The common misconception among small to medium business (SMB) is that you need deep pockets to take on enterprise level businesses when it comes to digital marketing. However, when it comes to search engine marketing, search engine optimisation (SEO) can help you level the playing field.
It may take a bit of time instead of money, but here are five ways small business can compete with the big end of town using SEO.
Nailing the fundamentals
Just like sport, business, or even video games, getting the fundamentals right maximise your chances for success. That means doing a bit of research in what factors into search engine rankings and optimising your site accordingly. Is your site responsive? Does your site use rich snippets? Do you have solid metadata? Do you use Google Search Console? Is there mixed content and authoritative content on your site? Are you leveraging your local keywords? Have you audited your links for broken or redirected links? This is the first step toward success.
Solve problems people are looking for
If you use Google Search Console and it’s set up properly, you’ll see what browsers are searching for and where your site appears in search engine page results. If people are searching for a keyword and there’s little or no content that addresses that keyword and the potential pain point it causes, it may be worth creating a community hub or FAQ section that caters to browser’s needs. Better yet, you can share the content through social media.
Be an authoritative voice
As an SMB, you can become a subject matter expert that’s closer to their audience than their big enterprise counterparts. You can personally interact with people using social media, offer genuine experiences in webinars, collaborate on wikis, and appear on podcasts or vlogs as an expert. The more links you can generate, the better your SEO gets.
Go for broke on local
One of the most powerful search tools is local search. Searching for “X product/service in my area” in Google Maps ideally should yield your business as the first result. That means optimising your content for locals, creating local-focused landing pages, being indexed in local directories, and gaining local reviews from community websites or local social media pages.
Use Google Business Profile to its fullest
In tandem with your local SEO efforts, you need to use every ounce of power Google Business Profile (formerly Google My Business) can pump out for your site – sharing updates on your profile, listing your products or services using Google Shopping, and being active in asking for reviews and responding to criticism.
All of these SEO efforts can go a long way into helping you compete with the behemoths in search engine marketing.
Of course, this can take a lot of time – time, as a business owner, you may not necessarily have.
Conquerr are your partners in getting your SEO right as part of a holistic digital marketing strategy. Contact us today for your FREE site audit – and there’s no obligation to proceed.
