Whether you run an online Business, or a brick and mortar store with an online presence, you want to drive as much traffic to your website as possible. The internet is an important tool when it comes to growing a business, with digital and social media marketing used more widely and successfully than ever before. SEO, or search engine optimization, when used correctly, can get users flooding to your site, thus growing your business massively.

What is SEO?

Search engine optimization is basically making your site friendly to Search Engines. Search engines, like Google, are constantly sending bots out to crawl the internet and find pages. Google can be a great way for people to find your business so it’s a good idea to make it easier for them to find you. Great SEO will also get your page higher up the search engine results, which is incredibly important. How often do you look as far as page 10 of your search results?

Why is it Important?

Without SEO, and a good page rank, you are relying on marketing and people just stumbling upon your page. This massively limits who’s going to find you. Getting found by search engines gives your business a wider reach, a whole new audience, as well as the credibility that being high up on a search brings.

My Business is a Small Start-up, Do I Need SEO?

Even smaller business, should utilize great SEO. Local businesses, that don’t trade online, and are targeting a local audience, such as a local hairdresser, can benefit from having a website with great SEO. Say someone wants to find out your opening times, they Google it. Users might just search “hairdressers in…” You want your site to be the first they see, as well as making sure all the relevant and important information is easy to find.

What Should I Do?

Try not to focus too much on keywords. While it’s great to get them in to your titles, content and meta descriptions, that isn’t what it’s all about. Quality content, and as much of it as you can get is much more important. Fill your site with not just important information, but also entertaining and helpful content. Some simple things to check include:

• Photo titles and alt text. Don’t just leave them with standard “photo122” type names, give them relevant titles, and try to include keywords.
• Your permalinks. Make sure yours are set to include your post title, instead of things like “.com/16.13.2016”
• Mobile optimization. This really is key. More people than ever are browsing and shopping on their phones. Make sure your site works well.
• Have lots of backlinks
• Update often

If you are interested in learning more about setting up your own business, consider an online MBA from Washington State University. This course will give you the skills and knowledge you need to become a true leader in the business world. The beauty of studying a masters in business administration online is that it allows you to continue running your current business at the same time, implementing new skills, such as a knowledge of SEO and other marketing strategies as you go.