By now you’ll understand just how important SEO is to your online presence – but how can you ensure you’re doing everything possible to keep your website at the top of the rankings?

There are a few common errors that people make, when it comes to SEO. They may not seem like much, but, if you can give each of them a little bit of attention, you’ll make sure that you’re dotting all the “i”s and crossing the “t”s – this sort of detailed thinking can make a huge difference to your SEO.

Location, Location, Location

Around 1 in 3 searches on Google are focused on a place or location and this number is even greater when considering searches from mobile devices – Understanding the Importance of SEOnearly a third of all searches carried out.  In order for small businesses to reach their target audiences, they must ensure that they are ranking high in these local searches.  There are several strategies for targeting local search, including:

  • Listing your business in relevant industry and geographical directories/listings
  • Creating keywords that combine your company with your physical location (e.g. “plumbers” and “London”)
  • Optimising your company’s website for mobile

Overlooking Social Media

A lack of time and resource are often the things that small businesses suffer with the most. Because of this, managing the Social Media accounts is sometimes considered a bit of a waste of time.   Even worse, small companies will set up their accounts, then ignore them, leaving a trail of empty, outdated profiles.

In fact, posting on a variety of social media accounts will afford your business a wealth of opportunity for ranking.  Not only are social media channels Understanding the Importance of SEOgreat opportunities for businesses to put out quality content, but links from social media channels are growing increasingly more important to search engine websites.

Unsure which social media channel is right for you?  See where your competitors are online, and more importantly, where your customers are.  Start with just one profile on the channel that is most applicable to your company, such as LinkedIn or Facebook.  Refresh the content often, build quality links, and as you get more comfortable, add on channels as needed.

Posting New Content

It can be difficult for small businesses to find the time to update the content on their website.  However, consistent, fresh content positively increases organic search rankings as well as user experience, which is increasingly important to search engines’ ranking factors.  Two of the easiest ways you can consistently publish new, quality content are:

  • Create a blog for you business – Many companies will start one, but as deadlines and other work crops up, the posting and maintenance will fizzle out. Commit to posting content relevant to your industry or company twice a week.  Involve co-workers, interns, and if the budget allows for it, freelance writers to help.
  • Create a news feed on your company website, and update it frequently with events or news, anything that is relevant to your business and industry, and that organically uses your keywords to help boost search rankings.

SEO – The Ongoing Commitment

A successful SEO strategy is a commitment – your work is not finished just because you’ve researched keywords and optimised your website.  Those tactics are the best first step to launch a small business’s SEO campaign, but from there, it is a recurrent process to generate content and build links to your content and site.  While it might seem daunting, keeping up with your SEO commitment means your company will have increased visibility, more website traffic – and more customers.

Further Information

Footprint Web Design have been at the forefront of web design and development for nearly 20 years. If you are looking for a website that truly represents your business, or advice on how to make your site stand out, then contact us today on 01883 372 488, or via email at info@footprint.co.uk.