You just launched a new site for your small business. Congrats! You may be a bakery, a dog salon or an ice cream shop. Now the trick is getting the word out. Focusing on SEO is a great way (and in most cases entirely free) to promote your website and more importantly your business. After all, over 90% of consumers use the internet to find local businesses. Here are a few relatively quick tasks you can complete in a day or two to help those consumers find you.
Claim & Verify Your Google My Business Listing
You'll want to get on Google My Business as soon as possible. Your verified business information will appear on Google maps. Google will also display your address, phone number, hours, business reviews and most importantly a link to your website. How much does this all cost? Nothing!
On Page SEO Best Practices
I recommend taking a moment to review SEO best practices, but here are your basics. I would highly recommend that you include the name of your business and your the name of your city and state (or country) in your home page's title tags. For example, if your business name is Yummy Bakery in Timbuktu, MI, you'll want a title tag that is something similar to "Yummy Bakery : Timbuktu, MI". Regardless of your business name, it's crucial to include the name of your industry in your title tag (bakery, ice cream, car wash etc.).
Make sure to also include the same keyword string used in your title tag somewhere in the content of the corresponding page. You'll want a similar keyword focus for each page on your website.
Also set aside time to write intriguing meta descriptions. If not, Google will choose the meta descriptions. You definitely don't want that.
Local Link Building
There are many opportunities to get free, quick back links. Local Review sites like Merchant Circle and Yelp are a great place to start. You will also find industry directories specializing in your business where you can link back to your site. You will also want to think of all the organizations you may already be involved in. That could be the BBB or your local chamber of commerce. These are all places you could and should be getting links from.
Don't Be Afraid To Get Social
There have been a lot of recent discussions about whether or not links from Facebook pages carry any weight. Putting that discussion aside, it's 2015. Your business should have a Facebook page. No, actually your business requires a Facebook page. Many times Facebook pages are the second Google result when searching for a business and they can drive a significant amount of traffic to your site. Additionally many local consumers get their news and information right on Facebook. An updated Facebook page is the perfect way to interact with your customers and let them know about news related to your company.
