Search Engine Optimization is the world’s most used practice for improving website’s technical configurations, the content on the website for maximum visibility on search engine platforms like Google, Bing etc. Any business can rank top on these platforms with the help of SEO. Whenever a user or consumer searches a topic or a product on these search engines, they see websites of different businesses ranked on many parameters. As a small business, it’s difficult to stand in the market, but with the use of SEO they can give quite a competition and get the desired traffic on their website. Further in this blog, we will be elaborating the importance of SEO for small businesses and what mistakes should every small business avoid when working on SEO.
Why do you need SEO?
There are numerous advantages of SEO but the top three are:
- Boosts Brand Awareness
What does small business basically desire?
To let the world know about your brand and get maximum traffic for better revenue. When the searchers will start resolving queries with the help of your website, it will encourage them to come next time whenever they face a query.
- Drives Organic Traffic
One of the most crucial reasons for you to invest and utilize SEO as it helps in generating organic traffic. Its free traffic from users searching on search engines like Firefox, Bing, Google etc. There are many advantages of getting organic traffic such as they have a tendency of being a qualifying lead and are sustainable for the long term.
- Increases Brand Reputation
Brand reputation is one thing which everyone wants to grow, as the more reputation your brand has, there are huge chances that a user who knows about you will definitely click on your website for his queries. SEO helps you in reputation management. You can navigate users easily once your brand is ranking high in the search engine platforms.
Big SEO red flags for any small business
Now you are aware of what SEO is and why you need it. Following is a detailed list of SEO mistakes which small companies should avoid at any cost.
- No Meta Tags
This is one of the most common SEO mistakes which small businesses commit. Never ignore Meta tags. Meta tags have a deep impact on your SEO even if it is not a direct ranking factor. Take out some time to create improvised and optimized Meta tags. You can view the preview and check the response of Meta tags too. If you feel the need to optimize then please do it.
Keep three things in mind
- ● Meta tag is descriptive in nature
- ● Meta tag should include necessary keywords
- ● Meta tag should be in the acceptable character limit
I know creating such Meta tags takes time and a lot of attention but doing this will boost your SEO and organic traffic rates for sure.
For more information or guidance in creating a Meta tag, you can connect with a digital marketing company in Texas.
- No Internal Link Building
Linking is one aspect which small businesses tend to forget.
Whenever you are creating content for your business, there should always be links between your blogs and pages. Doing this provides an opportunity for customers to visit your site and have a look at other content your site is offering. Linking is an easy way of navigating users in the direction you want. Linking will improve your conversation rates too.
Another main reason for building links is to provide equity across your site which in turn leads to better ranking on search engines.
If you need assistance then there is the best digital marketing company in Texas which has been globally recognized for their work and has helped many small businesses.
- No SEO Plug-in
This is one of the biggest blunders which small businesses don’t work on when working on SEO. SEO plug-in plays a crucial role in optimizing your content and website.
An SEO Plug-in will let you edit and optimize Meta data. It will convert the page title and Meta description into codes and are used by search engines. So not having an SEO Plug-in can decrease your online presence.
WordPress SEO plug-ins are most popular throughout the world as it provides a variety and is easy to use. But if you are still facing difficulty or do not have time to use one, then hire the best SEO Company.
- Ignoring Local SEO
For any service based business which usually relies on people walking and visiting should have Local SEO as a priority. Local SEO relates to those businesses which target an audience by location. For instance, if you are running a business of car mechanics, your services will be limited by location. Therefore stand and rank on top of your competition according to your location, you require Local SEO.
Local SEO can be quite challenging because of the competition and other brands reputation, you can make use of AdsRole, the best SEO company which is recognized for their work on Local SEO.
- No Schema Markup On Posts And Pages
Schema markup is also essential for your pages and posts to get maximized traffic. These are usually codes which you put in between pages and posts for providing assistance to search engine platforms in understanding the content you have on your website. This usually leads to better indexing and helps in generating leads by giving a higher rank to your page or website. Schema markup is also known as structured data. One main benefit of using schema markup is that it assists searching platforms to come up with rich results.
If you aren’t sure how to begin with or are unable to find the best location on your page or post, you can refer to Texas SEO services for assistance.
- No Image Optimization
Images are great ways of exciting and influencing visitors to interact with your content. Optimizing images according to the audience you target will give a better view and understanding of your content to the users. Images have a tendency to slow down your site and may even affect your SEO but all this will not matter if your image can express emotions and content. Nobody likes to read paragraphs if they can clearly understand it through images.
Few creative ways to optimize your Images are:
- ● Use the correct image format.
- ● Make the image names descriptive in nature.
- ● Add Facebook thumbnails.
- ● Add Twitter cards.
- Paying Attention to Traffic only.
This is a most common red flag which small businesses make with their SEO practices. Traffic is important but don’t focus on it alone. Conversion rate matters. A huge traffic will make no sense if you can’t convert them. Instead of paying attention to traffic, focus on exciting and influencing visitors.
Easiest way to do that is by performing intent based keyword research and analysis as it will make you construct and create content which is meeting the search intent of visitors.
This is a tricky part and many small businesses are facing problems because of it. My suggestion would be to hire a marketing company in Texas as they are specialized in this field and have helped businesses achieve maximum conversion rates.
- No Connection With Google Search Console(GSC)
GSC is a free tool provided by Google which performs an analysis on your website and comes up with suggestions to make them better.
Many small businesses never connect their website to GSC and hence they never know where they are lacking.
Following are the ways in which GSC can help you:
- ● Analyze clicks and impressions of your site.
- ● Analyze the position of your site on Google.
- ● Submit sitemaps and new content for indexing.
- ● Analyze which search query makes your site appear on top of the search results.
If you are still facing problems with Google Search Console, it’s not a big deal, there are many online marketing companies which you can connect with and get these done easily.
One of the best SEO company is AdsRole which is currently at the top of any search engine platform, they have helped many small businesses and have the most affordable SEO packages as compared with its competitors. Also it has been globally recognized by Clutch and many more institutions.
In conclusion, SEO plays a very important role for small businesses. It is a cost effective strategy in comparison with traditional ways of marketing. As small businesses are limited with budget they often tend to compromise on many aspects. By investing in SEO techniques such as keywords, content creation and website development, small businesses can move on a path to unimaginable success. In today’s competitive world, it’s very difficult for small businesses to compete and be successful. Avoiding SEO practices and committing these mistakes will hurt their business more than they can imagine. Only by fully understanding SEO and the ways it can be used, one can boost up their sales and generate revenue.
