SEO Basics for Small Businesses and Startups

If you have a startup or a small business, your search engine rankings can have a major impact on the company’s success. It takes some effort and strategy to play the SEO game and stay ahead of the competition, but you don’t necessarily need a big budget to get big results. Here are a few simple tips that can help keep your business on top of Google, Yahoo and Bing’s search results. 1. Focus on fresh, quality content The saying â€Å"content is king† has become a tired clichà ©, but there’s a lot of truth to it. Nothing is better for SEO than a steady stream of fresh, engaging, valuable content on your website. Think about it: the goal of any search engine is to provide the most relevant information for every search. When your website is regularly updated with new and useful content, that content is assumed to be more relevant by search engines. You end up with bonus points in the ranking game and better spots in the search results. 2. Build backlinks from authority websites In some ways, SEO is a lot like life: you can get ahead with good connections. While fresh and relevant content should be the cornerstone of your SEO strategy, link building is another essential tactic. It may seem tempting, but don’t take the shortcut of buying big batches of links. Search engines don’t favor these purchased links and you risk being penalized. Take the slow and steady approach by reaching out to relevant bloggers and organizations with an inquiry or press release. It may take some time and effort, but you’ll be rewarded with SEO-boosting backlinks from â€Å"authority† sites. People get most of their information about local businesses from online searches, so it’s important to send the right â€Å"signals† to search engines to get your business good visibility in your community. Adding local keywords to each of your pages is a good start, but it’s just the tip of the iceberg. You should also: Claim a page for your company on Google My Business. If you already have one, confirm that your contact information and business hours are correct. Include your business contact information on each page of your website. Ask customers to leave reviews. Customer reviews on sites like TripAdvisor and Yelp can make a big difference in your search ranking, so it’s worth the effort to reach out to your existing customers and encourage them to provide a review. 4. Harness the power of social media Social media has a powerful effect on your SEO. When your content is liked, shared, tweeted and commented on, the search engines take notice. This engagement signals that your content is relevant and important. As a result, you’ll receive a nice boost in your rankings. So, take the time to cultivate a strong social media presence on at least one platform: Facebook, Instagram and Twitter are all good choices, but some platforms are better suited for certain industries. 5. Go mobile More searches are done on mobile devices than on traditional laptop and desktop computers. Search engines have responded to this trend by rewarding mobile-friendly websites with better positions in search results. If you don’t have a user-friendly mobile presence, your ranking is likely to suffer and you may be driving away quite a few potential customers. Implementing a responsive web design can help ensure that your website is usable on a variety of mobile platforms. Relatedly, optimizing your images and making sure your fonts and buttons are easy to see on different devices is vital. These ideas represent just a few of the tactics small businesses and startups can employ to boost their rankings and dominate the competition. SEO success doesn’t happen overnight. But with a bit of patience and a strategic approach, you can improve your rankings regardless of the size of your budget.