Search engine optimisation and increased web traffic should be the focus of every small business website. However, contracting with a firm or individual to assist with driving organic traffic to your site can be costly and the results are not always guaranteed. If you spend just a little time getting to know some of the concepts around search engine optimisation and then work on implementing the following tips, you might be able to see an up-tick in traffic to your site and even increased sales.
Here are some simple steps you can implement immediately to see if you can boost your small business website traffic and hopefully impact your bottom line.
Localize Your Keywords
Your starting point with optimisation should always be your website’s keywords. Keywords are embedded in your site’s Meta data and also in the content. Keywords are used by search engines to categorise and rank your site. Chances are, you are going to have a hard time getting listed on the search results ahead of the thousands of other businesses in your industry. A less daunting task would be to get ahead of businesses in your area by inserting keywords in combination with your location. Instead of just “plumbing,” combine the keyword with your location like “plumbing Sydney”. It’s much easier to be a big fish in the small search pond than trying to stand out in the sea that is overall search rankings.
Direct Email Marketing
This approach is not necessarily going to generate traffic for your site, but it’s going to go a long way towards taking full advantage of the traffic you do get. By offering some free downloadable content, something that has a perceived value, you can capture their email addresses as a requirement to accessing the content. These email addresses should be maintained and used for future direct marketing email blasts. They have already expressed interest in your business product and they will be more receptive to your sales pitch since you’ve already given them something in return. You are building your brand and a relationship.
Social Media
You have undoubtedly attempted to take advantage of social media by creating a Facebook page and a Twitter account for your small business. But you want to be sure that you have embedded all of the social media icons on your website to allow people to share your content or promote your brand to their friends and family. This is essentially putting very quick links in place to ensure that any traffic you are generating from social media is directed to your site. At the same time, you want to make it easy for customers who have visited your site to promote you on social media. Each platform will give you the code to embed the links directly in your website.
Specials and Incentives
People want to know they are getting a good deal. This is the business model that has driven the proliferation of Groupon and similar discounting sites. If you incorporate some web only deals, whether they are printable coupons or discount codes, you will likely generate return visits. Just be sure to keep them fresh and constantly changing so people will keep coming back.
Set up a Blog
Every small business should incorporate a blog into their website. A blog is content and a content rich site is a great way to boost your page rank and web traffic. WordPress templates are simple to install and easy to maintain. You might also want to consider guest blogging on other related industry websites/blogs. When doing so, you always want to provide your websites URL. Just be careful not to come off as trying to sell the readers, as this will turn people off and they will be less likely to click through to your website.
You have implemented all of the steps listed above. What’s next? Well, you are going to want to see if the measures you have taken have increased traffic to your site. There are many tools available to assist you with analytics. You can use a third party site, embed a simple hit counter into your own site, or even look into purchasing a reporting tool that offers more detailed analytics. Whatever you choose, be sure to review traffic and consider altering your content and keywords to get the best results.
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