Ranking well on Google search results in this day and age is like striking gold — it produces incredibly lucrative results, but it can sometimes be difficult to achieve. With everyone in your area trying to get to the top of SERPs, earning a solid ranking can seem like a next-to-impossible feat.
In this guide, we’re going to help you experience success. While gold miners use chisels and gold pans, you’ll benefit from thoughtful SEO (search engine optimization) tactics. Check out these 5 areas to start your SEO campaign in, and you should notice significant improvements in your site’s SEO efforts.
1. Revisit Your Google My Business Account
We’re sure you’ve heard of this central place where you can connect with customers — Google My Business. Maybe you lazily entered your business’s information when you first created your account and never returned to it.
However, you should log back in and:
• Verify ownership of your business
• Update your logo and hours of operation
• Add plenty of images of your products or service offerings
• Publish upcoming events or promotions
• Respond to customer reviews (the positive and negative ones)
Once you update all the information to reflect your business’s details, your site will be more likely to show up in local search results and Google Maps listings.
2. Optimize for Voice Search
Typing an inquiry into Google is like churning butter for most people — it’s archaic. However, more people rely on voice search (more than 70% of Americans, according to one survey), so you should adjust your SEO plan accordingly.
When people speak their inquiries, they tend to use longer phrases than when they type them. So, you should incorporate long-tail keywords into your SEO strategy. Using the 5 W’s (who, what, when, where, and why) isn’t a bad idea, either.
3. Focus on Local Keywords
Does your business offer locally-based products and services? If so, you need to prioritize local keywords. This type of focus will remove you from the competitive nature of search results not based on area.
You can use a free tool like Google Keyword Planner to find words that people are searching for. If you don’t feel confident in your research abilities, you can enlist SEO consulting services, and an experienced professional will help you implement the proper keywords.
4. Hone In On Link Signals
Any site’s goal should be to acquire as many high-quality link signals as possible. These backlinks deem your site a worthy contender on the SERPs and will encourage search engines to display your results to users. You can gain more backlinks by guest blogging on other sites and creating engaging content to post on your own site.
5. Improve Mobile Usability
With more than 200 million mobile phone search users in the U.S., you need to make your site mobile-friendly. Some tips you can implement to accomplish this goal are:
• Improve page load speed (no slower than three seconds)
• Use big, legible fonts
• Use images wisely (and resize them appropriately)
Take Charge of Your SEO Campaign Today
Managing an SEO campaign can be intimidating, especially when there are so many factors to consider. Take baby steps toward initiating your SEO campaign by mastering just one of the areas we’ve discussed here. Once you grow more comfortable, you can begin to implement others.
