Small businesses and mega corporations alike have one goal in mind – to get more customers to buy their products or use their services. But… before your business can grow and build a relationship with your dream audience, they’ll need to be able to find you first.
With more and more advances in technology, the internet has come to be the primary and most convenient way for your ideal clients to find what they’re searching for. Search engines like Google are often the first resource people use to research products and services to solve their problems. However, with such a competitive market, your small business can easily get lost in the internet sea.
One of the best ways to get in front of your dream audience is to rank higher on Google. It may seem impossible to navigate Google’s algorithm. But, there are a few key factors that will provide your business website higher visibility on search engines.
4 Simple Steps To Get Your Website On Google’s First Page
First, we need to understand how search engines work.
Table of Contents:
- How Google Works
- What is SEO? (search engine optimization)
- Steps to Get Your Small Business on Google
- Step 1: Claim Your Business Listing On Google
- Step 2: Plan Out Your Website Content
- Step 3: Be Active Online
- Step 4: Add Backlinks
- Different Types Of SEO Tactics
- SEO Tactics To Avoid
How Google Works
Most companies are aware that Google is a powerful marketing tool that your ideal audience will use to find your website. Hardly anyone really understands how Google determines your business website’s ranking.
Google’s algorithm uses a few factors to rank websites based on their relevance to each person’s Google search. Google WANTS their users to find what they’re looking for. Google wants their users to have a good experience that keeps them coming back time and time again.
This is probably sounding very much like the extraordinary experience that you want to deliver in your business to keep your customer base strong.
Google will examine a few variables on your website to determine how beneficial it will be to the user. If your site looks promising, it’ll rank better in the search results.
While your business website has a good ranking on Google, more customers will see your business site in their search results.
So the better question is: How do you get Google to see the value of your business?
Simply put: High quality content.
When your website is written with the customer in mind, it will provide a better experience. SEO (search engine optimization) strategies will help you create content that peaks the user’s interest and will have Google deem your business website as useful.
What is SEO? (search engine optimization)
Search engine optimization is the process of optimizing your website content to enhance your visibility in search results on search engines like Google. It uses data to help you tailor your content to what your ideal clients are searching for.
Combined with improving your small business website, SEO strategies will provide exponential growth to your business by creating new content material outside of your website. This can be done by using resources such as guest blog posts, social media, and Pinterest to help drive visitors from different locations to your website.
Using SEO, your business has a higher chance of being seen by your ideal clients who are looking for your unique offerings.
Websites with a design that is functional, strategic, and looks good, combined with relevant content material, popular keywords, and a top notch user experience are what Google looks for.
4 Simple Steps To Get Your Website On Google’s First Page
Now that you know how it all works, there are a few steps you could take to get your small business set up online and SEO optimized. If you’re too busy managing your business, or this is too complicated to do on your own, consider hiring a SEO specialist to do this for you.
Step 1: Claim Your Business Listing On Google
When you’re ready to get your business on Google, the first thing you need to do is claim your listing on your Google Business Profile and then link it to your website. Google needs to recognize who you are. With your Google Business listing, you can claim your business as, control your online presence, and view search engine data on your website visitors to help you in your business growth.
Make sure to include your contact information so that your potential customers and clients can get in touch with you.
Step 2: Plan Out Your Website Content
High quality content is one of the key elements that it will set your website apart from the competition. When you construct your website to have numerous pages with compelling website copy, Google will see your website as reputable and informative. This is in line with Google’s goal of providing their users a positive experience.
To offer you an idea of the way to form your content material: Homepages need to be constructed out with around 1,500 words to provide a very good basic description of your company and the services you offer. You should also have service pages for each of your offerings, with at the least 1,000 words.
One of the most useful SEO techniques concerning content material writing is keywords. When you’re writing out your pages, try to include your niche specific phrases inside the titles, first paragraph, final paragraph, meta descriptions, and images.
Step 3: Be Active Online
After you have it all set up, it’s critical to maintain your online presence. Adding content to other channels will show Google and potential customers that you are an active business that is available and accessible.
Some of the most popular channels to promote your business on are:
Another benefit of posting content on other platforms is that individual posts have the potential to be seen by people who would otherwise not be searching for your services. This has the potential to drive even more people to your site. You could consider social media to be a visual search engine in this way.
Step 4: Add Backlinks
Backlinks are when other websites link to your website.
The more high-quality backlinks you have, the higher you could rank on Google because it suggests that there are people outside of your business enjoy your website content, deeming it valuable by Google
Backlinks come from people linking or sharing your content. Backlinking is a comprehensive tool that requires tons of research to do it properly. Here are 8 Smarter Ways To Earn Quality Backlinks.
Different Types Of SEO Tactics
Google has over 200 ranking factors that influence search results, so identifying the right SEO method to promote your business website may be difficult. There are many approaches to optimize the content material for your website, but here are the most effective and search engine friendly.
Keyword Strategy:
While you use niche specific keywords in your content and meta titles that fit what your dream audience is searching for, you have a higher chance of ranking on search results. Specific key phrases will help you rank on the first page of Google because you’ll have less competition. For example, instead of trying to rank for “virtual assistant,” you could try “virtual assistant for women owned businesses.”
Location Specific Language:
If you’re a small business, then you then need your website to show up in local search results.
Using location specific language and geotagging your content is going to tell Google where your business is located and boost your local SEO.
MetaData:
Meta titles and meta descriptions are what display in the search results and is how your website is shown to people online. Even if they don’t particularly have an impact on your Google ranking, they are what grab your visitor’s attention and get them to visit your website. The more people you have visiting your site, the better you could rank.
Linking:
As previously stated while discussing backlinks, linking is a high-quality method to gain credibility. When you link to outside or internal pages withing your content, you are showing Google that you are collecting facts from different locations, proving that your content is dependable and full of useful information.
SEO Tactics To Avoid
SEO is complicated and calls for a good website strategy that gets Google to like your website. If you don’t have a ton of extra time to dedicate learning a new skill, then an SEO strategy might be best left to the experts. Lack of experience can actually hurt your SEO and lower your ranking on Google. In these cases, it’s best to let the professionals do what they do best so you can do what you do best, manage your business.
Here are some examples of what to AVOID:
- Keyword stuffing (too many keywords in your content material)
- Irrelevant keyword targeting
- Writing for the algorithm instead of your reader
- Article marketing (articles are strategically placed on the internet to promote a specific website)
- Buying links
- Overusing anchor text (often used to improve internal linking)
- Publishing subpar content
Think of SEO like a muscle, the more you work it out, stronger it will be, and let’s be honest… Who the heck actually likes working out?
You’re way too busy running your business to build a website strategy, to constantly research, write blogs, batch content, post on social media, and #allofthethings that it takes to optimize your website.
TB Web Design is a web design agency based out of Richmond, VA. We will research your audience, analyze your competition, and research industry and niche specific keywords to come up with a unique website strategy tailored to you.
What we do differently here is that we keep your ideal audience in mind. We don’t speak to Google or the algorithm. We look at the SEO first and foremost, Then, we create a website Google will love that also speaks to your people.
If you’re ready to develop your website strategy and rank higher on Google, send us a message to see what our unique offerings can do for you.
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