If you’re a business owner you’ll get emails and ads targeted at you telling you that you need to maximize your SEO (Search Engine Optimization). Now there are lots of fancy (read: expensive) ways to go about this, but before you go down that road there are 4 things you need to do to get you to the starting line. Before you spend any money on anything extra make sure you’ve done these 4 things.
Get a website
This seems like a no-brainer, but I’ve seen several small businesses just run from their Facebook page. You can’t really optimize for search without a website. As the company Squarespace says in their slogan “A website makes it real”. Making a website has never been easier with sites like Squarespace, Wix, WordPress, and others you can pick a template to add some pictures and words and there you go. Or, email me and I’ll do it for you. For as little as $16 a year you can have a domain with your business name. The importance of this follows for my next suggestion
Set your email as you@yourdomain
This is a personal pet peeve of mine. I hate when I have a business trying to sell me something and their email is businessname@gmail.com. It’s even more annoying when they have a website. It costs $6/mo to have google run your email. You’re already using Gmail, all you have to do is set it up to manage your email (or again, you can reach out to me and I’ll do it for you). You can even sync it with outlook if you prefer. Again, like with the website, it gives you legitimacy. I’m writing to you from joeroblesconsults.com and you can email me at joe@joeroblesconsults.com.
Claim your listings
You need to claim your listings. In today’s world, people Google or ask Siri for recommendations. If you turn up on search as a location, you must own it so they can be automatically directed to your website. You’ll want to claim your Google listing and your Yelp listing. Make sure all the information is correct and link to your email so you’ll know when reviews come in so you can respond to them (which we’ll talk about in a future post).
Claim your social media
Now for your social media. Even if you don’t intend to currently use them you should claim your Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Facebook also has “locations” so if you have a physical location there is a good chance Facebook has already created a page for you: claim it. Facebook allows people to leave a review for you so you’ll want to monitor it. Again make sure your information is correct. Now that all our phones take quality pictures, throw up a few pictures of your shop. You should also throw up a few pictures of yourself as people love to do business with a human rather than a corporation. If you’re a small business owner, putting yourself out there will really help, especially with Millennials who truly value doing business with locals.
These 4 simple things will give you a nice web presence and increase your SEO. How you may ask? If you’re active on social, claim you pages, and have a website, you’ll show at the top of Google search for all three. Take this local company, for example, (I’ve done no work for them just like them). Dragon’s Lair Comics.
I did a simple search for Dragon’s Lair Austin (in this case looking for a specific business)
Since I searched “Austin” the top listing is the Austin page, they claim their google listing so there is the map where you can instantly get directions, save, and access their reviews. Just below that is their Facebook link, Twitter, Yelp, and Instagram. Since they actively post on their Google listing you see upcoming events.
In a future post I’ll show you what the next steps you have to take to increase your SEO after you’ve done these basic things. I’ll use the same example to show you how key words related to different searches will help your listing and how to discover what those words are without spending much money.
Joe Robles 