If you’ve been in business for any length of time, you’ve probably come across these three little letters: SEO. Is it magic? Is it trickery? Is it reserved for super-smart web gurus who monitor Google’s algorithm changes like the stock market?
The real answer is that SEO (Search Engine Optimization) is about strategy. It’s about doing a lot of small things correctly to add up to big results for your business.
For the purposes of understanding SEO 101 for your business, let’s review what those big little things are in two broad categories: on-site SEO and off-site SEO.
On-Site SEO: Control What You Can Control
Think of on-site SEO as everything you have the power to control about what you’re putting online about your company and products/services.
For example, your website. There are several best practices managing your website that send the right message to Google about your business. When your on-site SEO is optimized, Google has a better understanding of your business, leading to better rankings in search results.
- Improve website speed by optimizing and labeling images.
- Update page titles (title tags) and META descriptions for every page on your website.
- Include headings on website pages and blogs (use H2s and H3s to break up the copy).
- Clean up your URL structure to avoid URLs that go on forever.
- Use structured data markup to tell Google what to pull and display in search results.
- Create regular content (blogs, landing pages, etc.) for Google to index.
- Develop a “mobile mindset” thinking about how your website is viewed on smartphones.
Off-Site SEO: Proactively Manage Your Business
Think of off-site SEO as third-party information about your business or products/services.
For example, Google reviews of your business. These reviews can make or break your business because so many customers make decisions based on third-party reviews. The key is to proactively manage information about your business that is not housed on your website.
- Get to know Google My Business. Read about it, use it, and manage it.
- Find your business in online directories and third-party review sites.
- Respond to reviews, recommendations, or posted comments in a proactive manner.
- Use Google Alerts or other software tools to monitor the latest reviews and comments about your business.
Why Focus on On-Site and Off-Site SEO?
No matter your budget, the size of your company, or the type of product or service you sell, SEO is for everyone. And it needs to be part of your business strategy.
In today’s highly-competitive business world, SEO is your ticket to maximize visibility in search results, make the best presentation to customers searching for you online, and ensure that your online reputation matches the quality of your business.
When you do a bunch of little things very well, it adds up to a competitive advantage in your industry. Essentially, following the SEO 101 principles increases your chances of getting in front of your target audience to convert more customers. It’s not magic; it’s smart business!
How Marketing Refresh Can Help With On-Site and Off-Site SEO
We understand that not every business owner has the time or the team to manage the key elements that make up best SEO practices. That’s where we come in.
Our digital marketing agency helps businesses achieve their business objectives through a smart approach to on-site and off-site SEO.
We manage your website, perform website clean-up, optimize your website for search results, produce relevant content that is indexed by Google, monitor your third-party reviews, and analyze the results to continue improving your visibility.
To find out more about how to take advantage of our SEO capabilities to help your business, contact us today! We’re not magicians, but we do know how to turn SEO best practices into big results for your company.
