You’ve spent considerable time putting together niche expertise. This most likely involved supply chain management, competitor research, and market analysis. You’ve even worked on your SEO skills. Meta tags and website organization have quickly become second nature. However, there are five SEO and analytics tips you may not yet be implementing – and you need to.
1. Set up and Use “Google My Business”
As one of the many Google support tools, Google My Business is completely free. You only go through the easy steps of setting up a free business profile to connect to Google Maps, Search, and a variety of other applicable Google properties. If you find that your business is already in the system, you simply claim it and verify the information. It’s that easy.
You’d be surprised how many of your direct competitors are not yet taking advantage of this simple tool. They deny themselves the opportunity of spreading the word that would make them a local favorite. As a result, you easily slide into this void. In contrast, if your competition already caught on, you cannot afford to be the one business that doesn’t also sign up with Google My Business.
2. Write Fantastic Content
Google rewards websites with fresh, keyword-centric content. If you write content that is optimized for search and that speaks to the searchers’ needs, then it will get you traffic. With access to an extensive keywords database, you can target the right people at the right time while pushing your website’s ranking in the right direction — at the top of SERP.
But beware of bland, fluff content!
Instead, approach each piece of content as though you were customizing it for the buyer persona. This hypothetical customer ticks off all the boxes of your likely buyer demographic. In this way, you directly address shoppers and connect with them on a brand level.
3. Use Advanced Analytics
We’ve already discussed that Google is the source of excellent support tools. And Google Analytics is one of them. That said, don’t put all your eggs in one basket. Well-rounded SEO takes into account what other organizations see and determine about trend development.
A case in point is Woopra, which is just as free as Google Analytics. That said, it lets you go a step further and analyzes the steps of your customer journey along with the decision-making process that leads up to the sale – or the abandoned shopping cart.
This analytics tool also focuses your attention on user actions and how to define them successfully. Something as simple as the “View Tab” action can have a host of associated properties you can use to your advantage.
4. Make Your Website Fast
Website users want web pages that load quickly. Have you ever visited a website that took forever to load? It’s the worst!
Having a fast website is good for user experience, increasing conversions, and SEO. Web page load time is a ranking factor in the Google algorithm. The faster your page, the more likely it is to get traffic from Google.
How do you speed up your website? “There are a variety of free or low cost tools that you can use to speed up your website,” says Garit Boothe, SEO expert at Garit Boothe Digital. “WordPress has a free plugin for rolling out Accelerated Mobile Pages, also known as AMP. It’s easy to install. Another great service is Ezoic, which guarantees a Google Pagespeed Score of at least 80, for a low monthly cost.”
5. Make the Tools Work for You
The sheer volume of free tools can be overwhelming. Many entrepreneurs sign up for all of them and actually implement none. Don’t be this business owner. Rather, find the ones that are uniquely suited for your niche. Next, sign up for one and devote your attention to its implementation.
If it doesn’t work for you, it’s okay to delete it and try another one. Once you find the tool that does what you need at this time, move on to the next one and give it the same treatment. Before you know it, you have a selection of suitable tools that will boost your SEO practices with digestible data.
Follow these five steps, and you’re on your way to excellent placement in the local and national search results.
