11 SEO Tactics Every Small Business Should Know About in 2023

It can be hard to know where to start when there are so many different options with SEO tactics.

You may know that good search engine optimisation (SEO) is important for your website from experience as a small business owner. It can be hard to know where to start when there are so many different options with SEO tactics.

SEO improves your website’s ranking on search engine results pages (SERPs). By improving your ranking, you can attract more visitors to your website, increase brand visibility, and drive more sales. Here are five ways to achieve those goals.

1: Conduct Keyword Research

Keyword research is finding the words customers search for online. By understanding your target audience’s keywords, you can make your website better for them, increasing your visibility on search engines.

There are several ways small businesses can do keyword research. Google Keyword Planner is a free tool for finding keywords and their search volume.

Also, tools like SEMrush and Ahrefs can tell you about your competitors’ keywords and how much they’re searched for.

For small businesses, these tools can be quite expensive and overwhelming with the amount of features available in them. This is why we provide our customers with a simpler, cost-effective and affordable alternative. You can find it here.

Research keywords for your website using both long-tail and local keywords. Long-tail keywords are longer, more specific phrases that help you target specific niches and audiences. For example, “best vegan pizza in Swindon” is a better keyword than just targeting “pizza.”

Small businesses need local keywords to attract customers in a specific geographic area. For example, if you run a pizza restaurant in Liverpool, you might want to target keywords like “best pizza in Liverpool”, or “pizza delivery in Liverpool.”

2: Optimise Your Website for On-Page SEO

On-page SEO is an SEO tactic to improve your website’s ranking on search engines. ‌You do this by optimising certain parts of your website. These are things like titles, meta descriptions, and headers. Optimise these elements to make sure that search engines understand your website content and can rank it well.

Title tags are the main titles in search engine results. Meta descriptions are short summaries of the content on your webpage. Headers, like H1, H2, and H3 tags, structure your content and make it more readable for users and search engines.

Make sure your website’s title tags and meta descriptions match your webpage’s content. This work will improve your website’s on-page SEO. Also, use relevant headers to structure your content. Relevant headers make it easier for users and search engines.

Make content that is good for both users and search engines. Good content means making content that is interesting, informative, and relevant to your target audience. Also, make sure to include relevant keywords and phrases.

3: Build High-Quality Backlinks

Backlinks are links from other websites that go to your website. Search engines see backlinks as a sign of authority and relevance. Building high-quality backlinks is an important part of any SEO strategy.

Some backlinks are better than others. Low-quality backlinks, like from link farms or websites that are not relevant, can hurt your rankings. Don’t just focus on getting backlinks. Build high-quality ones from relevant, authoritative websites.

There are many ways small businesses can build good backlinks. Blogging for other websites is a good way to create content and include links to your site. Link building where you find broken links on other websites and offer to replace them with links to your content. This way you can build links to your site.

Building good backlinks takes time and work. However, improving your website’s ranking on SERPs can lead to a significant payoff.

4: Use Google My Business for Local SEO

Local SEO is making your website fit for local search. Local SEO is important if you own a small business serving a specific area.

Google My Business (now called Google Busness Profile) is an important tool for local SEO. Google My Business is a free tool that lets you create a listing for your business on Google. Optimising your Google My Business listing makes your business more visible on local search results pages and attracts more customers.

To improve your Google My Business listing, make sure your business information is accurate and current. The information includes your business name, address, phone number, and website URL.

Also, add photos and videos to your listing. Respond to customer reviews. Use Google My Business posts to promote your business.

5: Analyse and Optimise Your Results

Finally, track and analyse your SEO results so you can identify areas for improvement. There are several tools small businesses can use for SEO analysis, including Google Analytics. Or you could use our SEO system, which we designed specially for small businesses.

Look at metrics like traffic, bounce rate, and conversion rate to see how your website is performing. If you see areas for improvement, you can use the information to improve your website further. For example, if your website’s bounce rate is high, you might need to make improvements to the user experience.

Additionally, always follow the latest SEO trends and best practises. SEO always changes, and what works today might not work tomorrow. By staying informed, you can improve your website’s SEO and maximise results.

6: Implement Local Schema Markup

Local schema markup is a type of structured data that can help search engines better understand the content of your website. By implementing local schema markup, you can provide search engines with detailed information about your business, including your address, phone number, business hours, and more.

To implement local schema markup, you’ll need to add code to your website that uses schema.org markup. You can use tools like Google’s Structured Data Markup Helper to generate the code for your website. Once you’ve added the code, you can use Google’s Structured Data Testing Tool to make sure that it’s working correctly.

7: Optimise for Voice Search

As more people use voice assistants, like Alexa and Siri, your website needs to be optimised for voice search. Voice search uses more language and asks longer questions than text-based search.

To make your website voice search-friendly, focus on long-tail keywords, and speak-like language. Also, make sure your website is mobile-friendly and works for local search.

8: Create a Link Building Strategy

Having good links to your website is important for SEO, as mentioned above. However, you need a plan to make good backlinks. A link building strategy helps.

A link building strategy is how you get backlinks to your website. It should have goals, tactics, and metrics for success. Some good link building tactics include guest blogging, broken link building, and building relationships with other websites in your industry.

9: Optimise for Mobile

You need to optimise your website for mobile more than ever. This includes making sure it works well on smartphones and tablets. Mobile optimisation improves the user experience and can improve your ranking on search engines.

To make your website mobile-friendly, use responsive design. This changes the website layout based on the size of the user’s screen. Also, make sure your website loads quickly on mobile devices. If it takes too long, people will leave.

10: Monitor and Respond to Customer Reviews

Online reviews are a great tool for small businesses. They show other people your business is reputable, and can help improve your ranking on local search results pages. You need to check and respond to customer reviews.

Responding to customer reviews shows you care about your customers and are committed to providing excellent service. Also, responding to reviews can stop negative feedback and encourage customers to leave positive reviews in the future.

11: Hire an SEO Expert

SEO can be hard, but there are ways to make it easier. If you don’t want to do SEO yourself, hire an expert.

An SEO expert can help you identify the best strategies for your business, implement those strategies, and track your results. An SEO expert can help you stay on top of current and best practises for SEO, so your website can compete well in search results.

Get started with your SEO Tactics

SEO is important for small businesses’ digital marketing strategy. SEO can be a powerful tool for small businesses, helping you attract more visitors to your website and ultimately drive more sales.

Use keyword research, on-page optimisation, schema markup, and backlink building to improve your website’s ranking on Google Search Results Pages (SERPs).

With voice search optimisation, link building, mobile optimisation, and customer review monitoring, you can take your SEO efforts to the next level.

Don’t forget to optimise your Google My Business listing. This work will attract more customers. SEO can take time and effort, but it’s worth it for successful business growth.

If you’re not sure where to start with SEO, consider hiring an SEO expert, like Digital Business to help you. We can help.

If your budget is tight, and you have time to do your own SEO, take a look at our service here.

Or, if you have a budget but no time, arrange a free call with us here!

Frequently Asked Questions on SEO Tactics

What are the 4 types of SEO?

On-Page SEO: This means making web pages relevant and easy to understand for both search engines and users.
Off-Page SEO: This involves building the authority and reputation of a website through external means, such as link building and social media marketing.
Technical SEO: Improving website performance with technical aspects like speed, mobile-friendliness, and architecture will make it better on search engines.
Local SEO: This means improving a website for location-based search queries so it appears more often on local search engine results pages (SERPs). Local SEO is important for small businesses that operate in a specific geographic location.

What are the three strategies of SEO?

There are different ways to categorise SEO strategies, but one common approach is to divide them into three main categories:

White Hat SEO: This means SEO techniques follow the guidelines and best practises of the search engine. Good SEO is about providing good, relevant content and improving the user experience. White hat SEO techniques include keyword research and optimisation, on-page optimisation, and link building through outreach and relationship building.
Black Hat SEO: This is when SEO is unethical and changes how high the website appears on the search engine. Black hat SEO involves deceptive practises like keyword stuffing, cloaking, and link schemes. Black hat SEO can help you get results quickly, but you could get banned from search engines.
Grey Hat SEO: This refers to SEO techniques that fall somewhere between white hat and black hat tactics. Grey hat SEO strategies may use tactics that are technically within search engine guidelines, but may be considered manipulative or unethical by some. Examples of grey hat SEO techniques include purchasing links, using private blog networks (PBNs), and participating in link exchanges.

White hat SEO strategies are the best way to improve your website’s visibility and ranking on search engine results pages (SERPs). Black and grey hat SEO tactics can help your website get ahead, but they can also hurt it. This approach makes the website look bad and can lower the search engine rating.

What are the different SEO techniques?

There are many different SEO techniques, and the best approach will depend on your specific website and business goals. Here are some of the most common SEO techniques:

Keyword research: This involves identifying the phrases and terms that people are searching for online, and using those keywords in your website content.

On-page optimisation: This means making individual web pages more relevant and readable for both users and search engines. Examples include optimising meta tags, header tags, and content.
Link building: This involves building high-quality backlinks from other websites to improve your website’s authority and reputation. You can build backlinks through tactics like guest blogging, broken link building, and influencer outreach.
Content marketing: This involves creating and promoting high-quality content, such as blog posts, infographics, and videos, to attract and engage your target audience.
Local SEO: This involves optimising your website for location-based search queries to improve its visibility on local search engine results pages (SERPs). This SEO tactic is particularly important for small businesses that operate in a specific geographic location.
Technical SEO: Improving website performance on search engines requires technical improvements, like speed, mobile-friendliness, and architecture.
Social media marketing: Promoting your website and content on social media platforms is called social marketing. This content engages your target audience and builds your brand.
Analytics and tracking: This means using Google Analytics to track and improve your website’s performance. This work includes optimising your SEO strategy over time.

The best SEO strategy for your website and business goals will depend on those goals. Improve your website’s visibility with these techniques, tailored to your needs. That will attract more visitors and customers.