Since small businesses are just getting their bearings, they need robust cash flow to sustain their operations. Doing this is especially important today since the world is on the brink of a potential recession. Although it requires considerable resources, investing in digital marketing services is the most cost-effective way to get the word out about your business.
One of the most affordable options for going digital is search engine optimization or SEO. Good SEO does not need to cost much. Even small businesses can use various techniques and free tools to build an SEO strategy that works. Here are some of the best ways to optimize your content in 2020.
Start a blog for your business
Blogging is a simple way of organically incorporating the most relevant keywords to your website. When you blog, you regularly create fresh content, which means search engine indexers can easily rank you. Improve your rankings by developing blogs with an audience in mind. Think of their goals, age, interests, buying habits, and other things that would influence what they search online.
Have a responsive website design
Google recently started mobile-first indexing, which uses mobile versions to determine a website’s ranking. It lets mobile searchers find information easily since more than half of today’s searches are from portable devices. If you are on a budget, you can use the free mobile-friendly test tool from Google. It assesses the optimization of your website for smartphones.
Include metadata on your site
Metadata is an important factor in search engine rankings, and it involves working on post and picture titles, descriptions, URLs so that everything points toward keywords relevant to the business. Your meta descriptions should not be more than 160 characters, and it should give a breakdown of your page’s purpose and content. Meanwhile, URLs, headings, and image names should ideally contain at least one single-word keyword.
Create a sitemap for your business
Sitemaps list all the pages within your domain. Having a sitemap eliminates the risk of errors, especially for websites with plenty of external links. There are plenty of free tools that help you create sitemaps, like XML Sitemaps. When you complete your sitemap, you must submit it to Google through the Search Console.
Use free SEO tools to help you rank
There are plenty of useful tools that help you plan an optimization strategy. An agency providing digital marketing services will probably have a tool they prefer, and if you hire a company, they’ll use these for keyword research, competitor keyword analyses, and more.
You can also use Google PageSpeed Insights. This tool checks your site speed and UX, generating a score-based report that tells you how you can improve people’s experience of your website.
Ask customers to leave reviews
When previous customers leave reviews, it helps build your credibility. If your local business has four or five stars and your nearest competitors have three, it makes people gravitate towards your website. People tend to trust online reviews, so encourage satisfied customers to tell others what makes your brand special.
Even dissatisfied reviews, should you get any, are an opportunity to grow your brand. First, take note of what the commenter has said, and plan ways to address it. Then, respond to the comment positively; people appreciate companies that take the time to respond to reviews, whether glowing or otherwise.
Conclusion
Small businesses need a tight marketing strategy if they want to make a dent in the online space. Since they compete with large companies for people’s attention, they need to understand what makes people gravitate to a product or service. Apart from knowing your market, one way to ensure this is by hiring experts in selling to online audiences.
Make your mark online and stand out from the competition when you team up with Analytics & Beyond. We are a premier Toronto SEO agency growing businesses through a combination of organic and paid strategies. Get in touch with us, and let’s talk about what it takes to build your brand today!