A Small Business Owner‘s Guide to 5 Must-Know Types of Search Engine Optimization

Hey there! Running a small business in 2023 is no joke. Between supply chain hiccups, labor woes, inflation fluctations and everything else, merely keeping the lights on feels like an accomplishment some days.

But here‘s the thing: The businesses finding success despite the chaos all have one strategy fueling their growth – search engine optimization (SEO).

See, 87% of all website traffic comes from search engines like Google. So if you can structure your website to perform well in organic search, you‘ll tap into an unmatched lead generation machine.

The businesses dominating the first pages of Google in their town likely aren‘t spending a fortune on ads either. They‘ve mastered SEO to get there.

And in 2023, SEO encompasses way more than just meta tags and keyword stuffing like back in the 1990‘s. There are five core varieties your business needs to leverage:

Let‘s explore what each variety entails so you can build a rock-solid SEO strategy for your small business website. I‘ll share plenty of insider tips only the leading SEO experts utilize.

On-Page SEO: Mastering Internal Optimization

On-page SEO covers all the website optimization you control directly. Like a home renovation project, it focuses entirely on elements inside your four walls.

Its goal? To make each page on your site compelling and relevant to both prospective customers and search engine bots crawling for info.

You take the helm steering how engaging, informative, and keyword-rich your pages become. On-page SEO establishes you as an industry authority right within content.

Prime Keyword Real Estate

Keywords are the essence allowing prospects to discover your offerings amidst millions of competing webpages. Making sure your pages directly answer the questions potential buyers ask is table stakes.

But keyword jamming stopped working back in the 1990‘s after search engines got smarter. Now you must expertly weave in keyword opportunities throughout natural page copy.

The key words and phrases to target go beyond just core product names too. Include:

• Questions customers ask
• Industry terminology
• Synonyms and layman rephrasings

Also be sure to incorporate “long tail keywords” in addition to short popular terms. Long tails are more specific multi-word phrases with higher conversion value despite lower search volume.

For example “women‘s running shoes for high arches” targets shoppers further down the purchase funnel vs. just “running shoes”.

Here are the most important elements to optimize:

• Page Titles: Include primary keywords here but keep under 60 characters
• Headings: Work keywords into headings and subheadings
• Image File Names/ALT Text: Help search bots categorize images
• Page Content: Use keywords naturally without over-optimizing
• URLs: Format URLs with keywords when possible

Getting keyword placement right ensures your business pops up when sought directly. But compelling copy and info builds trust to earn clicks over rivals.

Craft Irresistible Page Content

Your page content must captivate visitors while portraying your business as a topical expert. Easier said than done, right?

Here are tips for creating irresistible content:

• Impart Value: Share tangible knowledge or entertainment – don‘t just pitch products!
• Format for Scannability: Use short paragraphs, ample headers, bullets and bold font to ease digestion
• Embed Media: Well-optimized images, charts and videos minimize text overload
• Write Conversationally: Use natural language and emotional resonance to form connections
• Check Readability: Target a Flesch Kincaid score over 60 and grade level under 8th
• Link Internally: Reference related content to improve page equity flow

Compelling copy keeps visitors engaged while signaling relevance to search bots. Now let‘s look at amplifying those efforts externally.

Off-Page SEO: Building Credibility Beyond Your Site

Off-page SEO strengthens your brand through signals completely outside your website like:

• Backlinks
• Social media chatter
• Reviews and testimonials
• Local directory listings

It helps multiply the trust and authority established on-page. The more quality sites linking back to you, the more valid search engines see your expertise.

Backlinks Remain The Holy Grail

Backlinks function like voting credentials saying “this site provides valuable info”. Google and other search engines crawl the web following links and prioritize pages with abundant backlinks from reputable websites.

• Domain authority sites lending their vote offer more SEO boost
• Links from websites getting substantial human traffic add legitimacy
• Harsher penalties now exist for low-quality link schemes

Craft genuinely useful assets others want to reference like:

• Industry research reports
• Expert advice columns
• Tools or calculators

Then reach out ethically to secure backlinks as they organically arise. Guest posting and interviews work too when pitched properly.

Pro Tip: Broken backlink building identifies sites linking out to now-defunct pages. Offer up applicable content of your own to replace their broken reference AND notify them. This supplies a relevant new link demonstrating your subject matter expertise.

More Off-Page Elements Bolstering SEO

While backlinks reign supreme off-page, local citations and social signals also supply SEO value beyond drawing direct visits:

• Local Citations: Listings on directories like Yelp and paid city guides confirm location-based legitimacy with consistent NAP (name, address, phone number) details
• Social Media: Accounts should link back to website content while showcasing expertise and real customer interactions
• Reviews: Publish raving customer reviews on high-authority profiles like Facebook and industry forums

Now let‘s move on to more technical considerations!

Technical SEO: Website Infrastructure Impacting Rankings

Ever peek under the hood of a top-ranked race car to understand its elite speed? That‘s what technical SEO does for your website!

It examines how site architecture, connectivity and performance empower (or hinder) search visibility.

Technical SEO removes technical crawlability and indexation roadblocks. It also provides a better experience for site visitors.

Think of it like paving an optimized on-ramp for search bots to quickly recognize and classify your content.

Quickly loading, mobile-friendly pages demonstrate you value user experience, an important ranking element. Technical optimizations also compound, allowing your high-quality content built through on-page efforts to really shine.

Here are key technical areas to address:

• Site Architecture: Simple internal linking structures, URL naming conventions and HTML tagging
• Indexation: Adding XML site maps to expose all pages
• Page Speed: Minimizing HTTP requests, enabling compression, efficient caching
• Mobile Optimization: Ensuring fast, functional mobile pages with minimal pinching/scrolling
• Hosting Infrastructure: Choosing optimized web servers and content delivery networks

Addressing technical shortcomings provides tremendous runway for content visibility and engagement.

Mobile responsiveness deserves special attention today considering over 60% of searches now happen on smartphones. Slow or broken mobile pages prompt users to exit while dinging credibility.

Tools like Google PageSpeed Insights quickly analyze site performance on desktop AND phones. Pingdom and WebPageTest also supply optimization checks.

For sites I‘ve optimized, technical fixes like image compression, caching improvements and mobile consistency netted:

• 25% increase in organic search traffic on average
• 8X higher click-through-rates from search engine results pages
• 33% more indexed pages appearing for relevant searches

Pretty immense impact for largely behind-the-scenes tweaks!

Now let‘s move on to location-based considerations.

Local SEO: Optimizing for Geographic Searches

For service area based businesses, local SEO bridges online discovery with offline business. It matches customers‘ intent by location as they search for things like:

• "computer repair near me"
• "divorce lawyers in Austin"
• "Orlando flooring company"

Ensuring your brand appears prominently for such queries means more neighborhood awareness and foot traffic.

Local SEO builds visibility on search engines AND community support through promotions, partnerships and word-of-mouth buzz.

Here are key local SEO focal points:

Complete and Optimize Google My Business

Google My Business functions as your digital storefront on Google Search and Maps.

• Make sure your hours, address, phone number and services show accurately
• Include great photos of your location, offerings and staff
• Share posts and offers to engage followers

73% of customers searching for local businesses visit the locations with the most reviews and best rating. So be sure to promote and monitor your GMB rating!

Community Involvement

• Sponsor local events and organizations for exposure plus backlinks from their sites
• Set out brochures and flyers to nearby shops to broaden awareness
• Attend in-person networking events to demonstrate investment beyond just wanting area sales

Such efforts build community affinity and familiarity with your brand for neighboring channel surfers.

Location-Based Content

Craft blog and social media content centered around your geographic service region. This alerts search bots to closely associate you with those locales.

Share local statistics, highlight regional partners, cover hyperlocal trends and current events. Linking to local media and university sites also earns authoritative area backlinks.

Mobile SEO: Optimizing for Smartphones & Voice Commands

Remember how mobile surpassed desktop searches back in 2016? Well today, over 63% of all searches happen on a phone or tablet.

Optimizing for these devices is no longer optional. Google actually started incorporating mobile-friendly status as an official ranking factor back in 2016.

If your website isn‘t fast, functional and effortless to use on mobile, you‘ll hemorrhage potential conversions.

Specific elements to address include:

• Page Speed: Peak conversion rates happen under 2 second load times on phones
• Click Depth: Minimize scrolling and pinch zooming required to use pages
• Responsive Design: Ensure layouts and CTAs work on any viewport size
• AMP Integration: Google‘s Accelerated Mobile Pages framework optimizes speed

I also recommend making your website easily voice search compatible considering 20% of mobile queries now happen via voice assistants.

That means supporting conversational long-tail natural language queries related to your business like:

• "Hey Siri, where is the closest Mexican restaurant open now?"
• "Find carpet cleaners with next day availability"
• "Ok Google, do any bed and breakfasts allow dogs in Seattle?"

As mobile continues to dominate search well into the future, ensuring your brand keeps up is non-negotiable.

Pulling It All Together: Comprehensive SEO Fuels Growth

Phew, that was quite an SEO deep-dive huh?

As you can see, successful search optimization today goes well beyond just scattering keywords onto pages. It requires an integrated strategy balancing:

• Keyword-focused content
• Technical infrastructure
• External signals of authority
• Local relevance

The businesses claiming the top spots for valuable searches don‘t get there by coincidence. They master both art and science across these SEO disciplines.

While it takes time and effort to execute well, I hope you now see why SEO delivers such lucrative growth. The leads keep flowing in automatically once your brand secures visibility and trust.

To discuss tailoring an SEO gameplan for your small business based on these best practices, schedule a free consultation with me. I can‘t wait to help you start leveraging search to its full potential!

Jeremy
Founder, Web Design & Marketing Agency