Business Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

Enhancing your visibility on search engines is crucial for reaching those who need your products and services. While your business may already rank high when someone searches for its name, the real challenge lies in connecting with individuals who don’t yet know about you but are searching for what you provide.

SEO (Search Engine Optimization) is vital in increasing online visibility, building credibility, and driving meaningful actions. From creating high-quality, optimized content to improving technical aspects of your website, a consistent and strategic approach can help ensure your business stays at the top of search results.

SEO Basics

Here are key steps to ensure your content aligns with SEO best practices:

Overcome Technical Challenges: There are hundreds of factors that influence your visibility on Google, including mobile usability and accessibility, page load speed, and optimized HTML metadata. Invest in Analytics & Tracking Setup to ensure your website is set up for success.

Research What People Search For: Even if you rank #1 on Google for a specific keyword, it’s not valuable unless people are searching for it. You need research to understand how people are searching for topics related to your business.

• Conduct Keyword Research:  Use tools like Google Ads Keyword Planner to identify search terms your audience uses, or invest in a SEO Keyword Analysis Report to see how visible your website is for these terms. 

• Conduct Competitor Research: It’s important to see why other websites are ranking on Google for the most relevant keywords you want to target. Get information on keywords, web analytics, and competitors by investing in a Digital Marketing Audit and Strategy.

Strategically Optimize Your Content: Google has many pages on the internet to choose from for any particular topic, so make your content as helpful, reliable, and relevant as possible.  Include keywords in your H1 page title, headings, body content, and metadata.

Introduce Your Business Clearly: Write optimized content assuming visitors who arrive on your page know nothing about your organization. Every optimized page should briefly explain who you are, what you do, and why it matters.

• Use friendly, accessible language to connect with a wide range of audiences.

• Link to other core pages to guide users through your site.

Use Clear and Actionable Calls-to-Action (CTAs): Each page on your website should guide users toward taking a specific action. Example CTAs:

• “Tell us how we can help you”

• “Call Us”

• “Order today”

• “Schedule a service appointment”

Prioritize Important Content: Google evaluates what you consider important based on how your site is structured.

• Highlight Key Pages: Keep your most valuable pages within one click from your homepage or menu.

• Interlink Strategically: Link to key pages from multiple areas of your website.

• Avoid Burying Content: Pages that are hidden deep in your site won’t be seen as valuable by search engines.

Balance SEO and User Experience: Optimizing for SEO should never come at the expense of usability. Visitors will leave your site if it feels cluttered or difficult to navigate, especially on mobile devices.

• Ensure your content is scannable with headings, bullet points, and short paragraphs.

• Use visuals like images and videos to break up text and engage users.

Create Dual-Purpose Landing Pages: Pages created for SEO can also double as effective landing pages for campaigns, such as Google Ad Grants. For example, an SEO-focused page about a service offering can serve as the destination for both organic and paid traffic.

Google Business Profile: Add or claim your business profile on Google and provide as much information as possible, especially if you are a local business.

• Be specific when selecting business categories. If you are a civil engineer, choose this category or “civil engineering company” instead of “engineer.”

• If you have multiple offices, make sure each one has its own profile managed under a single account.

Links: When your website content receives more links from authority websites, Google recognizes that your pages have authority and will give them more visibility. You can gain insights about the best websites to link to your content by reviewing the links already driving traffic in the Google Analytics referral traffic report. If these links result in excellent online engagement, consider reaching out to other organizations and ask them to link to you.