“If you build it, he will come!”, whispers a strange voice to Kevin Costner in Field of Dreams. This advice may have ultimately worked out for Kevin, but for everyone else, it’s nonsense.
Anyone who has ever started their own online business, blog or shop will know this to be the case. When we start new projects, we break everything down into 5 “pirate metrics“. The first metric is ‘Acquisition’, and for us it generally means getting a visitor to your website.
While we’d recommend professional help dealing with advanced and strategic SEO (Search Engine Optimisation), there are ways you can make a start with little risk or effort.
You don’t have to be an expert to make the most of basic SEO. Here are 5 ways you can improve your SEO today:
1 - Sign up to Webmaster Tools.
Google and Bing offer free Webmaster solutions that help improve your on-site SEO and make sure you’re showing up in searches. They offer a lot of advice on how to improve your SEO as well as running speed and health checks. Setting up on Google Webmaster is a must, and you can even connect it to your Google Analytics account if you’re feeling confident and want to look like a total boss.
If you’re unsure about setting up analytics, drop us a message or dig a little deeper into Google Webmaster Tools
2 - Rethink your keywords
Updating your keyword doesn’t mean rewriting all of your site’s content, all it requires as a first step is considering what people are actually searching for. Make a list of words or phrases people may actually type into Google to find you, then incorporate these words and phrases into your content.
If you want to go a step further, use Google Analytics or Google Keyword Planner to check your keywords against what people are actually searching for. If you find them a bit daunting, drop us a message and we can walk your through it.
3. Write a Blog Post
Try writing a blog post. If you’ve completed Number 2 on our list you’ll have a list of keywords or phrases that you can use as a basis for the post. It can be pretty difficult to create new content, but remember you don’t have to write a super long essay, keeping it short is a good way to get the ball rolling. If you have more than one person in your team, you could even rotate blog writing duties each week.
Check our Seth Godin’s blog and Simon Sinek’s journal for inspiration on concise, effective, short posts.
4. Register your address with Google
This one ticks the holy trinity: quick, free and easy. Visit Google Business and register your company. They’ll send you out a confirmation code within a week or so which you can use to confirm your address. Bonus points here for making your business look more professional.
5. Engage with people on social media
The social engagement you have online will also have an impact on your SEO. If you don’t have any social media accounts, set them up. As a starting point, set yourself a goal for today:
- Log into your Twitter account/Set up a Twitter account
- Follow at least 20 new people
- Favourite or retweet something you like.
As a new business, we’re currently doing all of these things as well as more advanced and strategic SEO for our own site and clients. You won’t get to the top of Google overnight, but we would attest that doing these simple things and then seeing the positive result is hugely rewarding. If you’re unsure about any of the techniques above, drop us an email or hit the “Chat with us” button on our site, we’re always happy to offer advice and guidance.