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SEO can oftentimes be a confusing or daunting concept—especially for small business owners who already have a lot on their plates. However, learning how to utilize SEO correctly and implementing it into your marketing strategy can make a huge difference for your business!
On this week’s episode of Priority Pursuit, Kelly and Victoria are joined by Heather Corbin as she asks her burning questions about SEO. As the founder and owner of Heather Corbin Photography—a family, senior, and wedding photography business based in Lafayette, Indiana—Heather is struggling to get more clients to reach her through her website. While she is active on social media and in the community, she is ready to take her business to the next level with SEO and effective website strategies.
Read on or listen to this week’s consultation episode of Priority Pursuit as we answer Heather’s questions and get down into the details of the three most effective ways to improve your small business's SEO.
What is SEO & what role should it play in your marketing strategy?
SEO stands for “search engine optimization,” and simply put, SEO is the way in which you can receive traffic to your website through free, organic search results on search engines. In other words, SEO is a free process that helps your website rank well on Google (or other search engines) when users conduct searches related to your products, services, or content.
For small businesses, SEO is a particularly valuable marketing tactic because when people want to intentionally look for a local product or service, they use Google. In fact, 97% of people use Google when they are in need of a local service. As a result, if you make SEO part of your marketing strategy and do the work to get your website to the first page of Google, you can consistently get your website in front of people who are (1) ACTIVELY looking for your services and (2) likely ready to invest.
SEO doesn’t mean you should get rid of social media.
While SEO can help small business owners become less dependent on social media, you don’t want to ignore social media altogether because (1) your ideal client is likely on social media, and (2) social media is part of the flywheel marketing method we recommend.
The flywheel method is a strategy where your website and online marketing efforts are in sync and function as a flywheel to continually produce results. Essentially, this is a marketing system that is constantly working for you—even if you aren’t actively working on it.
The flywheel method can be broken down into four main steps:
- Understanding your audience and creating clear messaging through Marketing Guiding Statements.
- Developing a strong foundation by creating a website.
- Creating content (such as blogs and guides) that serves your ideal client well.
- Getting your ideal clients to your website and content through tactics such as search engine optimization, social media ads, Google ads, and strategic emails.
Once you’ve created this foundation, your marketing efforts will continuously move you and your business forward like a flywheel.
The Three Most Effective Ways to Improve Your Small Business's SEO
While there are a lot of moving parts to a successful SEO strategy, in this episode of Priority Pursuit, we break down the three most effective ways you can improve your small business’s local Google rankings.
1. Optimize the main pages of your website for location-based keywords.
When you choose keywords for a webpage or blog post, the most important factor to consider is “search intent.” In other words, what are your ideal clients searching for on Google when trying to find your products or services?
Location-based keywords help Google understand where you serve your customers, and they mirror what your ideal customers are likely searching for—making your page more likely to rank well.
But, how do you decide what location to optimize for?
1. Choose one specific location.
While you may be able to serve clients at different locations (e.g. Photographers can work almost anywhere in the world.), it’s important to choose one specific location when it comes to SEO. Because it can be difficult—if not impossible—for small businesses to rank well for more than one location. However, when you focus on one specific location, this will make you much more likely to rank well on Google.
With this in mind, we recommend optimizing your website for either the area where you live or the area where you want to work most often.
2. Think about search intent.
Again, it’s important to consider your ideal client’s search intent. So, what are they searching for when they are looking for products or services like yours? Everyone’s ideal client is going to be different, but here are a few general rules of advice:
If you work in a big city…
It can be difficult to rank on page one of Google in a large city as you likely have numerous competitors in the area. As such, you need to be more specific in your keywords than, for example, “photographer in Chicago.”
This is where your client’s search intent comes into play. Consider what topics or locations your ideal client might be searching. If we stick with the photography example, maybe they’re looking for a specific neighborhood or certain photo style (e.g. “film-inspired wedding photographers in Chicago”). Utilizing these more specific and niche keywords can edge your Google ranking above your competitors’ and make your website much more likely to rank on page one.
If you live in a small town…
If you work in a small town, you probably have a limited number of people that are searching for your services in your area. As such, you’ll likely see better results by optimizing your website with keywords for the closest city where you regularly work.
Be sure to choose a specific city and not just the state you work in as your state likely has more competitors than a single city does. Plus your ideal client is probably being more specific with their searches—meaning they’re searching by city, neighborhood, or other niche topics.
If you work all over…
We completely understand wanting to keep your business as mobile as possible. However, it’s VERY difficult—if not impossible—to get the main pages of your website to rank on Google when it’s optimized for multiple locations. As a result, we highly recommend creating your SEO keyword strategy around a single area where you’d like to work consistently. From there, you can use your blog, social media, and referrals to work in other areas.
Want to learn more about keywords & how to use them? Tune into “Episode 009: How to Identify Use Strategic Keywords to Improve Your SEO”!
2. Use Moz Local to create consistent online directory listings.
Online directories are websites or anywhere business information is listed online (e.g. Yelp, Google Business, etc.). It’s important for you to take the time to create consistent online directory listings because when Google sees that your business’s name, phone number, hours, email, and other information are consistent across online directories, you are more likely to rank well.
How do you create consistent online directory listings?
When it comes to creating online directory listings, you have two options. You can (1) create your listings manually or (2) invest in a service—such as Moz Local—to update and maintain your listings for you.
Your time is valuable, and while you could spend hours manually listing your business information all over the Internet, at Treefrog, we highly recommend utilizing Moz Local. Once you provide your business information, this platform will consistently list it on 1000+ online directories.
That being said, Moz doesn’t list business information on niche-specific directories. As such, we recommend utilizing Moz Local AND taking an hour or two to list your business on directories that are specific to your industry and ideal client.
3. Create niche, location-specific blog posts or content on your website.
Likely the quickest way to get your website in front of your ideal customers is to create niche, location-specific content that can be consumed on your website—such as blog posts or videos.
Along with searching for a service, your ideal clients are probably Googling other questions related to or adjacent to your service and location.
As a result, if you create content that answers your potential clients’ questions:
- Your ideal clients will likely find your content when they Google their questions, which will then encourage them to check out the rest of your website.
- Your website as a whole will likely rank better because your location-specific content will help Google further associate you with the area you’re targeting.
As such, creating this kind of content not only improves your SEO and Google rankings, it also helps you better serve your clients by providing them with the information they are searching for. It’s a win-win!
SEO is only helpful if your website is effective.
Again, there are a lot of moving parts to an SEO strategy, but if you do these three things (optimize the main pages of your website for location-based keywords, create consistent online directory listings, and create location-specific content), you’ll almost surely see SEO results.
However, SEO is only going to help your small business if your website serves your ideal clients well by helping them quickly and easily understand what you offer, how you can help solve their problem, and how they can work with you.
There are eight things your website needs in order to be successful:
1. Clear Message
Clear messaging—which is communication that your ideal customers can understand quickly and easily—is the key to successful marketing. Because we know small businesses’ marketing cannot succeed without clear messaging, we put together a free mini course on how you can create clear messaging by writing your Marketing Guiding Statements, which we would encourage any small business to check out.
2. Clear Header
The next thing your website needs is a clear header. At the very top of your homepage, you need to tell people exactly what you offer in a way that they can understand in two seconds or less. This way, your website visitors will immediately know if you offer what they’re looking for and if you can help them.
3. Value Proposition
To be effective, your website also needs to include a value proposition—which is simply a clear list of what they’ll receive when they invest in your services.
4. Three-Step Plan
Next, your website needs to include a three-step plan. To help put your audience at ease and so they know what to expect when they decide to work with you or purchase from you, include a three-step plan that leads potential customers through what it’s like to work with you and ends in success.
5. Direct Call to Action
In addition to having a straightforward plan, your website also needs to include a clear call to action (CTA). In other words, you need to clearly invite your website visitors to do something.
If you’re leaving room for uncertainty on your website by not clearly showing prospective customers what they need to do to inquire and work with you, you’re drastically increasing the likelihood that website visitors will leave your site before inquiring. In other words, without a clear CTA, you’re missing out on business!
6. Authority
To help your potential customers trust that you know what you’re doing—and so that you don’t have to awkwardly brag about yourself—we recommend including testimonials from happy customers throughout your website to help you establish authority.
7. Pricing
Not including pricing on your website—even if it’s just a starting price—can come across as very sketchy to potential customers. As a result, be sure to include pricing on your website.
8. A Format That Is Easy to Use & Navigate
Last but not least, your website needs to be user-friendly. In other words, website visitors need to be able to find exactly what they’re looking for quickly and easily before you lose their attention and leave your website.
Therefore, you want to make sure your website Is cohesive with your brand and doesn’t require users to do a bunch of clicking or detective work to find the information they need.
Want to hear more?
Listen to the full Priority Pursuit episode (at the top of the page or wherever you listen to podcasts) to hear Kelly and Victoria go more in-depth on the three most effective ways to improve your small business’s SEO as they chat with Heather and answer her questions.
If you would like to connect with Heather, you can visit her website at www.heathercorbinphotography.com or find her on Instagram at @heather_corbin_photography.
Links & Resources Mentioned in This Episode
- Access “The Five Most Effective Ways to Improve Your SEO as a Photographer” Guide
- Clarify Your Message with the Marketing Guiding Statements Mini Course
- Create Consistent Online Directory Listings with Moz Local
- Save $20 on Your First order from InstaCart of $35 or More
- Receive 50% Off Your First Order from Photographer’s Edit
- Learn More About Treefrog’s Small Business Marketing Resources & Services
- Join the Priority Pursuit Facebook Community
- Follow or DM Treefrog Marketing on Instagram
- Follow or DM Kelly Rice on Instagram
- Follow or DM Victoria Rayburn on Instagram
The Priority Pursuit Podcast is a podcast dedicated to helping small business owners define, maintain, and pursue both their personal and business priorities so they can build lives and businesses they love.
You can find The Priority Pursuit Podcast on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Podcasts, Stitcher, and wherever you listen to podcasts.
If you’re a small business owner wanting weekly content about relationships, proven marketing strategies, setting boundaries, delegating, creating an incredible client experience, and keeping your priorities at the core over everything you do, subscribe to Priority Pursuit on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to podcasts. To ask questions, share your wins, and connect with other priority-driven small business owners, join The Priority Pursuit Podcast Community on Facebook.
For more information about Treefrog Marketing and even more small business marketing resources, please visit our website. You can also connect with us on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Pinterest.
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