Top Tips for Improving Your SEO Results to Increase Your Website Traffic

As a small business owner, juggling multiple tasks on your overwhelming to-do list is a daily challenge. If only there were a way to clone ourselves to handle everything! Since we can’t duplicate our efforts, certain crucial items, like prioritizing SEO (Search Engine Optimization), tend to take a backseat.

The SEO world can be daunting for many entrepreneurs who may not fully grasp its potential to boost website traffic. Attempting to navigate the complexities of SEO on your own can negatively impact your site, especially when you are unable to spend the time needed or lack the SEO skill set.

Today, I’m here to help you and your team embark on a journey into SEO101 with practical tips to help you lay the foundation for improved online visibility and increased traffic.

When building a successful website, it is important to understand your demographic – your ideal client or who you serve. To do this, we need to embrace a few strategies, including a deep understanding of SEO.

When you understand your ideal client, you can begin the SEO journey because you will know what problem your business solves, what your client needs, and how they use the internet to find your website.

Search engine optimization is a theory that doesn’t magically appear on your site. It must be included into your website by you or a search engine optimizing expert and driven by data. By optimizing your online presence, you can create a website that draws in the audience you connect with, establishing the foundation for a relationship built on knowing, liking, and trusting.

Getting results via SEO is an art form, and it is a foundational step in building a bridge between your brand and your ideal audience.

So, let’s get down to it! Here are some suggestions to help you get started.

First things first… Do you know what a keyword is and how it works?

The word “keyword” refers to a specific word or phrase that users enter into a search engine when looking for information. Keywords are important elements in creating your SEO plan because search engines use them to identify and rank relevant content for a search and allow your ideal client to find your website.  

When developing your SEO strategy, you need to become a detective, and the first place to start is to check on how many of your keywords are searched monthly and how difficult it is for them to rank.

Go for high keyword volume and medium competition. But remember that keywords ebb and flow, and searchability often fluctuates  – some get easier to rank for, while others get harder.

Regularly updating your content to reflect any changes or developments in your industry is a good strategy. This can be anything from updating statistics, facts, or information on your site – search engines love scraping new content on current and relevant websites. This can lead to better rankings, which equals higher website traffic.

It is important to keep the algorithm happy when you make small updates. But when you make significant SEO changes, you might see wonky changes in your website performance and traffic because your content may not be as important as it was in the past. If you see this, let the changes you made settle out before changing it up again. 30 days usually does the trick.

If your website is not indexing, remember that Google can’t find it, which will not help you grow your business (via SEO). While some of your pages need to be indexed, others might not benefit from being indexed, such as a one-off page you created for an outdated opportunity.

If your site’s loading times are slow, make sure you have compressed your images, gifs, and also take a look at your embedded videos. Users expect a super-fast load speed. If it takes too long, the user will leave the site before they have even looked around.

If you are a business that thrives in a local market, ensure your local SEO shows up on the search page as high as possible – always aim for the first page. If your competition is ranking higher than you – it’s time to update your local keywords. The lower you rank on the page, the harder it is to drive clients to your website. 

These are only a small part of what can be done to improve your SEO.  Always make sure anything you are doing is “Whitehat” and not something that will negatively impact your SEO.  Unfortunately, there are a lot of people who say they are SEO specialists but engage in blackhat or gray SEO practices.  If someone tells you they can get you to #1 in 30 days, run the other way!

Remember, SEO is a marathon, not a sprint. It’s not a set-it-and-forget task. Necessary tasks and algorithms are constantly changing and need to be updated. If you find all this too overwhelming or don’t have the bandwidth to take it on, consider looking to hire an SEO specialist who will get you the recognition and traffic that your business deserves.  Feel free to give us a call and we’ll discuss exactly where you are, what you need and how we’ll take care of your SEO for you so you can work ON your business and not IN it.