“The future of SEO is here: understanding and marketing to specific and defined audiences through search engines.”
— Adam Audette
We live in a digital space where almost everything happens online. People are constantly on their phones or computers, searching for services, products, and information. Businesses, no matter how big or small, local or global, are no exception. Recent data shows that about 28% of a business’s activity is done online.
And that’s even not surprising. There are about 8.5 billion searches daily from billions of social media users. By next year, online shoppers are expected to grow to 285 million. The more the number grows, the more reason for businesses to keep learning.
This is a crucial time for your business to be easily found by your target audience. If your business isn’t showing up in those searches, you’re missing out big time.
The Power of SEO for Small Business
Search Engine Optimization is technical and complicated. But this is important to help make your website rank in search engines and be among the first list of results that appear when people search for things related to your product or services.
When someone searches for a “salon near me,” you want your business to be on their search result page. That way, it’ll be easier to find your business and connect with them.
Key Elements of SEO
1. Keywords
These are words and phrases people type into search engines. As I mentioned, when searching for “salon near me”, that is exactly a keyword for a business in that industry. Different niches require different target markets and thus, keywords to target.
Strategically using these keywords on your website and content can improve your chances of appearing in user’s search results.
2. On-Page SEO
This practice involves tweaking your content to make it more search-engine friendly. This includes:
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Title Tags: Ensure your titles are clear and include your main keywords.
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Meta Descriptions: Write compelling descriptions that encourage people to click.
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Headers: H1, H2, and H3 are used to structure content and avoid a wall of text.
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Alt Text for Images: Describe images using keywords to help search engines understand your content.
3. Off-Page SEO
This is about building your website’s authority through external means. This includes getting backlinks from reputable websites, which act like votes of confidence for your site. The more quality backlinks you have, the higher your site can rank.
4. Technical SEO
It focuses on your website’s backend which ensures it is easy for search engines to crawl and index. Key aspects include site speed and whether your website is mobile-friendly.
Local SEO
If you run a local business, local SEO is crucial. It optimizes your online presence to attract more business from relevant local searches. This also involves using local keywords, such as Best Salon in Canada or Online Business Courses Canada. It would also be helpful for local SEO if you could encourage satisfied customers to leave positive reviews on your site.
Consistency Across Social Media
Part of a strong online presence is having consistent social media handles. Use the same or similar names across platforms to make it easy for customers to find and recognize you.
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