Small businesses often have the disadvantage of entering an already saturated market monopolized by big brands. The good news is that there is a way to gain a competitive edge against competitors.
SMMEs (small, medium, and micro enterprises) have the element of size working in their favor. Small businesses don’t have to grapple with unnecessary red tape when implementing new procedures or systems. They are not answerable to a board or shareholders.
If something is broken, just fix it. You want your business to grow. Revisit your strategy and execute the changes. What about online visibility? One word: SEO.
What is SEO?
SEO is the key to successful digital marketing. Once you master the basics, you can increase website traffic and generate quality leads.
To explain in simple terms, SEO is a process used to gain organic traffic or natural search results in search engines. The idea behind the practice is to improve your website’s ranking in search result pages (SERPs).
Yes, SEO is indeed complex and forever changing, but don’t let that stop you from at least trying.
Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs
Rand Fishkin, the founder and former CEO of Moz, based the fundamentals of good SEO practice on Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. He named it “Mozlow’s hierarchy of SEO needs.”
The theory rooted in psychology organizes human needs into a hierarchy, often illustrated as a triangle or pyramid. Fishkin’s pyramid has several steps to achieve successful SEO:
- Ensure your website is crawlable so search engines can access its content.
- Create compelling content that answers the “why” and the “how”.
- Optimize keywords to attract online users and search engines.
- Produce shareable content that will earn you links, citations, and amplification.
- Generate titles, URLs, and descriptions to boost click-through rates (CTR) in rankings.
Website Architecture
A well-designed, fast, and efficient website is easily crawlable by search engines. If you’re thinking about a site redesign with limited funds, consider using an AI website builder. For starters, you could be eligible for free website hosting.
The option is an asset for small eCommerce businesses and online stores. An AI builder generates website creation and designs customized to your business needs.
According to Hocoos, these agile website builders are AI-powered with AI tools that simplify creating professional websites. Some packages are fully equipped with an AI logo generator, AI image editor, AI website content generator and unlimited image uploads.
When building your website, juice it up for SEO by creating a clear site structure by organizing content hierarchically and using intuitive navigation menus.
Keywords
If SEO is the Holy Grail, then keywords are the jewels that make your website shine.
However, finding the perfect keywords requires time and effort. That’s why SEO tools like Ahrefs, Semrush and seoClarity exist.
SEO experts suggest focussing on long-tail keyword research. Long, specific keywords are your tools to break through tough search engine algorithms and rank higher.
It’s perfectly fine to keep an eye on your competitors. They’re probably watching you too. Analyze their websites to identify gaps in your keyword strategy and then build on it.
Search Engine Journal suggests once confidently happy with your keyword haul, categorize them into groups.
Search Engine Ranking
After a search engine crawls and indexes your website, your site can be ranked.
Search engines use over 200 ranking signals divided into three pillars of SEO:
- Technical
- On-page
- Off-page optimization
Keywords in title tags, loading speed and website reputation are some examples of signals search engines use to rank web pages.
Keywords in title tags, loading speed, and website reputation are signals that search engines use to rank web pages.
To improve your chances of ranking higher, consider Google’s EEAT framework (Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness) – part of its Search Quality Evaluator Guidelines.
ROIA return on investment (ROI) is crucial for every business.
In terms of SEO stats, it’s easier to measure paid searches because Google provides more keyword data than what is available on Google Analytics.
But, there is a downside to paid search. ROI can decline over time. Measuring ROI for organic search can also be challenging. However, it often improves and provides strong long-term returns.
And if the stats are anything to go by, you should stick to the latter. According to a BrightEdge study cited by Forbes, organic search drives 53% of website traffic, while paid search accounts for only 15%.
SEO Gold
Many businesses intend to see results the moment they implement SEO best practices. It doesn’t work like that. SEO is a long-term commitment that requires strategy and continuous research.
The results may only start to show within months or even a year. To ensure your website is augmented for SEO, employ an agency or SEO specialist experienced in SMMEs and eCommerce businesses.
Important things to remember are the fundamentals of SEO, keyword research and website rankings.
SEO isn’t about reinventing the wheel; it’s about using the wheel as your base and taking it from there.