Taking Your Small Business Online: What you need to know about SEO

Taking your business online is all about maintaining a positive and consistent presence and carefully considering your campaigns in order to maximise their efficiency. In this post, we’ll take you through some of the main points you need to consider when shifting your focus online and everything you need to know about the importance of SEO.

Why SEO Matters for Small Businesses

SEO is the process of optimising your website to rank higher in search engine results. When someone searches for a product or service related to your business, you want your website to appear on the first page of search results—ideally in the top few positions. This is crucial because most users never go past the first page.

Higher rankings translate to more traffic, increased credibility, and ultimately, more sales. SEO is a cost-effective strategy compared to paid advertising, offering long-term benefits that can drive organic traffic to your site without ongoing ad spend.

Conduct Keyword Research

Keyword research is the foundation of any SEO strategy. This involves identifying the words and phrases potential customers use to search for products or services like yours. For example, if you own a bakery in London, terms like “best cupcakes in London” or “custom cakes near me” might be valuable keywords. Focusing on local keywords is especially important for small businesses, as they’ll help you attract nearby customers who are ready to buy.

Create Engaging Descriptions

Whether you’re selling products or services, informative descriptions will help your customers understand the benefits of buying from you. It not only builds trust and credibility, but it also helps your visitors find what they’re looking for. If you’re relying on loose, fluffy copy that isn’t descriptive or detailed, you could be missing out on a prime opportunity to convert viewers into customers.

Keep Your Site Easy to Navigate

There’s nothing more frustrating than searching for something on a website and not being able to find what you’re looking for. In fact, a bad user experience can be enough to send a potential customer elsewhere. Speed matters online, so you want your site to be easy to navigate and quick to load to encourage your visitors to make a purchase. Make use of your analytics data to spot areas where customers are leaving so you can update the content or streamline the journey to avoid lost sales.

Make Your Business Visible

Setting your business up with online listings such as Google Business Profile will prove to customers you’re a real business and builds your reputation as a brand they can trust. Search engines also use information from these listings as part of results for local searches, so providing them with up-to-date details such as your web address, opening hours and reviews can encourage more visitors to grow your business.

Upload Great Content

The phrase ‘content is king’ is well-known for a reason. Search engines prioritise websites that provide valuable, relevant and well-structured content to users. High-quality content not only helps improve your rankings but also keeps visitors engaged, builds trust, and increases the likelihood of conversions. When creating content, focus on addressing the questions, needs and pain points of your target audience, and stay consistent. Regularly updating your site with fresh content signals to search engines that your site is active and relevant.

Use High-Quality Visuals

One area of SEO that’s often overlooked is images, but they’re such an important part of your website and can improve search rankings when used correctly. Not only should the photos and videos you use be high quality, but they should also be optimised with alt tags and captions. You also need to check that these elements are sized correctly and compressed so that the page doesn’t take too long to load.

Check Your Hosting

No business wants poor hosting that lets them down the moment they start to receive a boost in web traffic, so make sure that you choose a reliable hosting company that can support your business through busier periods. Cheap web hosting is a false economy and can cost your business in the long run, not just in sales but also with regards to your reputation, so don’t be tempted to scrimp in this area.

SEO is a powerful tool that can help your business build an online presence, attract more customers, and increase sales. Remember, SEO isn’t a one-time task but an ongoing process that requires regular updates and optimisations. By implementing these strategies consistently, your small business can benefit from long-term success in the digital world.

At Artemis, we provide tailored SEO strategies for small and medium-sized businesses and eCommerce.

Get in touch with us to arrange a free consultation and discuss how we can help you grow your business.