SEO for a small business is very important to the success of the business. With more consumers frequenting search engines to research products and services and driving purchase power, it vital that you position your company to be found. What sense is there to having a website that no-one can find?
Search engines rank websites according to the relevance of the search terms. This is where keyword research and the placement of the keywords comes into play. More often called “on-page SEO,” (the work you do on the web pages to be search engine friendly), choosing targeted keywords that are consumer driven terms will yield the best results for better quality leads.
How do you know what are consumer driven terms? Is it as simple as typing in a term to the search engines and seeing how many results come up? Why not just view/source my competitors and go after the same words? It is a bit more complicated than that. Where do you start?
There are many free tools that will assist you in keyword research. While I find paid tools seem to work best, Google does provide a great tool. The key is to select terms that have a high search volume, are relevant to your target market and have a lower difficulty/competition to rank for. Ultimately you want to replace someone else on the 1st page.
How to start thinking about keywords:
1. Brainstorm. Think about your product and/or service and what people would search for.
2. Talk with your Customers. See what they are saying and would search for.
3. Review Competitors. This is where you would View/Source and see what they are going after for some ideas.
4. Use a Tool to Suggest. This should be done after you have created a list of your own to really narrow down terms.
Now that you have your keywords, where do they go?
1. Title Tags – This is what is seen in the blue bar at the top.
2. Headings - Headings of the page, sub-headings, etc.
3. Paragraph Titles - Title paragraphs that highlight a new thought within the same theme.
4. Body Copy – Keywords need to be in the body copy but don’t over do it. 3-4 mentions should suffice.
5. Anchor Text – Text describes a link to another web page or resource.
6. URL – Each page needs to have a unique url. Best to place most important keywords to the left with 8-10 maximum words or 1-2 keyword phrases.
7. Alt Text- Place keywords on images. If you have quite a few images, be sure not to put the same keywords on each image.
8. Meta Description – this is not used for ranking rather it describes what the page is about. Make this as enticing as possible.
Keyword research and placement can be time consuming for a small business. How do you know if you are selecting the right terms? Will you be found? It is a process that is ongoing as you add new content to remain competitive and ranked. There are numerous tools available as well as agencies who can lend a hand.
Still unsure where to start or if you have the right keywords? We are here to get you started.
photo credit jvyyuie.