Based on the Statistics, we can say that Chicago is home to a fast-growing number of small businesses thereby providing jobs and helping neighborhoods to thrive. For a small business, this means there is a more competitive market thus, requiring the necessary digital marketing ammunition for you to succeed.
Using Search Engine Optimization (SEO) as a marketing tool for your small business is one of the ways to give your business access to the customers it requires. Majority of small business owners acknowledge Search Engine Optimization as an important digital marketing tool. Visit Chicago SEO Scholar and know more about this.
The problem is the lack of knowledge or the ability to successfully execute what needs to be done to optimize their websites for search. The good news is that professionals that are equipped with all the knowledge required to put small businesses on the radar. This article will focus on SEO fundamentals and how it affects your small businesses.
Table of Contents
Benefits of Search Engine Optimization for your Small Businesses
SEO can be a powerful digital marketing tool for your small business in Chicago. Here are some benefits your business can obtain from using SEO.
- A lot of searchers on Google look for local information. SEO allows you to access potential customers in your area.
- Majority of potential customers search for information on local businesses online than anywhere else. It is important to be able to show up when products or services you provide is searched online.
- Over the past two years, the number of “Near me” type searches have grown over 900%. This means you have potential customers looking for small businesses in the area. This is another reason for you to optimize your local search efforts.
Irrespective of the industry you are in, or what size your business is, customers are constantly searching for brands like yours. Employing the use of search engines gives you the chance to reach these customers and maximize the benefits of SEO for your small business in Chicago. If you would like to know more benefits to get from this optimization, check here.
Some SEO Tips to Grow Your Business
Since you are now aware of the benefits SEO can provide for your business, the next step is to start. No doubt it can seem overwhelming at first but here are some tips to consider for you to maximize it.
-
Employ the best SEO practices when building your website
One struggle a lot of small business have with search engine optimization is that they do not make much consideration for search while building their website. Your website can please aesthetically but you will be at a disadvantage. If your website is not structured properly, you will lose out on a significant amount of search traffic.
The goal of creating a website with SEO and in mind is so that the search engine can properly crawl and index your web pages. To confirm if you have been able to achieve this, it is important to take your time looking at it with fresh eyes making sure it has a logical structure.
It is also important for you to clear out any broken pages (404) as it can cause wastage of link equity. This means that the votes (link) to your website would not be counted because they result to a dead end.
Having a mobile friendly website is important as it improves your user experience giving your rankings a big boost. This is something that any website must take advantage of to maximize the growth of their business.
-
Be sure to prioritize keywords
Keyword research is considered the second most important element in creating an effective search engine optimization strategy. To do this, you must make sure that your website is ranking for popular search phrases. You have a higher chance of being discovered by relevant customers searching for your products and services if your website ranks higher for relevant keyword and phrases. You can learn more about how to go about it in this article.
-
Optimize your Page’s Metadata
This is the next step to follow; you need to ensure that all your primary landing pages are optimized for the keyword you discovered. This means you have to optimize your titles, content body and Meta description on every page. It is necessary for each page on your website to have a unique Meta description and title. It is also important that the metadata description used isn’t too long, so it doesn’t get truncated by Google in the search results.
-
Use a content calendar to keep you consistent
In SEO, content is key. Good SEO and content marketing can give you access to customers but what keeps you there is staying consistent. It is impossible for you to get traffic on your website without being consistent with posting contents no matter how great they are.
Consistently publishing contents especially around specific keywords and topics shows Google you have an authority in that niche. Therefore, before starting a SEO campaign, it is necessary to create a content calendar that can run for at least six months.
Conclusion
Implementing search engine optimization for your small business is no doubt difficult especially as a beginner. As a business owner with a website, you are hoping will get you to your business goals, you want to know what it takes to rank high in search results.
Despite all the research you have made and the efforts of various experts it is still hard to tell exactly how it works. This is not your fault; the fact is the algorithms used by search engines are complex and they keep getting more complex as time passes.
As a beginner, you do not need to overwhelm yourself trying to figure it all out. You can just outsource this aspect of your business to professionals who would ensure that you meet the goals that you have set for your business.
