easier to gain new customers, encourage return customers, and stand out from the crowd. 

If you’re ready to top local search and take advantage of your online presence, read on for 7 SEO strategies every local business should try. 

Why SEO is Important for Small Businesses

SEO. You’ve heard about it. You know you need to do it. But why is it important?

Imagine you want to take yourself, a friend, or your family to go apple picking. You want to have the best experience possible. You’re really looking forward to this activity. The only problem is, you don’t know any local orchards that offer apple picking. Where do you turn? Probably a search engine—most likely Google. Local businesses that have taken full advantage of local SEO are going to show up in your Google search results first—this makes them more likely to secure you as a customer.

It’s all about getting found online. The more you tailor your website to the preferences of popular search engines, the more you’ll show up in potential customers’ searches.

7 SEO Strategies to Help Your Small Business’s Online Presence

Not sure where to get started? Let’s talk about 7 strategies that are worth trying.

1. Target the Right Keywords

Search engine optimization pretty much boils down to one thing: keywords. The wording that you choose for your website, blog content, social media platforms, online business profile, etc. should all include keywords that make it super easy for customers to find you.

For local businesses, focusing on local SEO is especially essential. Choosing the right keywords gets you a higher ranking in search engine results. But if you are in a large or saturated market, you need to use words that show local customers you’re the obvious choice. For example, if you have a shoe store, you probably won’t show up in the top search results for the keywords “women’s shoes” but you are likely to rank a lot higher for “women’s shoes in Denver, CO.”

Choosing the right terms takes a little keyword research. When getting started, think about which relevant keywords your customers are likely to associate with your small business—get as detailed as you can. 

Better yet, check out SEO tools that can help with keyword research like SEMrush, Google Keyword Planner, and Ahrefs.

2. Optimize Your Google Business Profile

Search engines, especially Google, are invested in offering the most relevant search results to each user. The more relevant your keywords are to your customer, the higher you’ll rank.

It isn’t just your website that needs to be built around local SEO; this rule extends to your Google Business Profile too. Your Google Business Profile is a huge make-or-break component for small business owners online. This is where customers get to see your phone number, location, business hours, reviews, pictures of your product or building, etc. 

Customers need to see—immediately—that your local business is what they’re looking for. And optimizing your Google Business Profile with all the right information will increase your website traffic, leading to higher conversion rates. 

3. Ensure Name, Address, and Phone Number (NAP) Consistency

 Just like in any real life relationship, consistency is key to securing and delighting your customers. A confused customer won’t buy. Plus, it matters to search engines too. 

Keep the name, address, and phone number (NAP) of your local business consistent across all web platforms, from your business profile to your website and more. Consistency reduces confusion for your customers and mistakes by search engines processing your information for search result delivery and ranking. 

4. Optimize Onsite Content 

Making your onsite content digestible for people makes it easier for search engines to digest the content too. This looks like keeping your content easily readable with clear, meaningful (re: use your keywords!!), structured headings. 

You can also use keywords in your URLs and title tags to make your content easily findable and clearly demonstrate its relevance to your users. Meta descriptions are short summaries of what a piece of onsite content is about and are another great place to use keywords and phrases that make it easy for customers to find you.

One of the best ways to optimize your onsite content is by using keywords in your articles and landing pages. This longer-form content on your most frequently visited web pages will make a huge difference for your small business SEO.

5. Create a Blog (and Publish Consistently) 

In case you haven’t caught on already, consistency is key. There are a lot of factors to priming blog content for your small business SEO, but it is well worth the effort.

A blog is the perfect platform for continually adding in keywords that build the relevance of your website. Regular blogging also allows you to build ongoing relationships with your customers by positioning you as a dependable information source. Make a goal to post a blog weekly, bi-monthly, or however often works for you. Just keep it consistent, and make it a goal to get your blog posts listed in local search results.

6. Use Text Instead of Images (When Possible)

A picture is worth a thousand words, but not for search engines. While beautifully curated images can add a ton of value to your content, they aren’t keywords that search engines can use.

Relying on text gives you more opportunities to use keywords and boost your search engine rankings, making it easier for your customers to find you. This doesn’t mean you can’t use images—those are really valuable, too, so try to find a happy balance. Know also that your image use might vary a lot depending on which type of small business you have (for example, photography vs. computer repair).

When it comes to striking the balance, ask yourself, “Could this be text, or is it more important to keep it as an image?” 

7. Decrease Your Page Load Speeds

Today’s market is moving faster than ever. Your customers expect speed, and so do search engines. 

If it takes too long for a page to load, you’ve lost your customer. Likewise, slow loading speeds make it less likely for search engines to crawl all the relevant content on your small business website simply because it’s taking too long.

You can check your page load speeds using tools like PageSpeed Insights. If your load speed is too slow, there are lots of options for improvement. These options can include: optimizing images by compressing them for the web, removing bottlenecks to server response time, and more. You can research to figure out which option will work best for you.

Get Started With Podium Today

Coming up with a killer SEO strategy is just the beginning of making your website work for you. Ready to take your digital presence to the next level and start generating serious sales? Check out our Guide to Local Business Websites for more tips on how to create a website that attracts leads and helps you grow your business.