Update Your SEO Marketing Tactics for Greater Small Business Success

You might believe that SEO is no longer a relevant tool when it comes to marketing for small business, but in truth, SEO has evolved into something that can be more useful than ever, if you’re willing to learn how it has changed, take advantage of those changes, and them implement them as part of your small business marketing strategy in order to increase your chances of success.

As a small business owner, every marketing move you make must bring you some measure of success, as you cannot afford to waste time or money. From Google marketing to making connections with other small business owners in order to form business relationships that may prove profitable in the long run, your tactics must evolve with the times, or you will find yourself left behind. One strategy where you might find yourself lagging is in how you use search engine optimization (SEO) to drive traffic to your website. You might even believe that SEO is no longer a relevant tool when it comes to marketing for small business, but in truth, SEO has evolved into something that can be more useful than ever, if you’re willing to learn how it has changed, take advantage of those changes, and them implement them as part of your small business marketing strategy in order to increase your chances of success. 

Focus on ROI, not Keywords 

You have probably focused a great deal on which keywords will bring the most customers to your website and cause your rankings to climb on Google, but perhaps this focus hasn’t met with the success that you were hoping for. This may even lead you to think that keyword research is no longer relevant; however, while it is still a vital component of any Google marketing strategy, you may want to use it to discover how it’s affecting your return on investment (ROI) in order to measure monetary success. For example, if you own a small photography business in Tampa that specializes in engagement and wedding photography and you’ve been trying to rank for “wedding photography Tampa,” does it do much good for your bottom line if you’re ranking #1 or #2 if you’re not sure what this means for your ROI? Focusing on how infographics, content, and other marketing tools translate into dollars and cents will help you better track which keywords are having the greatest positive impact on your business. 

Create Content for a Mobile Audience 

There is more to small business success than achieving brand familiarity and being able to compete in your business niche, especially when you consider how rapidly the market changes. Fluctuations in the economy, customer interest, and the way consumers look for goods and services change constantly, and one big change over the past few years in Internet marketing is a shift to focusing on mobile traffic. Since 2012, the browsing capabilities on both iOS and Android have improved greatly, and search engines such as Google and Bing have recently started to rank mobile-friendly pages higher because they fulfill the positive user experience these companies are aiming for. If it’s been a few years since you’ve made any major changes to your website other than blog content, then it’s time to update it for mobile-friendly use. There are several tools online that can help you determine if your site is already mobile friendly. 

Use SEO to Engage with Your Social Media Audience 

While you probably already understand the importance of reaching out to potential customers through social media, you will need to change tactics if you find that the hashtags and keywords you’re using on Twitter and Facebook are no longer effective. One way to increase engagement is to shift your focus to creating a conversation with your customers instead of simply marketing your products and services to them. For example, if you own a candle-making business and sell your products online, offer your social media followers tips and tricks for making candles last longer, how to choose the right scents, and how to use them safely, and don’t forget to include a few relevant hashtags or keywords in your post. This will create a conversation between you and your customers as they ask questions and offer comments about what you’ve posted, and the more people you can draw into the conversation with your keywords, the more people you will engage with in order to increase sales.

Three Effective Offsite SEO Tactics for Your Small Business

As a small business owner, there are a number of SEO tactics you can use, but one that is especially useful is offsite SEO. This tactic allows you to build ranking and visibility off your page by posting content and links in other locations, and even if you’ve never used offsite SEO before, there are a few tactics you can use that are simple yet effective when it comes to gaining rank, increasing brand visibility, and gaining new customers.

Search engine optimization (SEO) is still necessary for the success of any marketing campaign, whether you’re a small company in Idaho using a Boise SEO company to build your marketing or whether you’re running a small business in a larger city where there’s more competition, such as Los Angeles. No matter the nature of your business, SEO works to give your website visibility and ranking, and without it, your site won’t be seen by anyone, no matter how dynamic it is. As a small business owner, there are a number of SEO tactics you can use, but one that is especially useful is offsite SEO. This tactic allows you to build ranking and visibility off your page by posting content and links in other locations. Even if you’ve never used offsite SEO before, there are a few tactics you can use that are simple yet effective when it comes to gaining rank, increasing brand visibility, and gaining new customers.

Blog Commenting

This offsite SEO tactic takes less time than guest blogging and is much easier to achieve. Although guest blogging can be useful, the time it takes to find quality blogs, create a working relationship with the author of a site, and then create material may not be something you can afford to spend, especially if you’re just starting out and haven’t yet gained a reputation as an expert in your field. Blog commenting, however, is simpler, doesn’t take as much time, and you can do it almost anywhere. Start off by creating a professional profile across several popular blogs in your industry that includes an avatar with your business logo and a link to your website in the tagline. Each time you comment on a blog, your link will be posted along with your comment, which may prompt readers to visit the site if they find your comments interesting. Be sure to only comment when you have something to contribute and avoid trying to market your business directly. The more blogs you comment on, the more you can spread your link around, and this will eventually build a reputation that will allow you to begin guest blogging.

Press Releases

Press releases are an effective offsite SEO tactic that will help you gain readership and brand awareness. These releases, which provide the general public with information about what your business does, what it sells, and about pricing and services, can give your website a boost by linking back to it somewhere in the text. If you have never written a press release before, there are SEO companies that specialize in offsite SEO tactics and may offer the creation of press releases as a part of their overall package. For example, if you have recently opened a small business in the Idaho area that provides interior decorating services for homes and businesses and you need help writing press releases, a Boise SEO company could create them for you and distribute them on a monthly or bi-monthly basis to sites that publish them for free. New products, price changes, and exclusive services from your company could all be fodder for an effective press release.

Social Media

If you haven’t created social media accounts for your brand already, now may be a good time to do so. Small businesses have found great success on sites like Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. When you create these accounts, ensure that you use the same avatar for each one so that people start associating your company with it when they see it. Keep in mind that when using social media, your followers will want to see more than just ads, as most people follow an account for information and to be entertained. Post tips and tidbits of information that are relevant to your business and its niche, infographics that offer discounts, and humorous content that your followers will relate to and share. Using social media as an offsite SEO tactic will increase brand visibility and drive traffic to your site, which increases your chances to make sales and gain loyal customers.