The Beginner’s Guide to SEO for Small-to Medium-Sized Businesses

If you’ve recently set up a business, you’ll probably be starting from scratch when it comes to search engine optimization (SEO). Or perhaps you’re a long-running medium-sized company who’d like to get ahead of the competition by using the right keywords – and employing the right tactics – to allow you to be found in online searches.

Whichever camp you fall in, this beginner’s guide to SEO may just help you be seen – and by the right people as well. Just follow these top tips, which you can implement in hardly any time at all.

Get Started with a ‘Google My Business’ Account

If you haven’t already, the first – and best – thing you can do to help your Internet ranking, is to set up a Google My Business account. You can do so by clicking here, and once you’ve set it up, you’ll find it’s a one-stop-shop for company owners, like yourself, who are looking to increase visibility on Google. After all, if you’re hoping people will find the services you’re offering, you’ll need to give yourself a fighting chance. Competition is tough, so it’s vital that you stand out.

Identify Gaps in the Market

What’s your niche? If you don’t think you have one, sit down and really think about it. Even if you offer a seemingly ‘mainstream’ service, perhaps you have an usual or unique way of providing the consumer with said service. Maybe you can turn things around in 24 hours, for example, or perhaps you throw in some other incentives to sweeten the deal when people purchase a service or product from you? By doing some extensive keyword research, you may be able to identify some gaps in the market. Then, simply jump on the back of it by targeting keywords potential customers could be using. Google’s Keyword Planner will be your go-to source for this, so click the link for details.

Teach Yourself the Basics

Self-learning is huge at the moment – and it’s set to be an even bigger trend amongst small- to medium-sized businesses, as we move into 2018. If you don’t have the first clue about how to do SEO, try taking some online course. A good course will teach you the basics when it comes to SEO and be laid out in a straight-forward way, with an easy-to-digest format. If you don’t know where to begin, this type of course could really help you, especially those designed with SMBs in mind.

Make Use of Google Maps

Google really does have a host of resources for small- to medium-sized businesses – and this one is no exception. You can claim your business address on Google Maps easily, so make sure you do so if you haven’t already. Giving your brand the authority it deserves, it’ll offer some reassurance to potential new customers, too. If your business address is visible online – and consumers can see you have physical premises – it means they’ll be more likely to put their trust in you and your services.

Make Sure You Deserve to Rank

I always tell my clients that in order to rank, you must deserve to do so. So, think about creating some quality content – on your own site, its blog, or even across social media, and you’ll soon achieve the hits you should be receiving.

Are you the owner of a small to medium-sized business? If you have some top tips for being seen online, let others know by commenting on this blog.

Aaron Rudman-Hawkins, owner of The Evergreen Agency and Evergreen Academy, has worked in the SEO and digital marketing industry for more than 10 years. I launched my own SEO agency in 2013 and have since built a well respected UK based SEO agency based on word of mouth and referrals. More recently I have created an SEO training academy for the smaller businesses who don’t have the budget required to employ a marketing agency, yet they still want to learn how to do SEO and how to grow their businesses online.

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