If you have an online business venture you probably already know that search engine optimization is vital to your marketing strategy. When an entrepreneur has SEO skills or an in-house SEO team, their online visibility is enhanced. And when a business appears at the top of search engine results, it gains significant credibility.
But what if you don’t have SEO skills or an in-house team? We often get asked:
- Our start-up is bootstrapping and we don’t have a budget for SEO yet. Is there anything we can do in-house – for free?
- What’s the most important thing when it comes to SEO? Is it just about keywords?
- If I’m just starting out with SEO, how do we set up for success?
- What can an SEO expert do that we can’t do, really?
- If we invest in SEO, how long will it take?
By the end of this five-minute read, you’ll have the answers you need to the above and more.
There’s no such thing as an overnight sensation when it comes to search engine optimization. It is a long game and results come gradually with persistent effort. At the same time, investment doesn’t need to be huge to get results. And hence, before hiring an SEO expert, an entrepreneur should rely on specific DIY SEO tactics implemented in-house. This will save some precious bucks in the initial phase of the business. If you are in the startup stages and do not have the budget to outsource SEO, try these easy but effective tips to notch up your search visibility.
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Top 5 SEO Hacks to Use Before Outsourcing to an SEO Expert
One: A Well-Optimised GMB Can Do The Trick!
GMB or Google MyBusiness is one of the most effective and convenient business listing tools in search engines. GMB can put your business right where it needs to be – in front of your target audience. This is a free listing tool that appears on Google Search and Google Maps.
If you have a physical location, then GMB is a must for maximizing your local awareness. Once you start exploring the GMB tool, you will simply be amazed at how easily your target audience can access your business just by Googling. So, make sure you have a fully optimized Google MyBusiness with accurate and up-to-date details, such as location, contact number, working hours, etc.
Two: Know Your Target Audience’s Search Behaviour
Gain important insights about your target audience. You need to know about their search behaviors. When they are searching for a business like yours, will they find you? Make sure your in-house SEO team devotes time to research your target audiences. Only by understanding your prospects completely can you acquire convertible leads for your business. Once you have a clear idea of whom you need to connect your products and services with, determine the best keywords for the job through more research in the Google Keyword Research Tool.
Bonus tip: If you’re a local business, include location-based keywords. It always works wonders in bringing together the business and its local target audience.
Three: A Meaningful Domain Name Can Go a Long Way
Know that the domain name you chose for your website is more than a branding tool. It has great power in SEO. A domain name enables you to be sticky in the mind of your target audience, but if it also contains a keyword it will have SEO juice. That’s why you should always choose the domain name carefully.
Domain names can be industry-specific, such as .tech and .store. These funky domains can make your business appear unique or fit your niche. You can even opt for .online, .space, .site, or .uno if you are looking for something versatile and all-encompassing. While choosing a domain name for your business website, it is better to splurge. Buy all the domains that are available, both in different kinds and also different keywords. Pointing additional domains to your main URL is good practice and a great way to protect your brand.
Four: Social Media Can Be Your Secret Weapon
Using different social media platforms can level up your SEO strategy. Make sure you share informative and engaging content on platforms like LinkedIn, Instagram, Twitter, etc. Your content should always bring value to your target audience and readers. Search engines like Google give SEO cred to businesses with a great social media following. You should have completely optimized social media profiles for your business, and share relevant posts and special offers on a regular basis on these platforms. Done well, socials can improve your reach in search by leaps and bounds.
Five: Pay Attention to the Content You Are Producing
Content is an integral part of successful search engine optimization. The consistency and quality of your content play a very significant role in your search engine rankings. Always produce content that is well-written, error-free, engaging, and informative. There should not be keyword stuffing, and most importantly the contents should bring value to your target audience. When you share great content on different platforms to increase engagement and views, it will boost your rankings.
Why you can’t do away with SEO experts altogether
An SEO expert is someone who has complete knowledge of the SEO industry. With expert advice, your webpage can easily rank higher on search engine results. An SEO professional can take your business to new heights with their cutting-edge SEO tactics. Even though there are certain things that you can do by yourself, in the long term it is smart to hire SEO experts.
Here are some areas where you will need to rely on an SEO expert:
Page Speed Optimisation
Your website needs to load quickly – your potential customers won’t wait for slow load times. An SEO expert ensures that your page loads fast so that your leads don’t leave. They should be able to access information and details smoothly and instantly. A professional SEO expert will reduce unnecessary code, reduce redirects and perform a bunch of technical tasks to enhance the loading of your site.
Keyword Strategy
Relevant keywords are a highly significant part of SEO tactics. A keyword strategy can broaden your appearance in search across a multitude of search terms. The job of an SEO expert is to come up with a comprehensive keyword research plan and ensure your website appears everywhere your customers are searching.
Responsive Website Design
An SEO professional will make sure that your potential clients can access your website from different devices by making it highly responsive. This will make sure that your website is easily accessible on laptops as well as on smartphones or tablets. Responsive design is critical to user experience and thus, an important factor in SEO.
Website SEO Audit
One of the most important steps in your SEO strategy is to have your website and SEO professionally reviewed regularly. Whenever you hire an SEO professional, they inspect your site thoroughly and evaluate your SEO tactics, data and analytics, and many other details. After conducting an in-depth analysis, an expert will create a full-fledged SEO campaign that can bring great results to your online business.
Search engine optimization is technical and takes many years to develop the skills to become an expert. But some aspects are easily done in-house. These tips and hacks will definitely help you kick off your SEO strategy. But as your business grows, hiring an expert to handle your SEO is the logical next step to level up. That said, we understand that an entrepreneur needs to strike the right balance by saving initially with some DIY tactics before they invest in a fully-fledged, SEO expert.
Related posts:
- 5 SEO Tips to Try In-house Before You Hire an SEO Expert - October 12, 2021
Great tips, Melissa!
I agree that a lot of SEO work can be done in-house by small companies, like content SEO, on-page, keyword research. But at some level some technical expertise is also needed. Especially a site audit. There are lots of detailed analyses there, which can be hard for non-techies and non-SEO people to comprehend.
Hi Melissa, what about businesses without a physical location? I know I use it for my online biz and it does help some but not as much as those local physical addresses do. I’m wondering what else we can do. Thanks for the other tips!
Hi Melissa,
GMB works great for physical businesses. I personally love the map feature. Now they need to come up with a directory for online businesses that don’t have a physical location. Something along the lines of an old school yellow pages. So you type in “SEO experts” and instead of all the ads and articles you just get a list of company websites. They could even make it that you can search locally or anywhere you choose to narrow it down with websites listed alphabetically.
Just a thought.
SharlaAnn