5 Easy SEO Tips for Small Businesses (You Can Implement Today)

Dec 16

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If you’ve been putting off implementing SEO for your business website, you’re in the right place.

I know, the word, phrase, letters… SEO can trigger some eye twitches. Especially if it’s something you know you need to implement but you’ve fallen down the rabbit holes (let’s be real, there are many rabbit holes when it comes to search engine optimization) more times than you count when trying to research it for yourself.

But I’m here now, and we can get through this together!

SEO doesn’t have to be this big, scary monster. It does take work, it takes research. But it’s not all that complicated.

In this post, I want to lay out 5 things you can do starting today to boost your SEO.

It’s important to note that while you can do these things today, it takes time for SEO to “work.” Usually in the neighborhood of 3-6 months. So you won’t see any changes right away.

So the key here is starting today… and making sure any content you add to your website after today is optimized when you hit publish. That way you don’t have to go back and do this again. 😉

Let’s do it, shall we!

This is for you if…

You have a blog and website but SEO is new territory for you and slightly terrifying.
You’re new to the online world and want to make sure your website is optimized for SEO from the start.
You keep hearing talk about Google, Pinterest, and SEO but aren’t really sure what any of it means or how to use it.

5 simple seo tips to implement today

WRITE BLOG POSTS

So easy right? Just write some blog posts!

The thing is, if done correctly, writing blog posts is seriously one of the best ways to boost your SEO for a couple of reasons. One being, consistently adding blog posts to your site tells Google that your website often has fresh, new content (SEO Boost!).

Blog posts also give you a way to add keywords to your website that tells Google what your site is about, so it can show it to people searching for the things you’re writing about.

There are five key things you need to make sure every single blog post has. You can read about them in detail here. But let’s break them down real quick.

A Keyword Rich Title

This one seems obvious, but you need to make sure the title of your blog has your main keywords in it. This also goes for the URL slug (the part of the URL that comes after the /).

I know it’s tempting to use cutesy titles for blog posts but you really aren’t doing yourself any favors there. If Google can’t tell what the blog post is about based on the title, it’ll be a lot tougher to get it to rank.

Links to Related Posts

It’s important to link to other blog posts in your new posts because it tells Google that your content is related. It boosts the overall credibility of your website in Google’s eyes because it now knows that you’re writing content on the same topics (not random ones).

It tells Google that you’re an expert on your topic. Because you’re sharing multiple posts about it and you’re linking them together.

A Pinnable Image

You must, must, must have a pinnable image in your blog post. If you can add a couple more, even better. But you need at least one.

Traction that content gets on Pinterest helps boost your ranking on Google. So you want to give readers an easy way to save a blog post to Pinterest. The best way to do that is having a ready-to-pin image in your post. (Like the one I have at the top of this post!)

You also want to make sure you’ve turned on (or added a plugin) that puts a Pin It button on the image when someone hovers over it.

You can also include a CTA that tells people to pin the image to save it!

If you’re just getting started with Pinterest and SEO, click here to get your free workbook!

SEO Optimization + Meta Descriptions

Squarespace makes this part really easy, which is why it’s my favorite website platform. On each and every page or blog post, there is space for you to add an SEO Title and SEO Description.

This is where you want to put the keyword optimized title and description (see what I did there 😂).

Basically, this is the data that Google displays in search results. So you want to make sure that it briefly describes what the blog is about using keywords. This helps Google to display your content as a result of the correct searches. It also helps the searcher by telling them what the blog is about before they click through. So they have a good idea if it’s what they are looking for.

You also want to make sure any images you have in your post also contain meta data. In Squarespace this is the title of the image and the caption. I like to name the pin image after the blog post. And use a caption that is a fit for a Pinterest description so that when it’s shared, the description is there. Then, simply hide the caption so it doesn’t show up under the image in your post!

A Place to Join Your Email List

This is a big one! You’ll hear me say it over and over again. You need to be growing an email list if you aren’t already. So each and every blog post you write needs a place to sign up. You can add a form directly to your blog page. Or link to a pop up. Which is what I like to do because it gives my posts a cleaner look.

Either way, have places to sign up, lot’s of them.

USE LONG-TAIL KEYWORDS

When we think about keywords we often think of them being one word. But it’s important to use long-tail keywords as well.

Long-tail keywords are more specific than one-word keywords. This allows you to rank more easily for these and reach a more specific audience.

If you use a keyword that’s too broad, it’ll be really tough to rank for it because there will be a ton of competition. But if you can narrow it down a bit using a long-tail keyword or phrase, you’ll reach a more specific target audience.

For example, if I’m trying to rank a blog post about Pinterest, using the keyword Pinterest will be way too broad. I’d probably never rank for it because it’s not specific enough.

But if I were to use a keyword phrase like, Pinterest for small businesses, I’d be much more likely to rank on page 1 of Google and hit a more specific audience of small business owners, not just anyone who’s looking for Pinterest information.

Fill IN META DESCRIPTIONS

Okay we touched on this in the section above about what your blog needs. But it goes for your full website too.

You want to make sure that your page SEO titles and page SEO descriptions are all filled out nice and pretty for Google. This will help a TON because this is the information that Google looks for when crawling your website.

It does scan the content on the page as well, but the meta content that you fill in for SEO is what Google shows in search results. So make sure it tells Google and readers what your page content is about.

If you’re not sure what Google is showing for your pages right now, one of my favorite tools to use is SEO Meta in 1 Click. It’s a Chrome extension you can use on any webpage to see what your page titles, headers, image descriptions, etc are for that page. It’s a super easy way to check things out so you know what needs to be updated.

WRITE FOR YOUR AUDIENCE (NOT GOOGLE)

Now with this one you’re probably thinking, “What?” 🙃 Back in the beginning of SEO, it was very common to find blog posts and image descriptions that used keyword stuffing. Cramming as many keywords as possible into a blog post to try to get a higher ranking on Google.

But over the years, Google has gotten WAY smarter and it doesn’t go for that anymore. It makes your posts look roboty and spammy.

So write like you’re talking to someone or writing to a specific person. Use keywords and long-tail keywords, but use them in a natural, conversation-like way.

USE PINTEREST

Google and Pinterest are BFFs. Content that does well on Pinterest will likely also do well on Google. Google sometimes even shows pins in their search results.

But the main idea here is to use Pinterest as a traffic driver to your website because it works a bit faster than genuine SEO.

SEO can take 3-6 months to really see the results from it. It’s long game. And Pinterest isn’t exactly immediate. But, your brand new pin can show up in search results right away if it’s optimized properly.

When you’ve got Pinterest sending traffic to your website, it shows Google that the content you’re creating is relevant and people are looking for it. So it helps to boost your rank.

If you’re not already using Pinterest for your business, now is the time to get started.

If you’re just getting started with Pinterest and SEO, click here to get your free workbook!

UPDATE CONTENT ON PAGES THAT ALMOST RANK WELL

Every month or so I like to look in my Squarespace analytics to see what my most popular content was. It’s typically blog posts, which is awesome.

Whatever I find were my, let’s say top 3 posts, I’ll check them out to see if they need to be updated at all.

Maybe the content is a tad outdated and I need to refresh it.
Maybe I’ve changed the layout of my blog or sidebar and this older post needs to be updated to match it.
Or maybe it just needs a new pin image to refresh it’s Pinterest rotation.

I’ll also look in the section of analytics that shows me where the pages are ranking in Google. I have a couple pages that rank #1 🎉 so I’ll check those to see if they need any little updates.

And I’ll look at any pages or posts that are ranking well but not quite page one. These are the ones that need a little bit of tweaking to push them over the edge.

I’ll check the headers and update those if needed.
Check the title of the post to see if it needs a better or more specific keyword.
Make sure all the images in the post are named appropriately and have a description.

You absolutely don’t need to rewrite your posts. But Google appreciates knowing that the content is refreshed and up to date!

Recap

Writing blog posts regularly helps boost your SEO by showing Google you’re consistently creating valuable content that people are searching for.
There are 5 key things you need in every blog post to help boost your search engine optimization.
Long-tail keywords (or keyword phrases) work to get your content in front of the right target audience. Short keywords can be too broad and difficult to rank with.
Meta descriptions tell Google exactly what your blogs and pages are about and helps the Google algorithm show your content to the right people.
Don’t keyword stuff your blog posts or meta descriptions. Write like a human is reading the content…because they are!
Use Pinterest to drive traffic to your website. This helps to show Google your content is relevant and accurate.
Update older content to keep it fresh in Google’s eyes.