5 Basic SEO Tips for Small Business
Posted by Beth Hrusch on Thu, Sep 09, 2010
Small business owners have a lot on their plates. Just handling 
the day-to-day tasks, trying to keep ahead of the bills, finding ways to grow—it can be overwhelming. Now, on top of that, you brave and hard-working folks have to be concerned about SEO. Why? Because we say so! No, actually, it’s because ecommerce demands a strong online presence, and SEO is the way to get found by customers.
Everyone knows this by now, or should. But, exactly what are the best ways to integrate SEO into your marketing plan? The good news is that there are many SEO tips you can use to put the power of search engine optimization to work for you, without spending a lot of time or money.
Here are 5 SEO tips for small business that are simple and affordable:
1. Check your site- Before submitting your site to the scrutiny of search engines, make sure it’s free from errors. Clean up any dead links, check the html, etc., to ensure that the spiders can crawl freely through it and index it properly. While you’re at it, get your friends, family and colleagues to test out your site and give you feedback. Your site should be user-friendly, easy to navigate and free from visual clutter.
Taking the time now will prevent issues later, when your site is out there trying to rank.
2. Use good SEO content- This SEO tip includes relevant keywords inserted at proper density in lots of high-quality optimized and useful content. Sound like a tall order? Not really. All this means is that you need to populate your site on a regular basis with fresh content that is useful to your readers. Find your top 6-10 keywords and use them throughout for better search engine visibility. But, the focus should be on your customers. Tell them what they need to know and they will not only come, they will return (and bring their friends!)
Target your market precisely, with good keywords (try long tail) and good information that is relevant to this market. That’s all.
3. Create good URLs- In the spirit of making your site friendly to visitors, create good, relevant URLs for your site. While Google does not pay much attention to them, another equally powerful force does: your potential customers. Your URLs help visitors to determine what kind of information they will encounter on your pages, further targeting them by channeling only the truly interested parties to your site.
4. Build links- Getting high-quality links is done over time, so don’t expect it to happen overnight. A little bit of online networking, linking to good sites, commenting on blogs, joining forums etc. will help you get noticed by authority sites, who will eventually start linking to you. Just like content creation itself, this SEO tip is an ongoing effort that pays off.
5. Use social media- For marketing purposes, social media has a lot of potential for small business. It’s like joining a professional community where people are talking about topics relevant to your industry. When you tap into these groups of people, you are networking with potential customers and getting valuable information and feedback from fellow interested parties.
These SEO tips are just a few of the many ways to put SEO to work for your business. There is no magic formula for success with Internet marketing, but having the basics down will give you a huge advantage. Remember, update your awesome content regularly, keep in touch with your social media network, and check your analytics. Got any great SEO tips? We’d love to hear them!