Search Engine Optimisation

Top 5 SEO Myths Hurting Small Businesses

Even after over 20 years of search engine optimisation, several SEO myths seem particularly persistent. With so much misinformation flying around, it’s no wonder small business owners treat SEO with caution.

It’s one thing to see these myths surfacing in small business networking groups. It’s quite another when flaky “SEO specialists” promote them in sales emails.

Yes, I get those emails too. So this article has been prompted by yet another dodgy “SEO specialist” site review listing fake SEO problems they’d “found”. Whilst a genuine SEO audit can help, spammers just send out cookie-cutter lists and hope you’ll bite. These can be hard to spot unless you keep up with current SEO best practices.

Asking non-expert friends and colleagues may feel reassuring, but uninformed advice just increases risk.… Read the rest “Top 5 SEO Myths Hurting Small Businesses”

Small Business SEO Mistakes

Small business SEO is now more vital than ever. Why? Because with more people working from home, offline advertising will struggle to compete with online searches.

Your competitors know this. That’s why Google Trends shows that searches for SEO in the UK recently (March 2020) peaked higher than at any time in the past five years.

Still, small businesses face special problems when it comes to investing in SEO. This leads to three common mistakes.

Mistake #1: DIY SEO

Small budgets make DIY seem tempting. Yet whilst the basics of SEO can seem simple to learn, they take years to master — and they keep changing.

Besides, the simple parts won’t get you far.… Read the rest “Small Business SEO Mistakes”

Top 3 Tips for Small Business Website Growth

So you’ve launched your new small business website? Congratulations! Or maybe you’ve had one for a while — and are now wondering if it’s really working? Well, building your site was just the beginning. Now you need to focus on website growth.

Not sure where to start with that? Don’t worry, that’s quite common. So here are three vital things that many small businesses overlook.

1. Use Your Website Stats

Any usable business website generates a lot of stats on its visitors. If yours doesn’t, you’re flying blind. It usually takes weeks to collect enough data to start seeing meaningful trends though. So you need to fix this immediately.

Thankfully, most sites are easy to link to Google Analytics, Google Search Console and Bing Webmaster Tools.… Read the rest “Top 3 Tips for Small Business Website Growth”

How to Master Local SEO

Local SEO Review ManagementLocal SEO helps your site to rank for local keywords, like “dentist Cardiff” or “vet Bristol”. Good local SEO can get you featured in both the organic (unpaid) search results and the “map pack” that appears above them. That’s obviously good for sales. So how can you master local SEO?

Well, it differs from non-local (aka “national”) SEO, because for local searches, search engines need to be confident of your firm’s location. Your online reputation matters a lot more, too. So whilst good on-site SEO and backlinks are still as vital as for normal SEO, citations and reviews are the keys to good local search positioning.

Unfortunately, both citations and reviews have common pitfalls that can easily undermine your rankings.

Citation Consistency for Local SEO

Citations are places that mention your company, even if they don’t provide a link.… Read the rest “How to Master Local SEO”

How SEO Helps Your Business Grow

SEO - search engine optimisationSearch engine optimisation (SEO) is a digital marketing strategy that brings visitors to websites. It helps businesses by increasing website traffic in an organic (unpaid) way. However, it keeps evolving, so it can be hard for stakeholders to keep up with the many updates. That can be frustrating for those who rely on Google’s traffic to drive sales, so hopefully the SEO infographic below will help.

SEO is also a huge topic. Factors that affect search positioning include the quality of backlinks and content, SSL security, page speed, click-through-rate, and more. However, one factor that remains constant is the extra value that customers bring when they find your business via organic search.

Visitors from unpaid, organic searches are actively looking for what you provide.… Read the rest “How SEO Helps Your Business Grow”

5 Great Reasons to Start a Business Blog

If you own a local business, you may be wondering whether to start a business blog. Perhaps you aren’t sure how it could help you, or you lack the time to create quality content consistently.

On the other hand, you’ve heard that content marketing can take your business to the next level.

So, is starting a blog worth it? How could it help your business? Let’s review a few of the best reasons to start a business blog.

1. Drive Website Traffic

The most obvious part of running a business online is that low traffic to your website means low sales. That’s why many business owners spend lots of money each month on PPC ads to boost site traffic.… Read the rest “5 Great Reasons to Start a Business Blog”