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Search Engine Optimization

This Is How You Optimize Your Site...5 SEO Tips For Beginners!

Discover professional search engine optimization tips from our SEO specialists at OSM in Belleville, Ontario.

This Is How You Optimize Your Site...5 SEO Tips For Beginners!

“How on earth do you SEO your website?” 

We get this question a lot! And there are many different answers we could give you, because SEO isn’t just a click of a button. And it’s definitely not a one-time fix. 

SEO is constantly evolving with technology advancements, software application updates, privacy policies etc.

Why is it such a dynamic practice? Because we don’t live in a static world. We live in a world that is constantly looking for: 

  • Speed 
  • Convenience 
  • Experience 
  • Solutions 
  • Personalization 
  • Expertise and more!

This means that we, as business owners, need to dive in and start showing up in these key areas. 

But how do we do that? 

By optimizing our online presence and, essentially, making ourselves easy (and quick) to find! 

 

What Does SEO Mean?

What even is SEO?

Well for starters, the term “SEO” is actually an acronym, meaning: 

S - Search 

E - Engine 

O - Optimization 

Essentially, it is the process of optimizing your business in order to reach the right target, in the right place and at the right time. 

The practice of SEO has two main goals:
  1. Quality Traffic 
  2. Quantity of Traffic 

And both of these goals are to be met using organic methods!

How Does SEO Work?

In a nutshell, SEO is composed of two main parts: 

  1. The basic Search Engine side.
  2. The more advanced Optimization side.

Today, we’re just focusing on the optimization side of things! 

Here’s How It Works:

Step 1. A search is made (ie. Best Pizza Near Me),.

Step 2. Google takes your request and begins crawling sites for information that match your search (paying close attention to quality, accuracy and relevance).

Step 3. The crawlers bring all of the information back and organize it from most recommended to least recommended. Essentially, Google prioritizes the “answers” to the request by what it deems to be the most reliable, trustworthy and authoritative source of information. 

When you optimize a site, you’re improving the quality of content that Google finds when it crawls your pages, increasing your chances of being prioritized on their results page! 

Why Is SEO Important?

SEO can be very time consuming and confusing, however it is SO IMPORTANT. Why? Because this is one of the only platforms where your ideal client is looking for you, rather than you having to look for your ideal client. 

Your job is simply to make yourself seen! 

5 Reasons Why SEO Is So Important:

  1. Improves Customer Experience
  2. Increases Your Authority 
  3. Increases Traffic 
  4. Increases Awareness
  5. Keeps Your Business Relevant and Competitive In The Market 

How Do You SEO?

Now to the good stuff! 

PRO TIP: In order to reach your ideal audience, you must first know who they are and understand what they are looking for.

5 SEO Steps For Beginners:

1. Establish a Keyword List

A Keywords List is essentially a specific list of words and phrases that are commonly searched by your ideal customer and that relate to your specific business. This is where truly knowing your customer comes in handy! 

THE KEY is to find specific terms with search traffic that isn’t too competitive, allowing you to be ranked higher in a reasonable time.

2. Create Good URLs.

A good URL is relevant, structured, short, simple and keyword rich! 

BE CAREFUL to not fall into the trap of keyword stuffing! Keep your URLs practical and straightforward, easy to read and even easier for Google to crawl. 

3. Add Page Titles

Page titles are the hook for your readers AND for Google crawlers. We recommend keeping your titles up to, but no longer than, 60 characters!

DON’T FORGET to use descriptive terms from your keyword list within your titles. 

4. Add Meta Descriptions

Meta descriptions are elements that describe and summarize the content of your page. This important tag is often what search engines use in their SERP (Search Engine Results Page) snippet. As searchers read through the list of ranked pages on their results page, the meta descriptions help direct their choice. 

HERE’S A TIP...anything beyond 160 characters usually gets cut off, so try summarizing your page in a readable sentence package full of your keywords and limiting it to 160 characters.

5. Add Headings

Headings are a great way to structure your page, organize your points of interest and improve the readability of your content! Try to structure your content so that H1, H2 and even H3 tags contain your focused keywords.

DID YOU KNOW that headings also make the page look pleasant and improve its readability for the visitor?

 

SEO Your Site With The Search Engine Specialists At OSM

It’s time to start showing up where your ideal client needs you. Are you ready to try it for yourself? 

Don’t forget step #1 - KNOW YOUR AUDIENCE! 

At OSM in Belleville, Ontario, our marketing team LOVES getting to know your ideal client. And we can help you identify, locate and target these individuals as well! 

Not ready to do it yourself? Contact our search engine specialists at OSM and ask about our SEO packages - including a researched and ranked keyword list, designed specifically for your business!

We’re here to help you cultivate your organic community, grow as a business and truly thrive in your market - let’s get started together! 

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4 Keys to Maximize SEO Results For Your Business Website

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No one launches a website these days just to have a website.

Sure, it’s cool to claim your own little corner of the web, but it won’t take long for that corner to start feeling lonely if no one ever comes to visit you there!

Plus, launching a website requires an investment. It will take time and finances plus mastery of new marketing skills, like SEO, or search engine optimization.

But why invest in SEO? What the heck is that, anyway?

Simply put, if your website is your business home online, then search engine optimization is the front door through which you welcome visitors who become new loyal customers.

You need SEO to make sure visitors who are seeking what you have to offer can locate you online and navigate their way to your front “door.”

Read on now to learn the four keys required for SEO business marketing success.

What Is SEO: A Non-Technical Explanation

Search engine optimization basically translates to “accurate directions.” Let’s say you head to the web because you need to get your vehicle’s oil changed. You aren’t sure where to go. So you type in the phrase “affordable oil change near me.”

In a flash, your browser detects your physical location and delivers several pages’ worth of information about the closest businesses that perform vehicle oil changes. With any luck, one of the first few listings will be an exact match for your needs.

Before you know it, you are on your way over to get your oil changed and on to the next item on your to-do list.

This is SEO in a nutshell: keywords on a site that Google recognizes as most relevant to your search and then suggests to you. 

So now imagine someone is heading to their website browser right now because they need your product or service. What terms would they type in to find you? Would those terms find you? Or would they find your competitors instead?

How to Get Started With SEO For Your Business

If we just did our job well, you are probably already feeling more informed and confident about why SEO is relevant and important for your business success.

But even if the explanation you just read sounds simple in theory, when you go to put it into practice, you will quickly discover it is not as simple in fact.

Successful SEO marketing is hard work!

This is where we come in.

Just as we wouldn’t dream of being able to walk into your company and do your job well from day one, so too do we realize most busy entrepreneurs and small business owners have neither the time nor inclination to learn how to do what we do well.

SEO, like any skill, takes years of education, training and practice to master. Our clients trust us to do what we do well so they can continue to do what they do even better.

Four Keys to SEO Small Business Success

When you work with us to grow your business, we will implement these four critical elements of successful small business SEO marketing.

1. Target Market Business Analysis

Target market business analysis is a fancy way of saying, “How close is your website to page one of Google’s search engine results? Are you on page one? Page 20? Can you even find your website online?

If you are ranking but not on page one, we can help you get closer. If you are not ranking at all, we can help you rank and improve your ranking over time.

There are three parts to target market business analysis.

  1. Website analysis

  2. Competitive analysis

  3. Initial keyword analysis

By the end of phase one, we will know where you are now versus where your competitors are now, how far we have to go and which strategies are most essential to get you there.

2. Keyword Research

Keyword research takes the last part of phase one several steps further. We identify the keywords your competitors are using successfully to outrank you in search engine results.

Then we look at the most important search criteria and keyword combinations to reach local customers with your marketing message and increase new visitors (inbound web traffic) to your website.

3. Content Optimization

With phases one and two under our belt, the next task is to begin a process known as “content optimization.”

In a nutshell, this simply means taking what we have learned about important keywords and key phrases and strategically using them to beef up your website content.

The goal here is to make calculated changes to your online content that won’t look calculated to Google’s algorithms. This is how a website moves up in the search engine rankings and eventually becomes that website everyone else in the industry wants to copy!

4. Measure and Test

Once phases one, two and three are completed, your website will essentially become a smooth operator online, steadily attracting new site visitors, generating new customer inquiries, gathering positive online reviews and slowly but surely attracting new repeat customers to your business.

But it is not all smooth sailing from here – far from it. Because you can bet that your competitors will notice your share of the local market increasing and will respond accordingly.

As such, this is the step that can most readily propel you to the top of the local competition or send you back into online obscurity. From here, we will continually be monitoring your search engine ranking results, tweaking your content accordingly to keep your success growing.

Get in Touch

Done well, SEO marketing is a full-time job, and you’ve already got one of those! So why not give us a call to see how we can help you realize your business dreams?

Contact us online or give us a call at 613-969-0626. 

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