Small businesses face an uphill battle online. Creating a website optimised for search engines that could eventually rank on Google for significant keywords can be daunting. Here are some tips to help SMEs get their site optimised.
1. Free SEO Tools Are Your Friend
Build a Site on the Cheap with WordPress
For small businesses that don’t already have a website, WordPress provides a great platform to build a search-friendly website quickly and on the cheap. It’s not something you’d use to sell online (for eCommerce, you’ll want something more substantial), but if you’re looking to disseminate information and get calls, then WordPress might just be for you. (FYI: Amplify’s Blog runs on WordPress and provides us with a cost-effective, search friendly blogging platform…)
Open a Google Webmaster Tools Account
Once you’ve built you’re website, a nifty SEO tool to keep tabs and enhance your website for search engines is Google Webmaster Tools. Among its many features, Webmaster Tools can give you a Google search bot’s view of your website – a quick and easy way to spot trouble and stay on top of your SEO game.
Oh! And the best thing about WordPress and Google Webmaster Tools – they’re free!
2. Do Keyword Research First
Now, before you leave this blog post and run off to build your WordPress website, think about the keywords you want your business to rank for. What words do you use to describe what you sell and (more importantly) what words do your customers use? Using those words as a base, it’s time to find out what words potential online customers are using. It’s time to start your keyword research using some free keyword tools like:
- Google Adwords External Keyword Tool
- Google Trends
- Wordtracker Free Keyword Suggestion Tool
- Microsoft adCenter Labs Keyword Forecast
Keyword Research – A Great Way to Better Understand Your Business
From your keyword research you may learn that the keywords you want to rank for aren’t being searched by your customers, while other keywords are extremely popular.
A classic example is ‘health insurance’ vs. ‘health cover’. Insurers often refer to their product offering as ‘health cover’, but many more Australians search for ‘health insurance’ according to Google Trends.
To Rank, Be Relevant
To improve your website’s ranking on search engines like Google, incorporate the most relevant keywords into your site’s copy. Remember, it’s always easier and cheaper to build a website based on keyword research than to change an existing un-optimised website.
3. Now, Build Your SEO Friendly Website
With the keyword research out of the way, now you you’re free to create your optimised WordPress portal. Create a well structured website with a few categories formed around some of your top keywords. Add keyword-optimised content sprinkled with keyword heavy page headings and subheadings and you’ll be well on your way to developing a user-friendly website built to rank on search engines.
4. Quick Keyword Optimised Content
If you think the easiest way for websites to rank highly on Google is to repeat the same keyword phrases again and again, you’d be wrong. Sure that might have worked back in the day when search engines weren’t as sophisticated, but nowadays, Google considers this practice ‘spammy’ and will likely penalise your site if it finds out.
Optimise Content – But Don’t Over-Optimise
The key to SEO is to use the words your audience is using, but not to overdo it! Rather, include important keywords throughout your content and make use of keyword optimised <H1> heading tags. Keywords should also be included in your website’s main category names, Meta data and even in your URLs. But again… don’t overdo it. If you’re in a pretty competitive online space for certain keywords, build specific pages (and back up subpages) around those keywords. It’s radical, but you may just have to go there!
Optimise Your Page Titles
An example of a simple keyword optimised Meta title for Brand X’s family health insurance page might be:
<title>Family Health Insurance Quotes – Brand X Family Insurance</title>
This title tells the search engine what your page is about with the inclusion of keywords. Common mistakes include having a Meta title that only contains the brand name across the entire website or an over-optimised Meta title which includes every variation of a keyword.
Note: Remember to lead with important keywords and to save your brand name for the end of the page title.
Things to Keep in Mind
These are just a few tips that can help your small business get a website up and running for search engines. Naturally, there are other factors that will help boost your your site’s Google ranking and no doubt you’ll encounter some hurdles along the way. But to get started quickly, we trust these quick tips will help your small business get a foothold online without breaking the bank.
Do you have any other SEO tips for SMEs to get a site up quick and on the cheap? Please feel free to share them below!
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