5 Simple Steps to Level Up Your SEO Game

When you get it right, SEO or Search Engine Optimization is arguably the marketing channel with the greatest opportunity to grow your business. If you’re ready to start rocking your SEO, here are five things you can do right now to get seen higher up in the results on Google and get your customer’s attention.

Let’s pretend your company, EcoAg, is trying to rank higher for “organic farming supplies in Fort Collins”. For a simple win, follow these steps:

1. Review the page titles used throughout your site.
2. Do these titles reflect that search term? For example, if your home page is titled “We Love the Environment!” then Google isn’t going to learn much from that title tag.
3. For any titles that aren’t direct, switch to a title that reflects that target keyword. “Organic Farming Supplies” or “Organic Farming Supplier in Fort Collins” would work great!

Your business’s name, address, phone number, and hours of operation should be the same on everyone online listing as they are presented on your website. (And, of course, this info should be accurate!) Check your Google listing, Yelp, Facebook, Bing, etc, and update anything that’s out of date or incorrect. Make sure your business name itself is exactly the same so customers know what to expect when they see your business listed somewhere.

Research shows that when your profile is complete, customers are 70% more likely to visit you and 50% more willing to buy from you! (source) Fill in your hours, add your website and social media profiles, and add pictures. Check that your website link is up. Write a description of your company if you don’t already have one.

Here are some tips and tricks for nailing this part of your business profile.

1. 1. Post high quality, professional pictures that highlight your products and/or you providing your services to customers.
   2. If you have a physical storefront, be sure to include photos of the outside of your building, the inside of your building, the lobby, and other important parts of the store. 
   3. For bonus points, use portrait orientation photos (we like to take pictures on our phone and upload right from there). Portrait photos will look better on phones than landscape pictures, which matters for the increasing number of people who are using search engines on their phones…especially when people are looking for a business near them!

Reviews are key to your business’s digital presence because they offer third party validation of the quality of your products and/or services. Studies have shown that people trust reviews almost as much as a recommendation from an actual friend or family member! Of course, reviews are both a blessing and a curse. They’re a blessing because people often describe your business in language that resonates with prospective buyers. They’ll even include keywords that you want to show up for! On the other hand, reviews can feel like a curse because you can’t remove them and you can’t control what people say. On the plus side though, negative reviews can sometimes give you hints as to what you can do better for your customers.

Remember, SEO is a long game, and you don’t have to optimize everything all at once. These steps are simple to take and will pay off in the long run.

At Brillity Digital, we work with dozens of clients on improving their SEO rankings to increase organic traffic to their websites. It’s a long-term strategy with incredible potential. Get in touch if you want to learn more about how SEO can drive traffic to your business, and stay tuned for more posts about SEO strategy!