A website is not a field of dreams. It’s not a matter of “build it and they will come.” A small business website needs to be search engine optimized, monitored often and maintained monthly. If you want to improve your site’s Search Engine Ranking, we’ve got 5 digital marketing tips on how you can make that happen:
- Broken Links
Broken links on a business website is the equivalent of walking around your office with your fly down. Be very embarrassed. Broken links will negatively impact your website’s SEO. If you are cross-linking, take the time each month to verify that all internal and external links are working. No 404s. If you are utilizing images from a different site, make sure those images are displaying correctly. Free tools like Xenu Link Sleuth can make this job go smoother.
- Contact Information
Make sure your contact info is prominent. At the very least, put your phone number in the upper right hand corner of your home page. If you use tracking numbers, test these regularly from a separate phone to make sure that calls are getting through. Review your call analytics weekly if possible. If you move or add locations make sure this information is current on your site and on Google.
- Promotions
If you offer special deals and promotions on your website, make sure they are current. The Halloween Special should not still be up when folks are celebrating Thanksgiving. The more often you change out promotions and coupons, the more often customers will check back. As a rule, no promo should stay up longer than a month.
- Site Loading Speed
Speed is something most small business owners don’t think about. However, if your site is loading slow, this will cause people to bounce. Customers expect a site to load in 2 seconds or less. For every additional second of load time user satisfaction drops off 16 percent and conversions drop by 7 percent. This SEO no-no can be a giant drag on your website’s search engine ranking.
- Blogging
In a recent survey of 1,531 small and medium-sized businesses, the 795 businesses that regularly blogged received 55 percent more site visitors and 97 percent more inbound links. However, if your blog’s most recent article was written during the Bush Administration this will be seen as evidence your site has been abandoned. Weekly, keyword-rich blog articles will not only bring more customers to your site, it will greatly improve your SEO, as well.
We are a Dallas Advertising Agency specializing in Search Engine Optimization.
