Every business needs an online presence. Whether it’s an interactive multimedia experience or a simple virtual business card, an effective business website can be one of the best ways to drive revenue and expand your customer base. Even a basic site can do this, if it has the correct Search Engine Optimization (SEO).
SEO for Your Business Website
SEO is the process of driving the maximum number of visitors to your site, usually by taking actions that push the site higher in search engine results. A business website with good SEO has a clear structure and easy navigation, along with high-quality content that helps visitors solve a problem or answer a question.
If you don’t come from a marketing or web design background, SEO can seem confusing or overwhelming. Fortunately, many of the technical tasks are fairly straightforward, once you know where to go. Below are five easy wins to get your SEO journey started on the right foot.
Invite Interaction
Make it very easy for people to reach out to you. You should have a dedicated Contact Us page with a form for visitors to submit a message. The page should also clearly display the business’s general email, phone number, social media links, and (if relevant) physical address. Additionally, every page on your site should have essential contact information in the footer and a link to the Contact Us page.
Stake Your Claim
Verify your business with Google. This allows you to update your information in Google’s business listings. You or your webmaster should also claim your website on the Google Search Console. This gives you access to several free SEO tools, which you’ll need for the next three tasks.
Remember Mobile Users
Run a Mobility Usability report to check if your site is optimized for mobile users. This is crucial for businesses relying on foot traffic. Even if you don’t, it’s important to ensure your site behaves well on mobile browsers, as mobile internet traffic continues to increase at an exponential pace.
Label Things Clearly
Make sure your pages’ titles and URLs are clear and correct. The page title appears in the first line of search engine results, while the URL appears after the page description. Google relies heavily on both when indexing websites and pulling results. You can use the Search Console to see if your titles and URLs are up to scratch.
Leave a Map
Submit an XML sitemap to Google using the Search Console. This will help the Google crawlers index your site quickly and correctly. (Crawlers are programs that automatically find and scan websites, making the site’s content available to search engines.) Alternatively, you can add the sitemap to your robots.txt file.
If all of this is making your head spin, give us a call! Our expert marketing team can take care of every aspect of your online presence, from assessing your SEO to launching digital ad campaigns. We work with you to create effective strategy, manage ongoing projects, and ensure you get the maximum value out of your marketing budget.
