Unless you’ve been living on a deserted island for the past 20 years, you know that the world is moving more and more online. This has certainly been the trend for a number of years now, but the coronavirus pandemic has paved the way for us to be able to do almost everything online, even buy a new house from Amazon. The downside of increased online activity for those of us that are already in the digital space or find ourselves newly in the process of getting online is competition. Namely, there's more competition in getting our websites seen by our ideal clients and customers. Enter SEO (search engine optimization), which, for those not in the know, helps to ensure that your site will be readily found on search engines (like Google).
When it comes to SEO, the main objective is to increase the visibility of your site and traffic to it. And there are plenty of companies out there that will manage your SEO and make sure your site is the first to show up in an online search (for top dollar, of course). But if you’re a new entrepreneur starting out or you just don’t want to spend your money that way, it doesn’t require much to boost your website’s SEO yourself. Read on to find out what you can do to help ensure your website is the first one to come up when people search for you.
Post Those Blogs!
This is without a doubt the most effective thing you can do to boost your SEO. It drives traffic to your site, keeps users on your website pages for longer periods of time, and helps you amass a large catalogue of content related to your industry or field. It also allows you to flex your muscle and show off your expertise, which builds confidence and trust in you and your abilities from potential customers. But keep in mind that it’s not just about quantity – high quality content helps your SEO, so don’t slack on that.
Pro Tip: Within any blog post, link to other blog posts you’ve written. This not only continues to get your content out to a wider audience, but it keeps visitors on your website for longer, which helps SEO rankings.
Link to Social Media
You increase your SEO by driving traffic to your site, so if blogs aren’t your thing, work on your social media game. This is a great place to have fun with your content and form (more visible) relationships with your audience. If you’re able to gain a significant number of active followers that engage with your content, and that content links back to your website, you’ve found an easy way to promote your website and brand.
Pro Tip: Engage with other accounts that are similar to yours. Sharing, liking, and commenting on other people’s content will make them want to reciprocate, drawing the attention of THEIR followers to your pages.
Grow Your Contact List
Adding consistently to your contact list helps to draw traffic to your site, especially if you’re regularly sending out newsletters or other updates. It also keeps you on the radar of potential clients or customers so it’s harder for them to forget about you and what you can offer them. Make sure it’s easy for potential subscribers to sign up for your list and for them to share your newsletter or blog post through social media or by email.
Pro Tip: Avoid adding every person you’ve ever connected with to your listserv – it’s a cheap (and tacky) way to grow your list and will ultimately lead to more “unsubscribers” than customers. It will serve you better in the long run if those on your list are actively engaged with you and your content. They’ll be more likely to visit your website and refer you to others.
Add Your Events, Recipes, and How-to Videos
The goal is to get people to visit your website, so depending on what you’re promoting, add it to your site! List all of your events (and encourage people to sign up for them through your website), post recipes, display your portfolio or gallery, include a way for people to schedule an appointment time with you, and upload videos. These website additions also require people to spend a little more time on your site, either watching a video or reading a recipe, which is great for SEO. You want your website to be the main source of information for people, so don’t outsource it to another site – use your own digital space!
Pro Tip: Any time you post something new to your website, send out an email to your contact list and post about it on social media. It’s an easy way to generate content and drive traffic to your site.
Target Your Audience, Not Search Engines
It’s a simple process: if your site appeals to your ideal audience member, they’ll visit it, which will naturally increase your SEO. So create a website that is authentic to who you are and what you do. Resist the urge to make a website that “appeals to search engines” by using the most popular keywords (you want your website to be interesting to humans, not robots). On the backend, focus on implementing keywords that you believe your visitor will actually use to get to you, not what you think is the most SEO-friendly. Use language that accurately and clearly describes what you do. The goal is to attract your ideal client to your site, so if you approach the SEO process with authenticity (instead of trying to get people who aren’t your ideal client to visit your site), you’re already on the right track.
Pro Tip: Have a clear idea of who your ideal client is so you can target them appropriately. How are you going to know how they’ll search for you if you don’t know who they are?
Ultimately, if you’re employing these methods to grow your SEO, patience is key. As you work these tips, your site will absolutely get higher and higher on the coveted first page of Google, but it won’t happen overnight. And if you want to chat further about how you can make your website more reflective of who you are and what you do, get in touch!
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