Small businesses often struggle with SEO. You may think you already have to pay attention to your organization and customers and now your website is demanding your attention too. There is so much that you could do with your site. Here are some improvements that a small-time business owner can do by himself. It will require time and effort but it certainly cost-effective.

Manage your expectations

You need to be realistic about the things that you can rank for and cannot. This is significant and you need to manage your expectations. You will be in competition with many big companies so you cannot expect to get ranked higher on the basis of a simple keyword. Your keywords should be specific and not the general, high-end ones.

Decide your niche

You need to do considerable research before selecting the keywords that best suits your field. If you are an owner of a grocery store and do a home delivery too, then you should select words like ‘order groceries (city/town name)’ rather than just order groceries online. This way you will differentiate yourself from the horde.

Make use of mid-tail keywords

Add the city name

You must not stuff your site with the name of your location. Include the city’s name to get your website to rank higher locally but in a way that makes sense. You should not go overboard while specifying your niche. When you use long-tail keywords it may get you a new visitor in a day, but when you focus on mid-tail keywords it will surely be beneficial for your business.

Utilize the online platforms

Small local businesses should make use of social media to communicate with their potential customers. You need to be active on your Twitter, Facebook and other social networking sites. Include your business to Google Business and fill in your opening hours if available.

Utilize the offline platforms

If you are a new website or launching a new product then you can contact your local newspaper to spread awareness about it. You should never underestimate the reach that these news companies have as people across town read these publications. You can take the help of publishers to promote your business offline and participate in any local event and then add your experience to a blog post. Ensure that everything you promote and write about is relevant.

Add evergreen content

To rank higher, you ought to add evergreen content to your website. This way it will not expire anytime soon and will stay fresh in the minds of the readers.

Blogging and backlinks

Keeping a blog ensures that people are always updated about your latest offering and products. Adding a blog will stimulate your newsletter and social media.

You can check out if there are any other businesses related to you in your locality. Afterwards, reach out to these websites or companies to expand your local network and to create a chance to get valuable backlinks. Due to the local backlinks, Google understands your geographical positioning/reach.

Contact details

To make your potential customers get in touch with you, add your contact details on every page. Do this so that people find your contact information easily.

You must be sure that people will feel welcome when they see the website and are tempted enough to buy your services or products online. Or intrigued enough to visit your store to see what you have for them.

If you have any opinion regarding the same then please share them in the comment section below!