Small Business SEO Checklist
A marketing strategy that businesses of all types and sizes can use to create an organic foundation for their online presence. These act as signals to search engines and will dictate how and where you appear in search results. And best of all, most of these are FREE!
We offer full service options if your time is better spent running the business. Give us a call and we can discuss the best options for your business.
TIP: You do not need to follow this guide exactly, but the general order of operations does matter so that your growth appears organic to search engines.
Step 1 : Social Networks
Setting up social profiles like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, etc. are usually the first step for any business. Promoting yourself and creating brand awareness are keys for any start up. Even grand openings at brick and mortars need to first be promoted to spread the word. And since the world is on social media, so what better way (or cheaper) is there to reach your audience? Regardless of whether or not you use these platforms to advertise you can't beat the exposure.
Tip: Google owns YouTube so that is a very strong and trustworthy social signal.
Step 2 : Link All Profiles
In your profiles, link to all your other accounts and website. You are creating a 'web' with your online foundation that Google can easily follow to find and validate that you are a legitimate business.
Tip: You can also create posts with links in the body of the post to further create this web.
Step 3 : Business Directories
Business directories are a highly trusted source when it comes to establishing your online presence. And since they are almost always free listings, the only cost here is your time. So get yourself listed in as many directories as possible.
Tip: Consistency is critical! All information must be identical, down to even the parenthesis or hyphens in phone number and abbreviations, like Rd for Road.
Step 4 : Google Business Profile
A Google Business Profile (formerly Google My Business) is a powerful tool for your business and an integral part of your online presence. This puts your business location in Google Maps and will include you in the 'near me' searches by customers in your service area. With one quick search, prospective customers have access to all your business information like location, services offered, contact info and reviews.
Tip: Sometimes Google requires you to verify your business after creating a profile. It's best to wait 30 days after following steps 1-3 so that Google has time to index those sites and validate your business,.
Step 5 : Build a Website
Building a website doesn't have to be the last step in the process, but it's both one of the most important and complex components of your online presence, so I chose to end with this. There are a lot of factors to consider when creating a website. It will be the face of your business so it needs to represent who you are and what you do. And it has to do that precisely and in a very short amount of time. Literally seconds. Customers searching don't have the attention span or time to figure out what you offer and why you do it better than the rest of the search results. When they land on your page you have about 5-7 seconds to grab their attention and build trust that you are the authority in whatever services you offer. This is accomplished with both the layout and messaging on your site.
The most important design aspect of any website build is Search Engine Optimization, or SEO. Simply put, SEO is making sure that search engines can read and understand your site and then offer it in search results. This sounds pretty basic, but there are a lot of factors that go into this, including image tagging, meta descriptions, high quality helpful content, keyword research, and so much more.
If your going to hire a web developer, make sure they aren't just a web designer and they understand SEO. Otherwise you will have a great looking website that nobody ever sees because it never appears in search results. If you are going to create your own website, you should understand the benefits and limitations of different platforms. For more information there is a great article here comparing the different web builders you can choose from.
Free Website SEO Audit
If you already have a website built, we can send you a customized SEO audit report on it. This will include:
- On page optimizations
- Keyword research
- Competitor analysis
- Off page ranking factors
We create this as a short video tutorial so it's easy to follow along, understand all terms and see where and how this affects areas of your site.
Free Coaching and Consultation
Chances are you didn't start your business with the intent of becoming a website developer. But that's exactly what we did. Whether you're stuck trying to build your own site, or just considering having one designed, we are here to help.
We can answer any questions you may have and also share some tips and tricks specific to your business. We have worked with a lot of different industries over the years.
Give us a call or send an email and we'd be happy to connect.
Although SEO practices are fairly standard, they still need to be tailored to your local market and most importantly your competitors. Your biggest competitor may not even be a local one that you compete with directly. But if they come up higher in search results than you, Google considers them one and so will customers searching for services that you offer. Knowing who your competition is and what they are doing are key first steps to understanding what optimizations you need to do in order to outrank them. Just like a marathon runner, you set a pace a little faster than your competition in order to win the long game. But you have to first know how fast they are going. Click the link above for your free SEO audit and we can show you exactly what your competitors are doing.
Hopefully this guide proves useful to start your business or to fill some gaps with your already established online presence. If you have any questions or are in need of some assistance, feel free to contact us. We are always here to be your personal concierge in the digital space.
Butler Digital Marketing
