August 2022 - How to Start a Small Business

Get 300% More Google Visibility with the Right SEO Optimization Strategies, Beginner’s-Friendly 🔥🔥🔥Want to avoid the 71% crowd? Unfortunately, that's the percentage of small businesses that paid a hefty price for a website with all the bells and whistles, that Google completely ignores. To be honest, many of those ✈🛩🛫high-ticket sites end up on a billboard in the desert, as opposed to the average designed site that lands in New York City, on the main drag! However, the truth is regardless if you're a baller or budget-hauler if you don't follow Google's SEO guidelines to structure and SEO optimize your web pages it won't make a difference. “If you’re not online you’re not in business”. Bill Gates Let’s Get Started Within this post, we answered 11 of the most asked SEO questions on Quora. Each answer is concise and to the point. The image here: get you FREE ON-Page SEO audit today. Did you KNOW…. These are 2.31 M Google searches from desktop every minute Click To Tweet What are Common SEO Mistakes Small Businesses Make? That’s a great question, one of the biggest and most common mistakes is poor keyword research. Addedly, many business owners get this backward. Before choosing keywords, you should search your audience intent, then choose keywords accordingly. As business owners, we have strong opinions about what we think will be the right keywords. However, it doesn’t always work out that way. There are subtle variations, you’re articulating the same message but in a different context, or word usage. Again, and I say this a lot, choosing the wrong keywords can derail your ENTIRE SEO OPPORTUNITY FOREVER…… OR UNTIL YOU MAKE THE NECESSARY CHANGES! Here’s an example: One of my clients was an auto dealership that sold pre-certified cars. All of his messaging dictated that. However, according to Google, most potential buyers searched for used cars. The search volume for pre-certified cars was 100/month and used cars 1000/month, which keyword would you rather rank for if all things were equal? Here’s an article that will further explain and is easy to understand Another common mistake is not having a single focus or intent for your website. Knowing the reason for your site before creating it. What is the purpose of your site and does that purpose align with your customer's intent based on the chosen keywords? I cover this more in this article quick read but helpful. 17 Practical Ways to Improve your Website Pageviews Regarding on-page optimization: The title and description tags are critical. They’re called meta tags. These tags tell Google what your site is about. Therefore, Google will know how to rank you based on the relevancy of your meta tags. Get your 12-point on-page optimization here Lastly, Not maintaining and updating your website content. Unfortunately, SEO isn’t a set-it-and-forget-it type of deal. Google is constantly changing its algorithms. Not keeping fresh content, you can lose your rankings, hence sales. 88% of people search online before making a purchase Click To Tweet Like any real estate, your website is your online real estate which needs updating or a facelift to keep it modern and more appealing to compete with new and growing trends. ***Note Seriously reading the suggested resources will place you eons ahead of your competitors. Let me know if they were helpful, by leaving comments and sharing on social media if you think it can help others. Thanks! (Google is notorious for updating its algorithms, which they must do to keep everyone as honest as possible. If they didn’t hackers would easily game the system. And little guys like you and I would never rank on the first page of Google). What is the Importance of Keyword Research? WOW…. I can write a book about the importance of keyword research…. It’s how I learned SEO back in the day…2007. Unbeknownst to me, I chose keywords that I would never rank for in a Gazillion years. Long story short…. I kept trying to rank and failed but inadvertently learn SEO. Read more about SEO Here Once I realized this, I created a quick site and ranked it with all my chosen keywords. Next, I contacted a few local businesses and helped them to rank. All that to say: Choosing the right keywords IS CRUCIAL. So, to be clear if you rush through or avoid keyword research all your SEO efforts could end null and void. 3.33 billion Google searches per day Click To Tweet What’s the Difference Between Organic and Paid Search An organic result is a search result that is achieved without any monetary contributions. Unfortunately, we can’t pay Google for results. LOL!!! Vs paid results are paid ads. like Google, Facebook, etc. When you google search a term the first results listed on the page are paid ads. Next comes the organic results. The list is based on your SEO endeavors. A few examples of web-page SEO Off-page SEO is any activities done outside your website, to improve your Google page rankings and or backlinks. A few examples of web-page SEO Online Directories Sign up and claim as many directories as possible. This will enhance your backlinking efforts Guest Author Posting Writing articles for other more established websites will give your site a boost. Additionally, it provides you with perceived authority. Their readers don’t know you and will instantly deem you an expert. Enter Website Awards Contest Nominate your website for any and every award you qualify for. This gives your name and site prestige, and people love winners. Moreover, you can display the award badges on your site. What is Technical SEO Technical SEO is any activities done on the functionality of your website, to improve your Google page rankings and core vitals. A few examples of Technical SEO Optimizing Images Since Google has up the ante on mobile indexing, speed is king. And images are one of the main culprits. Resizing your images is vital to increase page and website speed, hence Google rankings! Fix Broken Links Guest Broken links give your website visitors a bad experience. Again, Mr. Google doesn’t play that, Google’s trying to do everything in its power to ensure a great UX. To fix broken links try this website, it’s free and easy…Siteliner Redirect 404 Error Pages To reiterate Google hates inefficiencies. Hence when a visitor hits an error page that makes them look bad. And we all know how vain Google is 😜. Plus, your visitor is likely to bounce, which can hurt your rankings. Using sideliner will help with that as well! What is the One Can't-Miss Element of SEO The very thing you should do is check your keywords. What do I mean by that? During your business development stage or website development stage did you choose the most relevant, but highly probable keyword you could rank for? Because if you chose incorrect or too competitive keywords, in some cases you will NEVER get on the first page of Google. As an example: if you sell dog food and your keyword is dog food, what do you think your chances of ranking would be? Google search and look at the competition. Some of those site owners have thousands or more of backlinks… and you have none, yet! I can’t stress strongly enough, the importance of getting this first step RIGHT!!!!… NOTHING ELSE WILL MATTER IF THAT’S NOT RIGHT…. BUT THAT’S JUST FOR SEO!!!! What is Local SEO and Why it is Important for SEO Rankings? What is Local SEO? Local SEO is also referred to as (search engine optimization) is the process of optimizing off-page and on-page tactics to assist your web pages to rank higher in the search results SERPs (search engine results pages). However, to help you get a better understanding of local SEO let’s break down the term optimization. The word optimization is a process, or methodology of making, in this case, a system as perfect as possible. Therefore, search engine optimization is the process to retrieve the most optimized search result. That query or keyword is searched from a worldwide database. Next, once you input your search term Google bots retrieve either an exact match or the next best match option. Now that we understand the definition of search engine optimization or SEO next we add a local identifier. Once you add the identifier that feeds the search engine more specific information. IE Pizza in Greenville, North Carolina. This SEO content strategy is a winning formula. Would you rather compete with millions of pizzerias that cover the entire state or the hundreds that are in Raleigh? Long story short, it’s easier for you the small business owner to rank locally. Local rankings are important to SEO mainly because it specific. It tells the search engine the exact location of the search. Hence less competition. Here are a few benefits: Specifically attracts local customers Improve local SEO rankings Establishes your business as an industry expert source Easily connect with local customers. Establishes your business as an industry expert source Easily connect with local customers. How is Local SEO Different from SEO? To keep it completely simple, the only difference is that with local SEO you are adding a local identifier to your keyword. As an example, the best Pizza - the best pizza in North Carolina, the best pizza in Raleigh, North Carolina Adding the location identifier niches the search down. yes, will be less search but more relevant. It’s safe to assume that a person who’s looking for pizza in Raleigh, won’t drive to Charlotte for pizza and vice versa. Local SEO is the process of optimizing off-page and on-page tactics to assist your web pages to rank higher in the search results SERPs. However, to help you get a better understanding of local Therefore, search engine optimization is the process to retrieve the most optimized search result. That query or keyword is searched from a worldwide database. Next, once you input your search term Google bots retrieve either an exact match or the next best match option. Now that we understand the definition of search engine optimization or SEO next we add a local identifier. Once you add the identifier that feeds the search engine more specific information. IE Pizza in Raleigh, North Carolina. This SEO content strategy is a winning formula. Would you rather compete with millions of pizzerias that cover the entire state or the hundreds that are in Raleigh? Long story short, it’s easier for you the small business owner to rank locally. Remember to add your local identifiers to your: The list is Local SEO Best Practices: H1 tags Title tags Descriptions Sprinkle them in your content and Alt tags What’s the Difference Between FREE and Paid Traffic An organic result is a search result that is achieved without any monetary contributions. Unfortunately, we can’t pay Google for results. LOL!!! Vs paid results are paid ads. like Google, Facebook, etc. When you google search a term the first results listed on the page are paid ads. Next comes the organic results. The list is based on your SEO endeavors. Hi, that’s a question that all depends. You would agree that you will need a small audience size and would make more money if you sold Lamborghinis compared to Jettas. However, you can figure out your ideal audience size by reverse- engineering. How much are you hoping to earn monthly? What is the cost of your product or service? What is your conversion? Basically, if you’re at the beginning stages, you will have to get on the road to get some of those answers. Then it will become clear how many eyeballs are needed to see your page, how many will clink, and how many will purchase. Next, improve all three. What does it Mean to be Mobile-Friendly In 2019 Google announced that they would start mobile-first indexing. What does this mean? This means that all websites will be ranked and scored based on the mobile versions as opposed to the desktop. Here’s what you need to create an SEO-friendly website: You should fully optimize on and off-page and technical optimization. I explained that in detail with examples in the below post. Here are a few other key pointers you don’t want to overlook. To increase webpage speed, your site must upload in less than 2.5 seconds. Compress all images and file sizes, this helps to increase your webpage speed. Use a mobile-friendly theme, this will adjust your content to the mobile version. Incorporate simple navigation Leave plenty of white space Use a read-friendly font style In today’s business climate everybody is from Missouri, the show me state! The internet is good and ugly. Anyone can make allegations or declare anything, like writing on the bathroom wall. But just because they say it doesn’t make it true or accurate. Conversely, if you have empirical data, to support your statements that’s a horse of a different color. Here’s an example of a case study. 17 Practical Ways to Improve your Website Pageviews Case studies are important because it gives specific information as to how a result was achieved. As the adage goes, the proof is in the pudding! Anyone can make allegations or declare certain results, however, in today's business environment the buzzword is transparency. Conversely, if you have experimental data, to support your statements, that lends to deeper belief. Next, keep in mind that SEO consists of 3 elements: On-page optimization Off-page optimization and Technical On-Page SEO On-page SEO is any activities done inside your website, to improve your Google page rankings, page views, and or backlinks. Example of ON-Page SEO Optimizing meta tags Including H1 tags Add alt tags to images Compressing images and file sizes Off-Page SEO Off-page SEO is any activities done outside your website, to improve your Google page rankings and or backlinks. A few examples of off-page SEO Online Directories Sign up and claim as many directories as possible. This will enhance your backlinking efforts Guest Author Posting Writing articles for other more established websites will give your site a boost. Additionally, it provides you with perceived authority. Their readers don’t know you and will instantly deem you an expert. Joint venture Learn to collaborate with top social media influencers. Enter into Website Awards Contest Nominate your website for any and every award you qualify for. This gives your name and site prestige, and people love winners. Moreover, you can display the award badges on your site. Technical SEO Technical SEO is any activities done on the functionality of your website, to improve your Google page rankings and core vitals. A few examples of Technical SEO Optimizing Images Since Google has up the ante on mobile indexing, speed is king. And images are one of the main culprits. Resizing your images is vital to increase page and website speed, hence Google rankings! Fix Broken Links Guest Broken links give your website visitors a bad experience. Again, Mr. Google doesn’t play that, Google’s trying to do everything in its power to ensure a great UX. To fix broken links try this website, it’s free and easy…Siteliner Redirect 404 Error Pages To reiterate Google hates inefficiencies. Hence when a visitor hits an error page that makes them look bad. And we all know how vain Google is 😜. Plus, your visitor is likely to bounce, which can hurt your rankings. Using siteliner will help with that as well! If all this sounds foreign, you can read how to improve local SEO, there I go into detail with examples. It’s simpler to understand. 75% of these searches will make a purchase within 24hrs some within minutes Click To Tweet Name the Main SEO Design Recommended by Google One of Google’s primary concerns is whether the website should have a mobile-friendly theme. What does that mean? A mobile-friendly template or theme is one that adjusts the web pages to the size of the device. You’ve seen some web pages words are cut-off and it just looks weird. Well, long story short, the template is friendly to the device… needless to say, Google doesn’t like that. So firstly, make sure it’s mobile-friendly. If you have a WordPress Theme What is Local SEO? Local SEO also referred to as (search engine optimization) is the process of optimizing off-page and on-page tactics to assist your web pages to ranking higher in the search results SERPs (search engine results pages). Here’s what else you need to create an SEO-friendly website: You should fully optimize on and off-page and technical optimization. I explained that in detail with examples in the below post. Here are a few other key pointers you don’t want to overlook. To increase webpage speed, your site must upload in less than 2.5 seconds. Compress all images and file sizes, this helps to increase your webpage speed. Use a mobile-friendly theme, this will adjust your content to the mobile version. Incorporate simple navigation Leave plenty of white space Use a read-friendly font style Go here to Google Page Tester It’s free Google will score your page speed Here’s the image compressor I use Compressor.io - optimize and compress JPEG photos and PNG images Save this post for later! 🩸Hope that helps. What are Examples of Web-Page SEO Off-page SEO is any activities done outside your website, to improve your Google page rankings and or backlinks. A few examples of web-page SEO Online Directories Sign up and claim as many directories as possible. This will enhance your backlinking efforts Guest Author Posting Writing articles for other more established websites will give your site a boost. Additionally, it provides you with perceived authority. Their readers don’t know you and will instantly deem you an expert. Enter into Website Awards Contest Nominate your website for any and every award you qualify for. This gives your name and site prestige, and people love winners. Moreover, you can display the award badges on your site. What is technical SEO Technical SEO is any activities done on the functionality of your website, to improve your Google page rankings and core vitals. A few examples of Technical SEO Optimizing Images Since Google has up the ante on mobile indexing, speed is king. And images are one of the main culprits. Resizing your images is vital to increase page and website speed, hence Google rankings! Fix Broken Links Guest Broken links give your website visitors a bad experience. Again, Mr. Google doesn’t play that, Google’s trying to do everything in its power to ensure a great UX. To fix broken links try this website, it’s free and easy…Siteliner Redirect 404 Error Pages To reiterate Google hates inefficiencies. Hence when a visitor hits an error page that makes them look bad. And we all know how vain Google is 😜. Plus, your visitor is likely to bounce, which can hurt your rankings. Using siteliner will help with that as well! Are High-Authority Backlinks a Good Signal for Google to Rank your Site Higher Yes, backlinks are a signal to Google that your blog/website is helpful to others. Basically, if other site owners link to your blog it’s like a vote. The site within that topic with the most backlinks and a few other signals and SEO strategies Yes, Omnichannel is good for all businesses. Omnichannel means using a variety of marketing tactics. We never want all our eggs in one basket. One of my fav celebrity mentors beats this in my head. Have you never heard of the Google slap or algorithms updates and changes? …Next, all social media go through the same process, they start off all about the marketers then eventually, it’s all about the ads. Affiliate marketing is the best of all worlds. To produce and sell a product there are many little important elements that must be addressed before putting your product on the market. First things first, research and development. If this isn’t done correctly, then it’s like trying to walk on quicksand, you won’t get anywhere. Research is VITAL Secondly, the product or service must be created, a lot goes into that as well. Color scheme Size Font type Beta testing Graphic design etc. Thirdly, marketing and advertising. if all other elements are completed successfully, now it’s time to get the product on the market. Unfortunately, as a product developer, you must ace all 3 to have a successful business. Finally, as affiliate marketers, all we must do is find a product/service that resonates with us or our business, signup as an affiliate, market it, and start making money! How Did you Build your Computer Business? Hi, I never had a computer business; however, I ran an SEO agency. However, only for a short period of time. I can tell you how I promoted that. Well, let me explain first, I did enjoy helping small business owners gain first-page rankings. However, back then I didn’t know how to scale, and I was doing all the work by myself! Addedly, I was trying to build my own separate business. I started my SEO company because I accidentally learned how to rank from trying to rank my own stuff. …..Boy, do I have some stories. That being said, if you’ve ever heard me say please, please, please do your homework first….. Do your homework first. Unbeknownst to me, I was trying to rank for keywords that I would Never, ever, ever, ever, rank for… not organically!!!! So, 😉 since I knew how to cold call, that’s what I did, I called businesses that were on the second page of Google and asked if they would like to get on the first page. I showed him all of my first-page rankings. (Different keywords…than the story I just told). Once I got one client, I started locally, and talked with small business owners; I knocked on doors and talked to friends. Since I knew I would only need a few clients because I was working alone… a little dub will do yah! Why Do I Need a Business Website? Most of your competition is online A website displays a professional appearance Create instant authority and trust Allow you to showcase your skills to a wider audience Conclusion I read a staggering statistic that in today's technological age over 40% of all businesses don't have a website. I find that hard to believe in today's tech environment. Despite computers' vast functionality such as: A convenient way to display products and services. An easier way to educate clients or customers. One of the quickest ways to inform customers of upcoming sales and other promotions. Portrays a professional business image. Offers potential additional income stream, with less overhead. Furthermore, having a small business website increases your business's credibility. This even helps when applying for business credit or other business services. A professional-looking website gives the perception that you own a legitimate business. SEO Optimizing your business website isn’t hard, this is easy for me to say now. Comparatively, back in the day when I was tucked away in what I called the “dungeon” trying to start my online business, that was a horse of a different color. Today your web presence plays an important role in today's small business marketing mix. AND SEO is the process Google decided to use as a barometer. Now let's hear from you. Which SEO tactics will you employ? Leave a comment or ask your question. SEO for small businesses is vital, this will help set you apart from your competition. Additionally, don't forget your business funding to assist with business growth.