If you own a small business and want to jump into the online business world, ranking is tough. Maybe this is because of the competition here. Or maybe you can’t optimize your website properly.
An SEO checklist will be helpful to help you get rid of the situation. That’s why I’m here with SEO tips for small businesses. I don’t guarantee this will rank your website, as SEO is much more than a checklist, but ranking will be more difficult if you miss any of these points.
So, here is my small business SEO checklist you must follow to strengthen your SEO efforts. If you’re just starting your SEO journey or stuck somewhere in the middle, it’ll help.
Small Business SEO Checklist You Shouldn’t Miss
Know Your Customers
If you don’t know your customers, don’t do business. You must have a target customer segment whom you’ll convince. How will you do this if you don’t know them?
So, know your customers first. Identify how they search for things online. Know the platform they use the most. Make sure they have a problem that you’re solving. Understand how they search when they want to buy your product.
Doing this will help you to do great in the next point- keyword research.
Research the Keywords
Keyword is the words or groups of words your target customers use to search for your product online. You can’t boost your online business without finding the keywords and ranking on the searches.
The easiest way to research keywords is using search engines. Write your product or service name in the search bar, and you’ll see a list of keywords. Among them, pick the ones that go with your product or service. This method gives your keywords for free, but you don’t have insights like Keyword Difficulty, Search Volume, etc.
Keyword research tools can help you here. Several free and paid keyword research tools exist online that help you find keywords with valuable insights.
While researching, use synonyms to get a variety of keywords. Also, add adjectives (colour, size, etc.), use cases (gifting, touring, etc.), special days (Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, etc.), numbers (set, dozen, etc.), and more to find specific long-tail keywords.
Make a list of the major keywords and long-tail keywords you’ll use.
Create Quality Content
Quality content is content that offers value to the visitors. The main content of a small business website is the product or service page.
When it is a product page, it should include everything customers might want to know before buying the product. Product specifications, special features, customer reviews, buying options, and other information should be there.
In the case of service pages, you should give a complete overview of the service.
Also, if you add a blog section to the site, post on topics that add value to your potential customers. Use keyword research to search for post ideas.
Use Keywords the Right Way
Using keywords in the wrong way doesn’t help you. So, you should use them carefully. For this- don’t use multiple main keywords on a page. Also, don’t optimize multiple pages for one main keyword.
Long-tail keywords should be spread throughout the article. Don’t push any keywords. Bring them naturally into your content.
Title Tag and Meta Description
Don’t forget to put the keyword at the beginning of your title tag. Doing this makes sure that your keyword is visible to the visitors.
Also, put the main and one long-tail keyword in the meta description. They help search engines recognize the purpose of the page.
Heading and Subheading
The heading must contain the keyword, too. Also, if possible, keep the keyword in one of the subheadings.
However, don’t push it much. Try to keep it perfect for the visitors, not search engines.
Internal Linking
Internal linking means connecting a page to another page from your website. Besides helping visitors find necessary resources, it engages visitors for a long time. Also, it helps search engines better understand the site.
So, make sure you’ve done relevant internal linking.
Build Relevant Backlinks
Backlinks are there to uphold your website. So, don’t forget to make quality backlinks from relevant websites. Avoid irrelevant and low-quality backlinks. Invest wisely.
Make sure your backlink profile contains multiple types of links. Building only one type of backlink frequently is not the way to rank.
Fix Technical Issues
Focus on technical things like mobile-friendliness, site speed, etc. Optimize technical SEO to ensure no technical issue is preventing your SEO efforts.
Utilize Social Media
If your target audience is involved in social media, you can utilize that. Build social media pages and create attractive posts to attract the audience. Quality posts and consistency will bring you great results. You can take visitors to your website from social media platforms.
Final Verdict
The small business SEO checklist above will help you build a strong base for your website. So, save it for later. Don’t miss any of them. Focus on each carefully.
The SEO tips for small business in this checklist can’t suddenly take you to the top. You also need to focus on other SEO actions based on the competition. In that case, DotMirror can help you. If you need SEO help for small business, don’t hesitate to contact us.
