If you want to ensure your small business website gets found on the major search engines, every page of your website will need to be “optimized” for search. Search engine optimization (SEO) is the process of designing and laying out a website so that the search engines can crawl through each page easily. If the search engines can’t crawl through the site, they won’t be able to index your pages. There are a number of effective and legitimate SEO techniques that improve the rankings of search engine results pages. This in turn can drive more traffic to your website and help you connect with more customers.

Here are some SEO essentials for your small business website:

Keyword-Rich Content

The keywords and key phrases you use throughout your content are essential for SEO. Keywords and key phrases are the words that most people use to find information when running a basic search on the major search engines. Their queries may include questions or they can just be a string of a few words.  Learning what your target customers are searching for can help you create the right type of content and attract more traffic.

Make sure that every page of your site contains relevant keywords and key phrases, and that your pages aren’t “stuffed” with keywords that can be deemed as spam. Have a professional copywriter create customized content that contains relevant keywords so that you have just the right balance and can enjoy the SEO benefits.

Interlinking Pages and Link Placement

Linking text to different pages of your website is another effective way to improve SEO. Interlinking pages not only helps the search engines crawl your site, but also helps the user navigate between different pages as they read through your content. Interlinking keywords and phrases to relevant pages is one of the best ways to make the most of your interlinking strategy.

Another important element of SEO for your website is link placement. It’s important to format your links correctly and use the right coding within the navigation scheme, or the search engine spiders won’t even be able to detect the links when they crawl your pages. Your website coder and designer will work together to ensure your links are viewable and accessible by the search engines.

Popularity

The major search engines do consider the popularity component of a website when indexing pages of your site. The search engines are looking for indications of quality links that are coming in to your site (inbound links) and the types of sites you are linking to (outbound links). Obtaining links from other popular sites in your niche can help to increase your popularity and make you a more credible site in the eyes of the search engines.

Consider investing in a link development program as you set up your small business website, because this approach can help to boost your rankings and ensure your website is deemed to be a credible resource by the major search engines.

Making sure your website is optimized for search will help you attract more traffic and generate leads. Use these tips to ensure your small business website gets crawled and indexed by the major search engines.

When it comes to marketing your business online and developing a solid brand presence, social media campaigns can help you get results, fast. Some of today’s most widely-used social media marketing tools are helping businesses across all industries generate more interest in the business’s products and services, attract new clients, and also spread the “buzz” about news and other announcements – and all within minutes. The social sphere is growing at a rapid pace, and many small business owners re realizing that jumping onto the social media bandwagon early can help to attract new customers and maintain loyal clientele.

Here are some of the most effective social media tools for marketing your website:

Facebook Page

Even though many small business owners initially set up Facebook profiles with their business contact information, most are now switching over to the Facebook Page. Business fan pages allow you to network with your fans just like you would with a Facebook profile, except the Page is public and has a more professional presence. Your Facebook Page can be customized with your company logo and colors, and you can also upload pictures and notes. Facebook now allows you to interact with commenters as your business on Wall posts, so networking here has a more personal touch.

Encouraging your existing customers to “Like” your Facebook Page can help you build a solid online brand presence and also keep everyone updated about the latest news, product launches and other information relevant to your industry. You can also post links to your blog right on your Facebook page, and link your Twitter account to it to save time (see below).

Twitter

Twitter is another effective social media marketing tool for marketing your business and website. Spend some time familiarizing yourself with how Twitter works and looking at the Twitter handles and profile pages of other businesses in your market or niche. You’ll find that many other businesses have been able to attract customers and partners as “Followers”.

Your Twitter updates are limited to 140 characters, and this tool can be an effective way to engage your Followers in a public conversation, post links to your blog or Facebook page, and provide random updates or newsbytes on information relevant to your company or the industry as a whole. Ultimately, Twitter helps you build a positive brand presence and gives you a chance to interact with your current and future clients – or business partners – in a new way.

Company Blog

Even though your company blog may be an extension of your website, you can still drive a lot of traffic back to your website, product landing pages and “About Us” page by updating your blog regularly. Blogs are another communication platform that can help you build credibility in the online world and attract the right type of customer.

Adopt the habit of reading other blogs relevant to your company or industry, post comments on them, and write fresh and engaging blog posts to keep your readers interested. Blog posts need to be short, informative and timely. Provide quality content regularly and you can keep attracting visitors to your website while increasing your online reach.

Facebook, Twitter and blogs are just some of the most effective social media tools for marketing your small business website. Spend some time exploring your options so that you can promote your business more effectively, build a positive online presence, and continue attracting your “ideal” customers.

Adding a blog to your website can help to attract more traffic and keep visitors engaged for longer periods of time.  Maintaining a blog as a complement to your company website gives you a chance to connect with visitors in a new way. You can post information about the latest industry news, highlight products and services you offer, and even ask questions so that readers can post comments or provide feedback. Another benefit of having a blog is you can achieve high rankings on the major search engines on specific topics. If you find that many of your site visitors are looking for information on a certain topic relevant to your products and services, you can write a b log post about it and attract these customers to your site quickly.

Use some of these tips and strategies for maintaining a successful blog:

1. Post fresh and engaging content regularly. Capture the attention of your target market by providing fresh, engaging and even newsworthy content. Remember that not every blog post has to be “salesy” in nature. You can talk about current events relevant to your industry, summarize key points you learned from a trade show you recently attended, and post useful tips and advice-type blog posts to keep your readers informed.

2. Recycle existing content. If you have access to some old, informational articles your company may have written or a press release announcing something in the near future, don’t be afraid to re-purpose that content for your blog. Remember that any articles you have written for other sites can be linked to within a blog post and even quoted or summarized. Be creative about using different types of content you own to formulate a fresh new blog post.

3. Update it regularly. If your blog isn’t updated at least once per week, you could lose a visitor’s interest and may never even get a visitor to come back. Prove that you really are an authority on the subject you are writing about and are here to provide visitors with new, unique and high quality information regularly. Create and maintain a publishing schedule and update your blog at least once per week.

4. Don’t always focus on you. One of the keys to maintaining a successful blog is to create content that goes beyond just the latest news and happenings of your organization. Talk about the industry at large, trends or interesting insights about the market in your city or region, and provide expert advice on common problems some of your customers have. This makes your blog useful, informational and something that visitor will want to keep up with in the long run.

5. Follow your competition. Do some online research to keep up with the blog postings of your biggest competitors. What types of posts are garnering the most comments or Tweets? What type of style and tone do they use to create their posts. Look at different blogs to get ideas and also see what may be working – and what isn’t.

Maintaining a successful blog will take some hard work and you will need to focus on quality and consistency. Use some of these tips to attract more visitors to your website and power up your online marketing efforts.