Once you have your on-page optimization dialed in, as we discussed in our last “SEO Tips for Beginners” post, it’s time to play the field! And no, we don’t mean you should get active on Tinder! (Though social media is another matter entirely.) In the SEO world, it’s not enough to have your house in order, you also have to go out into the world and promote it. Obtaining quality links, having an active social media presence, soliciting reviews and claiming business listings are all important SEO signals that involve leaving the safety of your website and venturing out into the big bad world of the internet! Here are a few tips for beginners looking to “play the field” of potential traffic sources and get their websites ranking and seen by their target audiences.
1. The Easy Links
In this day and age, chances are you already have a personal website, blog, social media profiles and/or other presences across the web. If you have a website with similar subject matter as your business website even better! Include a link to website you are trying to rank in a blog post, and anywhere else prominently on your personal or other business website. (If there is no conflict of interest.) Do the same on your personal social media profiles in the about me sections, on your blog(s), and any other profiles or accounts across the web. The more links to your website from trusted websites the better when it comes to SEO. Just don’t be spammy about it! More times than not, just use the url or business name as the anchor text, using exact match anchor text for the keyword you want to rank for might be seen as “gaming the system” by Google.
2. Socialize
This one shouldn’t be news to anyone outside of a fallout shelter or a time capsule. You know by now to have Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and Google Plus business pages that link early and often back to your website in the form of blog posts, contests, deals, etc. Don’t be afraid to experiment with less known social media sites like Tumblr or external blogging sites like WordPress. The more places your business can be found the better. Especially when those places are linking back to your website!
3. Reviews and Business Listings
Another important step for establishing your business across the web is creating, claiming and verifying business listings and review site profiles. Google’s business listing service is tied in with maps, reviews and their social media platform Google Plus. It is essential for any brick and motor businesses to have a verified business listing linking to your website. This will signify to google that your business is legitimate and in turn, so is your website. Google isn’t the only player in the business listing game, but they are the biggest. This will also enable your website to show up in maps and local search. The more positive genuine reviews your website has on Google Plus as well as sites like Yelp! will also do wonders to boost your website’s rankings. Yahoo and Bing are also important places to have verified business listings.
Images used under creative commons license – commercial use (3/30/2016) Linh Do (Flickr)