Today, everyone is busy browsing online for everything. How does a person search anything using a search engine? Using keywords. So, to get your small business ranking high in the search engine, you need to optimize your website. SEO increases your online visibility and helps you increase your consumer base. Let’s see the simple 8 steps to create an SEO plan for your small business:

1.       Title and description

The title helps the reader and the search engine understand what’s there on the page. It needs to include a keyword to be displayed in search results. The description meta tag needs to be unique and a summary of your content written in 3 to 4 sentences. Since most people go to a search engine and then start with online shopping or reviewing products/services, you need to write a title and description that well-communicate your web page content. A vague title will never help you improve your ranking. Keep your title short and remember keyword stuffing is a big no-no.

2.       Keywords

Keywords are finalized on the basis of your product and your target audience. You need to understand what your audience is looking for and how they would search it online. You need to try new keywords often to stay tuned to your target audience. Another thing to consider is keyword density. The keyword should be used 1 or 2 times in your content. Quality keywords increase traffic and conversion on your website.

3.       Content

Content is king. A user gets useful and quality information about your content that affects your search ranking. SEO for small business cannot be executed without content that is relevant, offers information and follows expectations of the target audience. Content should have a natural flow and easy-to-understand writing with no complex sentences. Fresh and focused content presented in short paragraphs leaves a better impression on the reader.

4.       Anchor text

You need to link to other pages, which is done via anchor text or tags. It is the hyperlinked text that directs the reader to other pages of your website or any other website. This helps you make the reader scan through your website and lead-generation pages. Anchor text should be descriptive but short. Tags linked to pages with the right words lead to better ranking.

5.       URL

Your URL, or Universal Resource Locator, needs to be structured carefully to have strong SEO for your small business. Since the URL is displayed in search results, it should be traffic-generating and include the title of the page or a relevant keyword. Try keeping it short instead of long with unclear strings. Keep it of around 50 to 60 characters and avoid any unnecessary punctuation or hyphens.

6.       Images

Images are an important part of your content. A reader can memorize your site content better when supported with relevant images or infographics. This improves your search engine ranking. The images uploaded should a short but descriptive file name and alt text to appear in search engine listings. JPEG, GIF, PNG and BMP are the preferred image file formats.

7.       Heading tags

Heading tags provide structure to your webpage content. The range varies from

to

in descending order of importance of the text. These are of different font sizes and help with smoother navigation throughout the website. Quality tags help the reader and Google to understand what’s on the website. Content segmented by headings and subheadings is easy to absorb and understand, but make sure there aren’t too many headings on a single page.

8.       Mobile-friendly

Most people browse the Internet on their smartphones. Mobile sites have different formats, layouts and sizes. Mobile sites should have less content and images for the quick appearance of search results. You should inform Google about your mobile site to be configured and indexed properly. Optimize your website blog or use a mobile-optimized version of content for better SEO.