Three Ways Your Small Business Can Use SEO

You’ve heard it over and over again. SEO is harder for small businesses. You’ve read the dos and don’ts, seen all the advice and yet, still it always comes down to time and money. Rather than spelling out every challenge you have against you and how to overcome it, I’m here to tell you that SEO and small businesses do not have to be enemies. In fact, you need SEO to compete with the big guys. So how do you compete at the same level without the same resources? Here are three ways your small business can use SEO.

• Optimize your website. No, I mean really, really optimize! This means tag all your pictures. Make sure they have proper captions and your sources are cited. Use headers that give the best overall explanation of what is to come. Understand keywords and how to use them to make your website known. Your webpage is the face of your company in the online world. If you were explaining your business in person to every interested party, they could ask questions and interact with you. Search engines though do not work that way. The search engine has to know where to file you and when to bring up your page without ever speaking to you. It’s a robot that looks only for the information you input so you need to put your best (and clearly explained) foot forward. The big companies spend a lot of money paying a professional to do these things. You most likely have to take it on yourself. If you can hire someone to take on your website design or talk to an SEO expert, then you should. Sometimes the budget only allots for one or the other, forcing you to prioritize which one needs more attention. If you can’t afford either, use online resources and tip sheets to guide you and make changes to adjust as you see areas for improvement.


• Use social media to your advantage. Websites like Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Pinterest and Google+ are cheap and easy to use. They give you a quick turnaround and can widen your online footprint exponentially. By posting consistently on engaging topics, you can attract attention from a huge platform of online users. After just a week or two of posting, your traffic will increase and very little effort or resources have to be put out in order to do so.


• Become an expert. Rather than generalizing in several different topics or areas, focus your knowledge on one idea. Advertise that you are the go-to company in this field. It’s better to do one thing really well than ten things only half okay. Also, rather than confusing the search engine on what your business can do for others by giving a multitude of options, this narrows it down. There is no disconnect between your business’ intentions and the search engine.

You don’t have to be at a disadvantage for being a small business. And you don’t have to spend thousands on SEO to make your business known. You just need to understand the process and use the tricks to your benefit to make your SEO marketing the best it can be.

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