Search Engine Optimization has become a mystery keyword synonymous with business success, and when utilized correctly this can be the foundation for growing your business’s reputation online, which will increase store visits and sales! Below, we’ve broken down some easy tweaks you can implement on your website today to optimize your website for SEO without having to hire a website developer. But keep in mind that Search Engine Optimization is a long-term game that often requires having a specialized person assigned to maintaining your website. To best nurture a long-term presence online that works and is consistent, we recommend having a dedicated Marketing Manager who can empower your business with Digital Marketing skills.
Defining Your Keywords
In short, Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is about optimizing your website to appear higher in a Search Engine Results Page (SERP). Think of when you go to a search engine. Type in your search terms, and that results list is the SERP. We’ll be using Google as our example for this article since it is the world’s most popular search engine. For instance, if you are a hair salon in Austin Texas, you would want your website to appear in the search results when someone types into Google “Hair Salons Austin Texas”. How can you do this? By optimizing your website for these keywords! The first step to optimizing your website for search is figuring out what your best keywords are, so you can plan what pages your website will include. There are a variety of tools across the web, we recommend Google Keyword Planner and Soolve as great places to start. Try to get a list of your top ten keywords.
Once you have your top 10 keywords nailed down, it’s time to create your website to optimize for these words. Duct Tape Marketing recommends you set your most important keyword phrase as the:
- URL of the page
- Page Title (and meta description)
- Header Tags (should be in H1, H2 format)
- Alt Image Attribution Tags
- Main Idea behind the Page Content
If you decide to build your own website or have your website built by a professional, WordPress has an incredible plugin by the name of “Yoast SEO” that gives you tips and tricks on optimizing each page of your website as it is built in case you forget anything. Envision has a powerful web builder tool built into SalonVision, which provides you with the tools to build SEO friendly websites along with integrated Online Booking.
Google My Business
Once your website is built and optimized for search, it’s time to set up and claim your free Google My Business listing. This is essential for your local search optimization since you can now claim your business online, and if customers search for your business by name, a short profile of your business will appear in the SERP on the right-hand side next to all the search results. A sample of this profile is illustrated below.
You will need to input all the information about your business, including days and hours of operation, phone number and website address. When setting up your Google My Business profile, it is important to search for and delete duplicate listings of your business. If you had someone else handling the online presence of your business before, it’s possible they already set up a listing for you. Also, if you have any major changes in business like the days and times you are open, update these on your My Business listing so customers aren’t left in the dark.
Linking Strategy
Google and other search engines want you to play well with others online. That’s where your link-building strategy comes into play. Link Building is all about making the content on your website as educational and easy to locate as possible. You want people to stay on your website, click around to different pages, and eventually book an appointment with your business online! This can be done by adding “internal links” (links to other pages of your website) within your home page to get visitors to go to those other pages. For example, if you wanted to showcase the services offered at your business, first you would need to create a page all about your services, then create a link from your homepage to your services page on your website. This is usually done on a menu at the top of the page but if you can link to it within the text of your page, so visitors can get to your new services page from multiple places on your homepage and increase the chances of them becoming a customer.
“External Linking” is the other half your Link Building Strategy. With external linking, you get the chance to work with other companies to increase the number of visitors coming to your website! You can add a link to your partners on your website, or even link to the brands you carry in your physical store. If you have a good relationship with the vendor company, ask them for a “reciprocal link” on their website. This means that you link to them and they link to you! Now when people visit their website and are curious about your brand, there is a link they can click to go directly to your website and see what your business is all about.
SEO, Don’t Overdo It
The biggest thing to remember about Search Engine Optimization is that it is useless if overdone. Don’t link to other pages on your website more than a couple of times per page. Don’t overuse keywords in your page titles or URLs. This is called “keyword stuffing” and it does not work. You want your visitors’ website experience to feel natural and organic, and Google will penalize your website by showing it lower on the Search Engine Results Page if it thinks that you are over-using SEO best practices. Remember, SEO is a long-term game so making consistent updates to your website with these tips in mind will help deliver consistent growth in the number and quality of visitors to your website and to your company’s online presence.
If you have any questions regarding SEO or anything related to growing your business, please email them to Social@Ennoview.com and we will feature them in upcoming blog posts!
