SEO For Small Business

There are genuinely good SEO agencies out there. However, there are also plenty of rip-off merchants. The dodgy ones will do things like create backlinks to your website from spammy sites that are completely unrelated to your business. This can temporarily fool Google into increasing your ranking, but you run the risk of Google punishing your site for hanging around with such dodgy types. Not to mention, there’s no point ranking high for searches that aren’t actually attracting your ideal customer. And when you start asking exactly what the agency is doing for that expensive monthly fee, they may try to baffle you with bulldust or go mysteriously silent.

I focus on SEO techniques that Google itself tells us we should use. I’ve selected the strategies that are proven to be effective, and can help increase your ranking without requiring ongoing monthly effort (and payment). Rest assured,  I will explain everything I’m doing in layman’s terms so you know exactly what’s going on.

When prospective clients go looking for a service provider, they’ll type a key word or phrase into Google. You’ll then want your website to include those keywords, so they show up in the search results.

Your clients could search ‘bookkeeper’, or ‘Melbourne bookkeeper’, or even ‘account keeping for hairdressers in Melbourne’. Keyword research helps identify what phrases your ideal clients most use – because there’s no use trying to rank for bookkeeper if your ideal clients are actually searching for account keepers.

We also look at how many other websites are already trying to get ranked highly for keywords. We can then choose keywords that are not only heavily searched, but that also have less competitors trying to rank for them.

Because keywords make a big difference to your Google ranking, it’s essential to get them right – and so I highly recommend having keyword research done if you haven’t already. Read more about how good quality keyword research is conducted.

If you think there’s room for improvement with your website’s Google ranking, but you’re not sure whether you’ve already got keywords and meta tags sorted, let me take a look. I offer a low-cost SEO Health Check where I take a look at what’s been done, what’s working well and what could do with some work. You won’t need to give me back-end access to your website, and I’ll provide you with recommendations on what to focus on as a priority.

Yep – especially if you serve a local market. Google now includes Google Business Profiles in their search results. Having a profile really helps you get found. What’s more, you can create posts on your profile (a bit like social media posts) that include keywords, and these can also turn up in Google’s search results. So having a profile provides you with lots of extra chances to be found. But you need to have an attractive profile to make people click through to your website or call you. Think photos, an enticing description, reviews, and intriguing posts.

Read more about optimising your Google Business Profile.

There is a spot in the back end of your website where this data slots in. Usually I will provide your copy in a Word document, and you or your website guru can pop it into your website. However, if you’re unable to do this, let me know. I’ll take a look at your website and, if it’s a system I’m familiar with, I may be able to do this for you for an additional fee.

If you work from home, as many small service businesses do, you can list on Google Maps without having to show your address. You’ll need to provide your address for verification purposes, but you can elect to have the address not show up on Google Maps. Instead, you can have the map show your service area.

If you don’t already have this, you’ll need to create a basic Google Business Profile yourself. I can guide you, and it won’t take long at all. Once you’ve set up the basic profile, I can spruce it up with great copy.

No. Only Google knows their algorithm, and it’s made up of ever-shifting variables. If someone says they can guarantee your ranking, they’re lying.

What I can guarantee is to follow the advice Google offers to improve your ranking, and I can ensure your website has it’s keywords and tags filled in correctly to give you the best chance of enhancing your ranking, and attracting your ideal client.