Advice for Business Owners About Getting Your Business to Show Up Online

Top search results means more visitors to your website, and that means increasing your chances of getting a lead and making a sale. As a business owner, you already know how important it is for your business to be discovered online. But for emphasis, I’m going to spell it out for you:

1. The customers who find your business online are usually in the process of making a decision to BUY NOW or very soon.
2. The customers who find your business online are often NEW customers.

For these 2 reasons, you should be motivated to invest time and attention understand what it takes to push your website to the top of the search results pages.  Want help getting your business discovered by new customers online? CLICK HERE.

How to Achieve High Search Ranking-For Business Owners

This post is written for business owners because it’s important you have a basic understanding of how Search Engine Optimization (SEO) works. Attaining page 1, 2 or 3 positions in the search results is going to make a difference in how many people visit your website and contact you. When your website (or specific pages of your website) display on the 1st page (2nd or 3rd is okay too) of search results, this is considered high ranking on the search results pages (also known as SERPS).

It’s unlikely people will dig deep into the search results to find what they’re looking for. They don’t have to. The search engines do good job providing enough relevant options on the first 2-3 pages of search results to satisfy most any query…and you want YOUR business to be there.

Why you should understand the basics of SEO

The fundamentals of search engine optimization are simple to understand. After reading this article, you’ll be better equipped to make good decisions and understand how to get your website moving higher in the searches.

What Determines Which Pages Get Selected For Top of Search Results?

Web pages which rank highly contain content which is relevant to what people are searching for. Not just any content-valuable content. The search engines know when a site has relevant and valuable content. They rely on several markers:

1. The words on the web page are important. When the words on a web page are a close match with the words someone has typed into a search, that web page has a higher chance of showing up in the search results.
2. The popularity of a page are important. Google knows when a web page is being seen by your website visitors. Visits to your website and specific pages of your site further signal Google as to the relevance of the content you’re providing.
3. The more time people spend on a page and the more pages a visitor consumes is yet another marker which tells the search engines your content is relevant.

Web pages with little value aren’t going to rank highly in search results. For example, you can get the most amazing free publicity if Oprah Winfrey loves your book and invites you for an interview, but if your book sucks or if the subject matter isn’t a topic of interest, you’re not going to get the call from Oprah. Likewise, you can’t expect the reward of high-ranking web pages if the content is of little or no use to people.

There are a few more factors which play a role in SEO, but these 3 elements are fundamental. You can understand them and you can implement them.

This is a dessert menu for the fictitious SBU Bakery. On paper, this is realistically about the best you can do with a menu. Online, each menu item can have its own page and delivery unlimited details about each dessert. These individual pages can include images, video too! Adding a web page for all 20 items on this dessert menu would add value to the customer experience, and thus, will add value to the business. Do YOU have a web page for all your products or services? This is a serious investment in your business.

How the Relevance of Website Content Affects Search Engine Optimization

Website content is simply the words and the images on a web page. Content may also include audio or video. Why do people visit a web page? Because they’re in active pursuit of information.

The Blueberry Pie example: https://smallbusinessu.org/the-best-blueberry-near-me/

As a demonstration of how to get a web page to rank highly in the search results, we built a web page to dominate the search for “the best blueberry pie” so it would show in the search results in regions of Southern New Jersey and Philadelphia, PA. If you were to search for “the best blueberry pie” and then use a location such as Philadelphia, South Jersey, Cherry Hill, Hammonton, or any of a number of other location-based terms, this web page will often have a position on the 1st page of search results. The reason: because it the content of the web page is a close match to the words (search terms) used in the search query.

More Content Provides More Chances to Get Your Business Discovered Online

A website should be like a magazine publication which continually comes out with new content. A website is never “finished.” For the purposes of this article, let’s stay on the subject of food.

If Small Business U. were in the business of making and selling blueberry pie, surely we would be in the business of selling other pies and maybe muffins, cupcakes and other baked goods. The natural process of posting the menu of items on a website would be to have a page called something like: Baked Goods. On this page would be a list of items or categories of the baked goods.

Unlike a printed menu, on a website, we can go much deeper into detail with every menu item. (Please keep in mind, this goes for any product or service you sell, not just food items.) As we have already demonstrated with the blueberry pie page, the same can be done any product or service. Adding photos and detailed descriptions will not only build you a bigger and better website, this information will also be helpful to your potential customers.

Fuel for social media content 

Wish you had more social media content? This strategy also give you fuel for your social media posts. If the Small Business U. Bakery had 20 items on the pie & pastry menu, each item would have a post on Pinterest, Instagram, Facebook and Twitter. Every time the menu changed or when we added a special seasonal item, these would also be featured on social media. People love images, and they respond with likes, shares and comments. But even more important, many of the people who see these posts would click the link and visit the website where they could read the entire description, watch the video, and maybe even give us their contact information in return for a coupon. Wow!…THAT’S a lot of marketing!

Now this is completing the cycle of content and traffic giving the search engines the markers they’re looking for to pump your search results up, up & up.

If you want to get MY input on how THIS strategy could work for YOUR business, give me a shout at 1-866-799-2825 or fill out the simple form below.

Need Help With a New or Existing Website?

Fill Out This Form and Let’s Discuss It. 

Name:

Email:

Tell Us About Your Situation. How We Should Contact You About Help With a Website? (email? phone?)

We respect your email privacy

Powered by AWeber Email Marketing

Small Business U is here to provide resources, and services to business owners so they can build a bigger, better, and more valuable business. Reach us at 1-866-799-2825