Marketing Fundamentals: SEO Essentials Every Entrepreneur Needs to Know

If you”re just starting out trying to optimize your website for the search engines, you may be confused by all of the tips, techniques, and strategies out there.

SEO is a big area of marketing, and entire websites are dedicated to providing information and advice about how to improve your chances of ranking in Google. But if all of this is too confusing, it might be a better idea to start with the basics.

Here are some of the most important SEO strategies to focus on so that you can build a solid foundation for your website without having to worry about all the latest tricks to get your site ranking.

Ensure Correct On-Page SEO

First of all, before you do anything else, you should make sure you use good on-page SEO to ensure your site is in the best possible condition to rank well.

What does this mean?

On-page SEO involves all of the elements of your website that you can optimize. A good SEO firm will be able to help you sort out the basics, and you”ll find some help on this site.

It involves choosing your most important keywords and using them in important places like the title tags, H1 tag, and URL. It also means linking your pages to each other, such as linking your home page, service pages, and blogs.

A good web designer will set up your site to load fast as well, which is important for ranking in the search engines. And it also means having a mobile-optimized site, preferably a responsive design, to ensure you can rank in mobile search.

Get all of these factors sorted out first, and then you will be in a better position to start ranking when you start focusing on off-site factors.

Image Source: Pixabay

Create and Promote Amazing Content

Once you”ve got your site in order, the next stage is to focus on creating and promoting high-value content. Content is the backbone of a solid SEO strategy, and it is essential if you want to rank for your targeted keywords.

The easiest way to get started is to launch a blog. Then you can create an editorial calendar and plan to post one or two blogs a week and incorporate your keywords into each blog post (without stuffing them in).

You could publish posts that answer questions your customers have, provide information, are entertaining, or all of the above. And incorporate images, videos, infographics, podcasts, and other media to make them more appealing.

Then make contacts with other websites and blogs to promote your content—effective promotion will also involve having a strong social media presence, as covered in the next point.

Be Active on Social Media

Social signals have been important for effective SEO for many years, and this is not about to change. Having an active social presence on a few networks allows you to share your content with your target audience and provide value.

If you haven”t already, set up a profile on Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest, or any other sites that make sense for your business. Then start sharing your own content as well as other valuable content.

Learn the Basics and Go from There

These are the basics of a successful SEO strategy, so make sure you focus on these first of all. There are many other advanced techniques that you can employ once you get going, and you might want to get some help from a specialist. But for now, focus on the basics, and you”ll be doing a lot more than most online businesses.

Sue Robinson has worked in the SEO/Marketing industry for several years now. She shares her views and tips with small business owners, helping them to understand what they need to succeed online.