When doing home projects, looking for a new place to eat, or shopping online, many of us go into our favorite search engine and type in ‘DIY tips’ or ‘restaurants in ______ city’ or ‘trendy summer clothes.’ What populates is a long list of businesses, websites, and information to help you with your query.

“How on Earth did all of these businesses get on the first page of my search results” you may be wondering (I know— I’m a mind-reader.) Three words: Search Engine Optimization.

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) can be extremely technical, but there are some basics you can master to get your website in front of more people. With 57.8% of all web traffic coming from Google’s organic search results, SEO is definitely worth investing some time into. 

Before we dive in, we recommend reading more about SEO in our previous blog post. It will give you the foundation you’ll need to put these tips into practice.

The goal of SEO is to help search engines understand your website so it can show it to the correct people. SEO is the bridge between your website and search engines, so you’ll want to take the time to build that bridge correctly to bring potential customers across it. More web traffic means more sales, booked schedules, and/or clients. (Yay!)

Thanks to the advanced tech age we live in now, many website hosts will have SEO features built into their sites and easy to access (relatively speaking). HOWEVER... it’s your job to refine them. 

Ready? Here we go! (We promise SEO isn’t as scary as it sounds.)

Use Your Words

Pretend you’re telling Google everything that you offer so they can go tell their friends (your customers) about it. Use accurate titles for your website pages, include clear descriptions, and keep everything organized by topic.. Read: no fancy industry jargon. While tempting, using too much technical speak on your website makes it challenging for search engines to determine exactly what it is you do. The goal here is clear, but effective, communication

Please note, we’re not telling you to write a 5,000 word description on the types of hats that you sell. More is not always better, especially when it comes to online media.

Be Active

Update your site regularly. Delegate a staff member, text a reminder to your phone, set a reminder… Whatever you need to do— get a quarterly website update on your calendar.

Speaking from experience, our team had a client that offered lawn care and snow removal (we bet you know where this is going). In the summer, we highlighted the client’s lawn care removal on their website’s homepage and made regular updates throughout the summer season. In the fall and winter, we highlighted the client’s snow removal services. 

Think of what your customers are searching for and when they are searching for it, and make changes accordingly. This is huge for SEO.

Take Advantage of Referrals

Having your website featured in other places online proves your credibility and usefulness. This will ultimately boost your SEO. If your business has been featured in news articles, for example, make sure the writer includes your website link in the article. If you have social media accounts, connect them to your website. If you have a Yelp business page, make sure your website is included in your information. Have a Google Business page set up yet? If not, get on it!

In short: 1) Be really clear on your messaging, 2) actively update your website, and 3) use online referrals to boost your SEO and reach more customers. These are just the beginning steps to take when increasing your online presence.

For a deeper dive or to see what the backend of your site looks like as far as SEO, we recommend connecting with TAC(t) Principal, Chelsie Wyse. She can coach you through the basics and answer your unique business questions. Fill out this form here— she’ll be in touch within 24 hours.