What is not often known is that you can create a strategy and take steps to increase the performance of your website in Google. This article will focus on some of the basic but powerful methods you can use to get started.
Google My Business:
If you own a business, this is one of the simplest but most effective ways to increase your visibility in the search engines. You will most likely already seen these appearing when you search for local business, and they show both in the map sections of Google, and to the right of the search results when you search for a specific business.
You can get your own page for free by simply verifying your business. To do this simply add your business details and address, and Google will send a postcard to you with a special code on it. You can then add these unique digits to your profile to show Google you really own the business, and then you will be able to add things like your opening hours, services and more. By securing Google reviews from clients you may then appear in the map pack – a great way to get new business.
Keyword research:
This is a phrase you will read regularly in the SEO word, and it refers to the process of finding relevant keywords the people are searching for in your niche. For example, if you are a cobbler, you may think that ‘cobbler’ would be a good term to target. This keyword is lacking in ‘intent’ though. If you are trying to get new leads, a keyword like ‘emergency cobbler in Oregon’ would be much more suitable, as it is more specific and adds a location. Some great tools for finding keywords are Answer the Public and Neil Patel’s keyword tool Ubersuggest.
Content creation:
Once you have found a bunch of search queries that suit your niche/industry, and have the intent that you are looking for, you need to create some content. If you are an expert in the area, there is a good chance that you will at least need to draft this as a writer will most likely not have the specific technical knowledge needed, but if you don’t have the time to do the writing it may be a sensible idea to outsource this to a professional copywriter or agency such as Bing digital to handle it for you.
Optimizing your content:
Before your content is written, think about the keyword you would like to rank for and what type of content the user is expecting. Continuing our plumber example, make sure that your key services are included, as well as a strong call to action. The keyword and some semantic variations can then be woven into the titles, headings and body of the text. Be careful not to over-optimize your content, it is not necessary to add the exact keywords many times. Just once or twice is plenty for Google to understand.
