Search Engine Optimization – Small Business SEO Checklist

Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) isn’t something that should happen as an afterthought. If you are planning a blog post, a new page on your small business website or other content such as an event, new product or service, it is important to consider SEO right at the start. If you do so then your post, page or listing will be more relevant, in demand and it will get more traffic, visitors and shares. What is there to lose? Here’s a Small Business SEO Checklist to make this easy for you and to help you stay on track with some of the simple SEO tactics that can help your post, page or listing get found:

Small Business SEO Checklist

1. First determine what your blog post is going to be about and draft some pertinent keywords – i.e. words that your clients might use to search for your content and that describe what your post is all about. Go with your gut instinct and think about the words your customers use when asking you about this topic.

2. Use Google Trends to determine whether people are searching for these words or phrases. Google suggestions is also a great way to determine if this is a good topic, just start entering your word or phrase in Google and see how it completes it in the search dropdown that shows up. The suggestions that show up first are the most popular searches relating to your keyword. If you want to go really deep you can use Google Adwords Keyword Planner tool to determine the competition and value of your intended words or phrases (which isn’t ideal as it’s based on data from paid advertising and not overall search), or even better, a tool like Keyword Explorer from MOZ.

Another even easier way to determine the competition for a key word / phrase is to Google it and see how many results there are.

Your goal in this step is to determine phrases or words that have a high volume but low competition.

3. After doing the research in 2 above, determine a) your focus keyword / phrase, and b) secondary keywords that apply (use these in the text when writing your content). Craft your text and content around these.

4. To make it more likely that your page or post will be found when people search for it, the word / phrase that you have identified as your focus keyword / phrase should be used in the:

Title of your post
META title
META Description
Focus keyword
Alt Tags of your images
Text of your page – but not repetitively – you are writing for people not search engines! A good rule of thumb is 3 – 6 times for a 300 – 600 word post or page
In your headers and subheadings
URL

Yoast is a great tool to help you with this, if you are using WordPress I highly recommend it.

5. The META on your site might be the first impression anyone sees of your small business so take a little extra time to craft it well. When entering your META follow the META tag rules below- if you are using Yoast this plugin will help you with this:

Your META title (in purple in the image below) should be less than 56 characters, META description (below the URL in grey on the below) should be less than 156 and it should compel people to click.

The focus keyword phrase we’ve used in this post is Small Business SEO Checklist FYI!

SEO is Important

I meet a lot of people who think SEO is too technical so they simply avoid doing it but it doesn’t have to be and ignoring means you are losing out on lots of potential visits and shares. I hope that this simple Small Business SEO Checklist will encourage you to add SEO to your posts and pages. Doing so could be huge for your site and your business!

Google Reviews – How To Get More Reviews for Your Business

Good Google reviews are super important. When people Google your business the first thing they are likely to see is your Google My Business listing. If you have lots of great reviews that helps to get people through your door to do business with you, and it helps with your website positioning.

I was asked recently how to get good reviews and how to get rid of bad ones. Unfortunately you can’t just delete bad reviews. Trying to get them removed can be arduous too, so the best way is simply to get more good reviews!

Here are a few ideas and suggestions to make the process easier for your customers (and for you too!) – these will work for Google but you can adapt and use them for Yelp reviews, and Facebook too.

Google Reviews – How To Get More

1. Many people don’t know how to give a review on Google. Prepare a one sheet handout giving them detailed directions showing them how to submit a review for your business. Email these to your customers or give them to them at the checkout (depending on the type of business you operate).

2. If you collect email addresses for your current customers (recent customer in the last 2 years only!) you should send a follow up email those that buy from you. Thank them for their business, ask for a review and give them directions as outlined above. You could also send this to your newsletter subscribers encouraging them to review your biz. Be careful though, because of the Canadian Anti Spam legislation you can’t simply email everyone and anyone.

3. Run a monthly promo: each review is entered into a draw each month. At the end of the month draw one and send them something good like a gift card or a voucher they can use next time they do business with you.

4. Make sure your staff know how important it is to get good reviews and incorporate asking for reviews into your business processes.

5. Seek out those who give good reviews and make sure to thank them. If you ignore them then they’re certainly not going to give you more!

6. Add an ask for a review on your invoices / receipts.

7. Showcase reviews on your website and on your social feeds too.

8. Depending on your business model you can add a call to action button on your website encouraging people to review you.

10. When you set up your My Business listing Google probably sent you a ‘Review us on Google’ sticker. Display this prominently.

Of course getting good reviews starts with having great customer service. The better your service the more likely your reviews will be great too!

Related articles:

Listing Your Business on Google

Tips for Staying CASL Compliant

Listing Your Business on Google

Is your business listed on Google?

Listing your business on Google is a great way to help you get discovered and it also goes a long way to validate your business. In Canada most of us use Google to search the Internet so having a presence there is vital.

To find out if your business is listed on Google, simply Google the name of your business. If the right results show up on the right hand side of the page then you’re listed thanks to Google. Checking this before setting up a new one helps avoid the headache of duplicate listings.

Note that if you’ve ever set up a Google + page then you likely have a Google business listing and you may have 2 since Google also set up a bunch for every business it could find.

Listing your business on Google / claiming Your Google Listing

Once you’ve determined whether you have a page or not, go here to create your listing OR click on ‘Claim this listing’ (you’ll find this below your phone number on the results to the right of your screen when you Google your business name).

Google will step you through a process to verify your name address and location. Make sure all of the details are correct then click on the check box to verify that you are authorized and that you agree to the terms of service. Google will then call you with an automated message giving you the four digit code you need to complete the verification process.

Note that this will set up your business listing AND your Google+ page as well as Google maps.*

Once you are set up you should add more detail about your business along with photos, and your logo to brand your presence.

*It is important to differentiate between Google+ which is Google’s attempt at a social network and Google My Business which is a directory. You should have both and they should be linked so when you are setting them up remember to login and use your Google account when stepping through the process (the one you use for Adwords and Analytics too!).

Why you should have a Google Business Listing

1. Gets your business discovered online locally – and this is huge
2. It shows the world that you are for real!
3. Provides valuable links from Google back to your website
4. Helps your customers quickly and easily find you both online and off

If you need some help with this get in touch.

It’s Time For a Digital Detox

This weekend at PowHERhouse speaker series in Sechelt, I spoke for 9 minutes about how important it is to take a digital detox. As a digital marketer I’ve learned this lesson the hard way (and take it from me, I am still learning). I was surprised by how many people came up to me after and thanked me for putting this in perspective for them too. My message seemed to resonate so I am sharing it with you here.

We now have access to more information than all previous generations combined. The ubiquity of digital technology can be a blessing and a curse. One the one hand we can connect with practically anyone in the world and find the answers to our questions in an instant but on the other our faces are stuck in our phones and we’re distracted by frivolities that don’t really matter.

I’m on a crusade to help people put digital technologies back in perspective and put us back in control.

Turn it off! – do you really need to take your phone to bed and keep it on all night – what’s so important that it can’t wait till morning?
Leave it behind – going out for a meal or a walk – leave your phone behind and focus on the people in front of you.
Stay focused – know what is it that you want to use digital media for. Whether it be for growing your business or simply keeping in touch with your friends, bear your goals in mind when online.
Be selective – about who you connect with (quality is better than quantity!), which tools you use (you can’t use them all well and grow a business too!) and when you use them (see 1 above!).
Listen out for what matters to you – you don’t need to read every single post in your timeline or any of them even. If you are using social media for business hone in on replies, likes, comments and shares (RT’s).
Keep this in mind when posting: If its not worth saying out loud its not worth saying online.
Set some ground rules for you and your family. No phones at the dinner table is one of ours.
Take a digital detox – schedule a block of time (not during sleep hours!) or better yest, a day, to turn of all devices and make some real world connections (with your family, nature, yourself…).

Leave a comment below and let us know when you digitally detox and how you feel when doing it.

Websites That Showcase Brand and Style

A business owner recently asked to see some examples of websites we’ve worked on so that they could get a feel for our ‘style’. It’s a great question and most companies that create sites for clients do have a distinct style.

At Out-Smarts though, it’s not about us it’s all about capturing our clients’ style (or brand!). We work hard during our discovery process to truly understand our client’s style and goals and to make sure that this shines through in the sites we build.

Here’s an example from a site we launched recently. The client is Port Moody Integrated Health, a clinic that provides Naturopathy, Chiropractic and Massage Therapy services.

When we started working together they had a vision of a site that is uncluttered and easy for people to navigate on any device, one that contained exactly the information that their clients required and, most importantly, conveyed tranquility and natural balance (this is how people feel when they leave the clinic). The site also had to have a west coast feel.

We created a scrolling parallax site that is responsive to major devices. The background image on the main page is the rainforest of BC. Clients can easily click on the navigation to book and appointment, find forms or locate their clinic. It’s also integrated to their online booking app so that clients can easily schedule their appointments online.

Whether it’s websites, social media or search for us it’s not about our style, it’s about finding our client’s style and we work hard to make surer we do that.