When questioned about SEO, small company owners and marketers often provide the same response: they lack time to create the content they believe is necessary for SEO success. However, monthly churning out massive amounts of content is not the secret to rising small company SEO rankings. Nonetheless, a strong content strategy is. It will guarantee that your items and services are seen when appropriate search phrases are used.
Therefore, how should you create text for small company SEO?
Blogs are not SEO
When creating content for the objective of achieving a high position in the organic search results, this does not always equate to blog entries. Although your blog is a terrific area to target phrases that visitors at the “head of the funnel” may be looking for, it is not necessarily the most critical material you should be creating.
There must be a plan behind the content you produce for it to generate ROI. Ensure that your product and service pages include keyword-optimized content before producing blog entries.
>See also: Five ways small businesses can compete with giants in SEO
Less can be more
When many individuals sit down to generate content for their website, they worry that they need to write extensively for SEO objectives. The second most crucial thing to grasp is that search engines rank sites based on how well they answer a user’s search query. Regarding small company SEO, the length of the content on the page they are ranking is not a “ranking factor” in and of itself. The number of words on a page does not impact its position in the search results.
Instead, focus on the reader while writing copy. Are you writing enough for them to find the solution they sought when they began their search? On product pages, for example, a single description may be adequate. Unless the product needs hundreds of words to effectively explain it, there is no need to create a lengthy description.
Research indicates that longer sites are more likely to rank higher than shorter ones. However, given the complexity of search engine algorithms, this is likely due to variables other than the length of the copy.
This also implies that establishing a blog writing schedule that forces you to write more content than you have time for is useless. Only write website content that has a specific goal.
‘Give your copy to someone else to read and ask them to spot which keywords you are using’
The best way to use a copy for SEO is to answer people’s questions
The best strategy for writing copy is to ensure you are writing copy that searchers are looking for. This means conducting research into search trends and volumes when it comes to small business SEO. There are free tools available, such as Google’s own Keyword Planner, to get an idea of how many people a month are searching for your target terms.
>See also: Ten ways small businesses can easily improve their SEO
Look at ‘People also ask’
You may have an idea of the search phrases people use to find websites like yours, but there may be others you have overlooked. Examining the “People also ask” recommendations supplied by Google when you run a search is a fast approach to getting ideas for common search terms linked to your target keywords.
Enter one of the keywords that you believe might attract qualified organic traffic to your website into Google and scroll down until you reach the “People also ask” tabs. Utilize them as ideas for additional search phrases and investigate their search volume. When you click on one, Google will populate further results. To improve the SEO of your small company, you may get a big list of similar keywords and begin going through them to see which phrases your audience would look for.
Look at forums for what people want to know
Examining the online forums and websites frequented by your audience is another excellent technique to determine the issues in which they are interested. Using the famous website Reddit, for instance, you may locate a “sub-reddit” concerning your sector. This will give you an idea of the sorts of questions they ask. Create content to address this. It is probable that your audience will ask the topic on Reddit if the solution does not already exist online.
Write with keywords in mind, but don’t over-engineer
The secret to producing effective material for SEO is to write for your audience, not search engine robots. Ultimately, the algorithms are very clever and cannot be tricked by repeatedly using your desired terms. Remember that you are attempting to position your content towards the top of search engine results pages so that your target audience will discover it and visit your website. If people come on your website and it is created just to include many keywords, it is doubtful that they will be sufficiently pleased with your brand to remain on your site for an extended period.
Write your material to engage the people who will view it while keeping in mind the keywords you’re targeting on that page. The secret is to choose a few closely related keywords to target every page and then apply them throughout the material where it makes sense. Give your draught material to someone else to read and ask them if they can identify the keywords you’ve used. You may have overutilized them if they can.
It is better to optimise existing copy than write more
Before generating more content, remember that you may make the most of what you currently have on the site if you are short on time yet want a high-ranking site.
Examine the websites ranking on pages two or three but haven’t received any SEO treatment to see if you can optimize them by better tailoring them to the keywords they’re currently ranking for so that they move higher in the search engine results.
3 top tips to remember
- There is no set amount of copy you need to produce per month or length it needs to be when you do write it
- Make sure however much copy you do manage to write is written with the purpose of ranking for particular search phrases
- Don’t overlook copy you already have on your site
Helen Pollitt is head of the digital at digital marketing agency Avenue Digital
Further reading on SEO
Why you need an SEO strategy to succeed in business
Other SEO Resources
You can find lots of guides on the web for free if you want to learn more about SEO for your business website. Here are some key sites to check out:
- Search Engine Journal – this is their ‘Introduction to SEO basics’ section.
- Moz.com – has a whole section called ‘Learn SEO’ which is split into how-to guides, a beginner’s guide, a learning center, webinars, and a Q&A.
- Search Engine Land – although mostly focused on daily news and updates within the search industry it does have this neat 9-chapter guide on the fundamentals of optimizing for search.
- Semrush – is an SEO software suite for digital marketing professionals but it also has this learning center accessible to non-subscribers.
- Ahrefs – another SEO software suite used by professionals and digital marketing agencies. They offer a ‘Learn SEO roadmap’ which has a great section on blogs and groups to follow if you really want to amp up your knowledge.
- Search Engine Watch – has an SEO-specific category that covers the latest developments.
There is no question that you can do SEO on your own company and get excellent results. Understanding and putting the foundations into practice can often do wonders for increasing traffic and leads. However, like any marketing endeavor, it is occasionally worthwhile to hire a digital marketing specialist or agency to manage what is now such an essential aspect of operating a company. Suppose you are equipped with an understanding of the fundamentals. In that case, however, you will be able to have far more productive dialogues with any consultants you may hire and work together more effectively. Be sure to follow the recommendations shown here and use the SEO resources supplied!