Search Engine Optimization for Small Businesses

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is the process of optimizing a website for online search results. Implementing best SEO practices that allow a business to rank at the top of online search results for keywords relevant to the services or products that the business offers provides the ability to connect with consumers in their exact moment of need. When consumers have questions, the most successful businesses are there to provide answers and set themselves apart from their competitors.

How do you become one of the businesses providing the answers? It starts with understanding how Google and other search engines work. Google (and Bing, Yahoo, and all other search engines) are referral businesses. They recommend websites and businesses which they feel will best answer the search query and make the searcher happy. The most powerful form of marketing has always been word of mouth, but today people trust Google search results and reviews as much as they trust their friends and family. Google itself is a business, and it wants to ensure that it keeps the trust of its users. To do this, Google only recommends the businesses and websites that it recognizes as experts.

So how do you prove to Google that you are an expert in what you do? Through a simple to navigate website filled with robust and well-researched content designed to help visitors easily find the information they are looking for. And additionally for local businesses, through the optimization of a Google Business Profile (GBP) and online directory listings.

SEO is the foundation of online marketing success. In addition to connecting with consumers when they need you the most, SEO provides a concept of social proof that is hard to match elsewhere. When a business appears at the top of online search results, there is an instant sense of trust that begins to form within the consumer’s mind. But in the opposite light, if a business is hard to find through online search results, consumers are quick to disregard the business and turn their attention to the competitors which they can find.

Local Search Engine Optimization (Local SEO) is the process of implementing best SEO practices for businesses that serve a local area. Local SEO has never been more important for small businesses than it is today. Nearly four out of every five location-based mobile searches result in an offline purchase (Source: HubSpot). This means that every small business, from restaurants to HVAC contractors to dentist offices to attorneys to everyone in between, needs to optimize its website for local search results.

In addition to optimizing your website, a successful Local SEO campaign involves full optimization of a Google Business Profile (GBP) and online directories. The GBP is essential for every local business, and it is what appears under the map at the top of local search results. If your business doesn’t have a GBP, it will not be eligible to appear in these results. Online directories are incredibly important because they place your business contact information on highly trafficked websites like Yelp, YellowPages, Better Business Bureau and more. Additionally, when Google searches the internet for your business information, it doesn’t just look at your website. It looks everywhere your business information is displayed. The more directories that a business’s contact information is accurately displayed, the better.

A well-executed Local SEO campaign will prove to Google that you are an expert in your industry. There is a lot of work and analysis that goes into this, and it takes a little time. Exactly how long it takes will vary based on industry and location, but 3-6 months is a fair average amount of time to see legitimate improvement. Once you reach page one, it’s important to stay conscious of all Local SEO efforts, including website content, Google Business Profile, and online directories, to ensure that you remain there.

National Search Engine Optimization (National SEO) is the process of implementing best SEO practices for a business that serves the entire country, whether that’s through service or product offerings. In National SEO, the focus of an effective national SEO campaign is primarily on the website itself. Though still important to be optimized to their fullest, the Google Business Profile and online directories are less impactful in a National SEO campaign than a Local SEO campaign.

To successfully rank in the top search results for keywords that don’t have a geographical location attached, it starts with the content. Whatever the keyword is for the product, service, question, etc that you are targeting from a national standpoint, ensure your website features a page with robust, well-researched, easily readable content dedicated to providing the searcher with the answers they are looking for. And when you publish high quality content on your website, other websites begin linking to your content. Links from other websites – specifically authoritative websites – act as votes of confidence to help Google understand that people find your content helpful.

In addition to publishing high quality content and earning links from other websites, national SEO requires your website to load quickly and exhibit a site structure that is easily navigable for a visitor, and easily crawlable for a search engine. The hierarchy of the pages and articles on a website, the structure in which they are internally linked to, and the layout of the content on the page are all important factors in how well a website ranks within online search results.

As Google evolves, SEO – particularly at a national level – is becoming much more than just content relevant to a search query and how quickly your website loads, however. Google is now at a place where it can holistically understand who is publishing the content. For example, if a local newspaper publishes an article on the same topic and with equally good content as an article published by the Wall Street Journal, the WSJ article will stand a much better chance at quickly ranking for the topic. This is due to the concept of Entity SEO, where Google recognizes the WSJ as an authoritative entity. But this is not to worry smaller businesses into thinking they cannot outrank larger entities in search results. It just requires a bit of work to help Google understand the entity of your business. Here is a complete guide on Entity SEO for further understanding.

As a startup company, investing in SEO services can pay dividends. From ranking for keywords related to the products or services that a startup offers, to being discoverable when customers or possible investors research the company, implementing best SEO practices as soon as possible will expedite the growth of the business. Particularly for startups less than a year old, hitting the ground running with an effective SEO campaign designed to attract customers and investors searching online should be at the forefront of any marketing strategy.

For startups that don’t yet have a website, it is strongly encouraged to build one as soon as possible, and to do so with best SEO practices in mind from the beginning. Hiring a professional that is experienced in both website design and SEO for startups can set the foundation of online success for the business from the very beginning.

Ecommerce SEO is search engine optimization that is tailored to businesses which sell products online. When it comes to ecommerce searches on Google and other search engines, results are typically dominated by category and listing pages. For example, if a user is searching online for “men’s blue t-shirts,” the search engine will likely return pages that give the user options to look at it, rather than just one t-shirt. But the more specific a search query is – such as “men’s large blue t-shirt with pocket” – the better the possibility of individual product pages appearing in the results.

An effective SEO campaign for an ecommerce website begins with the category and listing pages, followed by the product pages, and incorporates a well-thought-out content and blogging strategy to target additional keywords related to the website’s product catalog. The homepage should also be optimized and structured properly, not only to help users convert (that is the end goal, of course), but also to help Google understand the most important products and categories on the website by strategically linking to them.

For a more thorough dive into the details of SEO for ecommerce, check out our service page dedicated to SEO services for ecommerce businesses.

Search Engine Optimization should be the very first investment that small business and startup owners make. We live in a world where if it’s not on the internet, then it doesn’t exist. Get ahead of the competition by getting your business on page one of Google and other search engines. The amount of business you’re currently missing out on might be life changing.

If you’re curious how SEO can take your business to the next level, email us at info@reachonelocal.com or fill out the form below. Our team is here to answer your questions and help you begin tapping into a long-term revenue stream today.