8 SEO Tips for the Small Business Owner

Meet Small Business Seth Stanley. Seth is a small business owner who has a heating and cooling business in Oakland County, Michigan. He began his business before digital marketing was really a thing and did really well for many years.

Now, new competitors are popping up every day. They are reaching top spots on Google search and they are paying thousands of dollars each month running ads. When you factor in the amount of hours spent on phone calls, keeping up with industry trends, and actually working, Seth finds it difficult to keep up with the ever-changing marketing landscape.

Seth Stanley finally had his grandson build him a website but he is unsure whether or not he is actually getting any business from it. He does not actually track any leads.

Creating an SEO Strategy as a Small Business

Creating an SEO strategy as a small business owner can feel overwhelming. This is especially true if you are competing against larger brands who seem to have never-ending budgets.

Seth’s grandson has also told him that he needs to be on social media. Others have told him that he needs to improve his search engine optimization (SEO). What does Seth Stanley need to do?

Optimizing Your Small Business Online Presence

After Seth Stanley reached out to 313 Marketing, our team did a full evaluation of his current website including content, keywords, and off-site technical factors.  We recommended that Seth make a few off-site technical changes, and that we create an SEO strategy to improve his local rankings. We also recommended editing, updating, and creating content.

These are a few of the things we have worked with Seth on:

Off-Site, Technical Changes:

•      Optimized images
•      Re-organized headers in a consistent method
•      Removed broken links
•      Added HTML tags

Added Content to Existing Pages

Seth had all of the necessary pages. However, they did not have enough content and they were not optimized for any local keywords.

•      We added local cities to each page
•      We added new pages for additional service that Seth offers
•      We increased the content on his about me page
•      We linked internally and externally

Created a Keyword Strategy

Seth was not currently ranking for any keywords. We identified a keyword for each page and created a strategy to increase the ranking. During this research, we also did a search for keyword volume. We found that Seth was missing out on some pretty voluminous keywords.

We immediately began implementing these keywords into different pages. We also added a blog which will allow us to answer frequently asked questions in the HVAC industry and to increase keyword use even more.

Evaluated his Internet Presence

Having a consistent internet presence among all local listings is important as a local small business. Yext is a great tool that allows you to monitor your different listings. We immediately signed Seth up for Yext and began to monitor his local internet presence.

We also checked into his social media page. Although Google does not specify social media as being a direct ranking factor for SEO, it is useful to have an active and engaging social page. Seth’s grandson had created a Facebook page but posting was inconsistent and irrelevant. We revamped the page and created a strategy that would keep users engaged and active on the page.

You can identify your local presence by using the Moz Local tool.

Optimized Google My Business

A large percentage of searches are done on Google so it is no surprise that Google heavily favors Google My Business pages. Not only is this tool free but it can do wonders for your SEO ranks.  We helped Seth verify his Google My Business page and then we optimized it with all of the services and locations that he offers. You can also use GMB to create blog posts or helpful content that will increase your brand presence online.

Connected Local

Local businesses want to support other local businesses. Local customers want to support local brands. The fact that Seth is a small business owner who has worked in the Oakland County area for years can set him apart from larger brands. Additionally, by connecting with other authoritative, local websites, you can also increase your SEO.

Set Up Monitoring

Seth was not aware that he could monitor how much traffic his website was getting. We set him up with Google Analytics and Google Search Console. Now, he can monitor where his traffic is coming from and make any necessary changes as needed.

Going forward, we will continue to monitor Seth’s local presence and keyword ranks. We will make any changes as needed. Seth knows that a good SEO strategy takes some time and that we are headed in the right direction toward a stronger online presence.