10 Simple SEO Tactics for Small Startup Business Owners

Listen in! Pick up some expert advice to a reader's question that we selected from CyberSchmooz.

No matter what kind of startup you launch, your number one goal will be to attract as many customers as possible. If you operate online, the more traffic you gain to your website, the better chance you have of building a loyal audience. One of the best ways to spread brand awareness and make people take notice of your new business is by understanding SEO and using the correct practices.

The purpose of SEO (search engine optimisation) is to boost your search engine ranking result on platforms like Google and Bing, which increases the chance of consumers clicking on your page over competitors. If you aren’t sure where to begin, here are 10 simple and effective SEO tactics that every small startup business owner should use.

Create Engaging Content

Most established businesses retain their success by the kind of content they produce. One of the best ways to make your webpage relevant to your audience is by giving them a reason to visit your site. This means that you need to ensure your content on each page works as it should and portrays the right message of your company. Whether you have an eye for writing or hire a freelancer, you should focus on creating original content, strong headlines, making your content actionable, and being able to provide answers. You can go one step further and add images and video that will catch your viewers’ attention and keep them interested in your brand.

Start Your Own Blog

Blogging is great for SEO as it helps with several things that are key ranking factors. Once you create a blog and regularly update it with posts that are of high quality and relevant to your readers, it can make a world of difference to how your website performs in search engines. Using the correct content marketing tactics will help you write for your audience and design a blog that brings customers back to your site repeatedly. Blogging also helps you when it comes to targeting long-tail keywords and keeps readers on your website for longer.

Put the Reader First

The last thing you should do is obsess over cramming every keyword you can think of into blog posts or product descriptions. While you may think this is the best way to improve your SEO ranking, your readers will be turned off and go elsewhere for their information. Instead, you should aim to create interesting and relevant pages that are suitable for your audience. The rule of thumb is to write content for your readers, not for the search engine.

Expand to Social Media

Once you have your business website and blog set up and ready to go, another avenue you should consider for improving SEO is social media. Whether you create a business page on Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter, all three can be great platforms to boost your online presence. If you aren’t sure which one to pick, it’s worth experimenting with each platform to help you find one that works best for your company. Your first step should be to fill your profile with accurate contact and web address details so potential customers can contact you with ease. To yield the best results, make sure that you stay committed to posting regular posts on your social media accounts. Many small businesses highly benefit from communicating with their audience on social media.

Enlist Help from An SEO Agency

There aren’t any easy shortcuts when it comes to ranking organically. A reputable SEO agency can help boost your search engine ranking result, but make sure you steer clear of those who promise guaranteed results. Many Australian businesses turn to PWD, an SEO Perth agency that are experts in all things search engine optimisation. You can visit pwd.com to find out more on what techniques and strategies they use to get your website noticed. PWD also specialise in hosting, video production and branding.

Look at Your Competitors

If you’ve recently launched your small startup and aren’t getting the results you want, a good idea is to research your competitors to see what kinds of SEO strategies they’re using to boost traffic. You can find out what kinds of target keywords websites on page one are using and whether they use on-site SEO or off-site SEO to achieve this.

Be Careful with Keywords

One of the best ways to boost your digital presence around the internet is by conducting keyword research to understand the kinds of search terms your customers use. For some companies, this can simple (electrician, builder, gardener, etc.). However, many customers will search in more detail, which is why you should brainstorm around your company category and services. It’s very unlikely that your business homepage can rank every keyword that you want to target. So, make sure you organise keywords into logical groups. You can also use a keyword planner that finds new keywords using phrases, words and websites, as well as establish historical data and volume trends of different keywords.

Optimise for Mobile

Thanks to technology, many consumers rely on smartphone for their every want and need. To ensure you get the traffic you want to your business website and blog, you need to ensure that they’re optimised for mobile. If a user can’t navigate your pages using their mobile, it’s likely that they’ll click off and go elsewhere. Google is heavily focusing on mobile optimisation and favouring websites that are mobile-friendly. In a nutshell, you need to provide an excellent mobile experience for your audience to keep them loyal to your brand.

Set Up Google Analytics

There will be some pages on your business website that perform better than others. To help you track what content engages your audience and what turns them away, you should take advantage of Google Analytics. Not only is it free to use, but Google Analytics automatically collects data, can be easily integrated with third-party tools, and can establish where your best visitors are situated in the world. This can help you narrow down your target audience and ensure the content you provide is relevant to your readers. Once you have installed Google Analytics, make sure that the analytics tracking code is pasted in the correct place. This tool can also provide email reports, outbound links, social reporting, and mobile statistics that will keep you on track and understand where your business is performing well and areas for improvement.

Keep Up to Date with SEO Trends

Google’s algorithm is regularly changing, and while some SEO tactics may work at present, they may become outdated in the future. Keeping an eye on SEO trends can help keep you in the know and ensure you’re using the best tactics to keep your business running smoothly. There are websites like Moz that are excellent for keeping up to date with SEO trends.

No matter what SEO strategies you use for your small startup, your sole focus should be on boosting organic traffic to your business website. While SEO can be quite confusing to get your head around, once you brush up on the basics, you will know what tactics to use to improve your ranking result and get consumers and clients to take notice of your services. All the tips above will improve your visibility and grow your company.

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