You can have the most beautiful, advanced small business web design the world has ever seen, but it won’t do much good for your business if no one visits it.

Getting found online by people actively searching for keywords relevant to your products, services or business is the first step toward success for small businesses. To do this, you need search engine optimization (SEO).

SEO involves optimizing your website to increase its visibility and ranking on search engine results pages. This includes creating content that is rich in keywords, optimizing titles and meta descriptions, creating backlinks and more.

Too often, SEO is overlooked by small businesses. Part of the reason for this is that organic results don’t happen overnight — even with the best possible SEO strategy. However, investing in SEO is still essential for small businesses.

Over time, SEO will help make sure that your business is found when potential customers are searching for it. SEO can also help to increase your brand visibility and credibility, and boost your website traffic.

Another possible reason many small business owners don’t bother with SEO is that it has a reputation for being overly complicated and confusing. It doesn’t have to be, though. While SEO can be complex, there are plenty of tools and resources available to help business owners understand and implement effective SEO strategies.

In this blog, we’re going to cover six quick tips to help you optimize your small business website for search engines.

#1. Take the time to do keyword research

You may think you know what people in your area search for, but that doesn’t mean you should take a guess at it. Doing some keyword research can help you determine which terms are most likely to bring people to your website.

Some of the best keyword research tools available for small business include Google autofill in the search bar and Google’s Keyword Planner. Using these tools will give you valuable insights into which words, phrases and topics will be most effective for your SEO strategy.

Look for keywords that not only relate to what you do, but also to the services or products you offer. Also, make sure to target local keywords if you’re trying to attract local customers.

#2. Identify your golden keyword

Once you’ve done your keyword research, it’s time to choose the one keyword (or at least, the best keyword) that describes your business the most accurately. This keyword is your main priority and should be used in multiple places on your website, including the title, description, content and URL.

Ideally, your golden keyword should be a long-tail keyword, with a short-tail keyword within it. What does that mean?

Long-tail keywords are more specific, and usually have three or more words in them. Short-tail keywords are broader and have fewer words. For example, a long-tail keyword for a bakery might be “homemade bread delivery in New York City” and the short-tail keyword within it could be “bread delivery.”

By choosing a golden keyword that’s a short-tail keyword within a long-tail keyword, you can start ranking more quickly for the less-competitive, long-tail keyword, while also increasing your ranking for the short-tail keyword.

Using your golden keyword strategically throughout your website will help to boost your ranking for that keyword and make your website more visible to potential customers.

#3. Optimize web page titles, content, title tags and beyond

Now that you’ve chosen your golden keyword, it’s time to start optimizing. This means making sure that your website is optimized properly for that keyword.

Start by optimizing your webpage titles. The title of each page should include the golden keyword, as well as the other keywords you want to target.

Next, optimize the content on each page. Make sure the content is relevant to the keyword and includes it multiple times, but don’t overdo it. The goal is to include keywords naturally rather than forcing them into your content.

Finally, optimize meta tags, title tags and image titles. These are all important for SEO, and should include keywords relevant to the page.

#4. Weave other relevant keywords into your content

While your golden keyword may be your main focus, it shouldn’t be the only keyword you focus on throughout your small business website. You also want to use other related keywords that your target audience is likely to search for.

You can use tools like the Google Keyword Planner to help you find relevant keywords for each page of your website. Once you have them, use them throughout your website, including in titles, content, titles tags, meta tags and more.

Optimizing your website for multiple keywords — and using different variations of your golden keyword — can help to broaden your reach and get your website in front of more potential leads.

#5. Take advantage of internal linking

Once your website is optimized with the right keywords, it’s time to start building the links that will help your website rank higher in search results.

One of the most effective ways to do this is by adding internal links. Internal links are links from one page on your website to another. This helps search engine crawlers discover and index your website more easily.

You can also add external links to your website. These are links from other websites to your website. This helps to increase the authority of your website, which can help you to rank higher in search engine results.

#6. Track your rankings and measure your results

The last step in optimizing your website for search engines is to track and measure your results. This will help you determine what is working and what isn’t.

The Marketing 360® Content app is a great tool for tracking your organic performance. It can show you how many keywords you’re ranking for, website traffic and so much more, helping you maximize your results and make the most of your strategy.

SEO is essential for small businesses. It can help to increase your visibility, boost website traffic and attract more customers. Taking the time to optimize your website with the right keywords, and tracking your results, can help you make sure your strategy is effective and your small business website is successful.

The Marketing 360 Content app can help you keep a close eye on your organic performance, and our team of Content Marketing Specialists can help you optimize your website and create professional, consistent content for your blog, social media profiles, email campaigns and beyond.

Learn more and see our plans and pricing. And, subscribe to our YouTube channel for more tips and advice on how to fuel your brand.