When it comes to search engine optimization, no one has it quite as rough as small businesses. It’s a rare thing for a small business to have the funds to hire out their SEO management to a full-service agency, and this leaves many struggling to handle all the complexities of the battle for the highest search ranking. As a result, many small businesses make the same mistakes over and over—if you’re making any of these mistakes, they could be costing you big time in the SEO sector!
Not Using Title Tags Correctly
According to American Express Small Business, the title tag is one of the most important elements of any page in your website. However, many small businesses lacking the assistance of an SEO professional don’t know how to utilize the tag properly, and thus miss out on an extremely pivotal piece of the search ranking puzzle. In general the biggest mistake is giving basic or non-descriptive titles to pages, such as using simply “Home” for the homepage. While this makes it clear to visitors what page they’re viewing, it’s not very helpful to search engines seeking out information about the page in question. Title tags should never be longer than about 75 characters, but using those characters to their greatest efficiency is the real key. Instead of simply stating the name of the page, use this as a place to describe the page or the site as a whole. Utilizing relevant longtail keywords in this section helps boost your site’s searchability: instead of just putting “Home” for the title of your bakery’s homepage, put “Best Bakery in Dallas TX | The Confection Company | Home.” This fits everything you need in a single line and still makes sure that a search engine knows what you’re all about.
Not Focusing on Link Building
Links are key to getting a good level of traffic and bringing up your search rankings. Entrepreneur.com reports that links are the metric considered most credible by Google and other search engines in determining the appropriate ranking for a website. Inbound links, those that point toward your site rather than away from it, get more attention from these search engines by adding digital credibility to your site. Building links requires a measure of skill in PR, as well as continual work and communication with others in your field. Swapping links is common practice among small businesses, along with contributing to each other’s sites through things like guest blogging. Contact other relevant businesses in your area or related industries online and see how they feel about linking.
Not Taking the Time
The single most common mistake in SEO for small businesses is as simple as not taking time out of your day, every day, to make sure that everything is up to date. This means updating your social media, checking your metrics and managing your reputation properly on a daily, if not constant basis. The only way to fix this one is by making the time to focus on your SEO channels; any small business owner knows why this is such a problem, as most sole proprietors are truly “sole” when it comes to operating their business. Thankfully there are plenty of low-cost SEO services available to help take the burden off you and your business at a price that works for you. As long as someone is putting in the right amount of work, your site will start climbing the ranks. Stop making these costly SEO mistakes. Fill out this form to get a free consultation from our SEO professionals.
4 Step Studio is an online marketing agency that specializes in website design and redesign, SEO, social media and more. Our team of experts focuses on helping small business get found online, while educating them on what will make them successful in the digital world. To learn more about what we can do for you, visit our website at www.4StepStudio.com
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