Defining Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) for small business owners.
SEO. Those three letters may seem daunting, however, they are ultimately the secret ingredient for any small business trying to succeed in the online space. SEO stands for Search Engine Optimisation and it is exactly what you need if you want your website or social media pages to rank higher in search engines such as Google or Bing. It is a tool that, when utilised properly, will help new customers find you.
When people hop on Google to search a query (perhaps a solution for a problem they are facing or for recommendations of cafes in their local area) they will almost never look beyond the first page or two of results. So, of course, ranking in these first few pages when someone searches for the product you sell or the service you offer would be ideal! But, how do you do that? That’s exactly what SEO is for.
Search Engine Optimisation is the process of tweaking and editing your website and/or social media content in order to make it more appealing for search engines to find. The more appealing the content is (in the eyes of the search engine), the higher you will rank in their search results. Higher rankings means more website traffic, more customers and more sales.
There are numerous strategies for ranking in search engines but two of the most common include; optimising text to include searchable keywords and building quality backlinks. You want to be creating content such as blog posts (just like this one) that are either useful, engaging or ideally both. You then want to fill that content with relevant keywords and phrases in your niche that potential customers are often searching for and include links within the text to your other blog posts or pages whenever possible. The key is to do this as naturally and organically as possible; whenever the subject matter overlaps.
Ultimately, Search Engine Optimisation is about making your website more visible to your target audience. It is a tool for increasing your chances of being discovered by your next big client or customer. For a small business to thrive in a highly competitive modern-day digital world, it is nothing short of a necessity.
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