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Small businesses in the UK are increasingly starting to use Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) to get noticed. Now days SEO plays a key role in driving more visitors to a website and improving its business potential. While SEO is a powerful tool, sometimes it might do more harm than good to your website if not used properly. So, here are top ten SEO tips for you to use and to get that relevant traffic coming to your website. 1. Add your company name, address and contact number to your website pages
Use a standard format to add this information across pages on your website. Search engines are so smart now day's that they recognise the addresses from websites and adding them to their databases. If you provide your contact details in the universally accepted format, it will be easier for search engines to identify and pick out this information. 2. Submit company information to Google Local Business
Google is the most widely used search engine across the world, with a 90.39% share of the market in the UK (hitwise - Dec./2008). Creating a Google Local profile will enable you to enter detailed information about your business, which can then be available to people searching for related information online. 3. Make use of an analytic program to improve your site
An analytic program allows you to track activity on your website. Knowing about the people who visit your website can help you in further optimising your site. One of the best Free analytics program and the one we would recommend is Google Analytics. Google Analytics provides you with crucial information regarding your visitors, including how they found your site, where did they come from and which pages they where looking at. 4. Check the title of all your web pages
The titles are a pointer to the relevance of each web page to the search terms being used in a search engine. A title, such as Welcome or Home, does not show the search engine or the searcher the information contained on the web page. The result is a lower number of people willing to click on the site link and less relevance to the search terms used to seek your information. 5. Submit your business information to as many free directories as you can
Enter business information in quality, trusted directories such as Yahoo!, DMOZ, AVIVA, Business.com and Best of The Web. Seek links from authority sites in your industry. If local search matters to you, seek links from trusted sites in your geographic area—the Chamber of Commerce, etc. Analyze the inbound links to your competitors to find links you can acquire, too. 6. Optimise keywords
The key to the best results is to use relevant keywords. To identify these keywords, put yourself in your target reader’s shoes and ask yourself what you would type in search if you were looking for the business you are in. Use those key-phrases and keywords as part of your content across the website. 7. Use press releases wisely
Developing a relationship with media covering your industry or your local region can be a great source of exposure, including getting links from trusted media web sites. Distributing releases online can be an effective link building tactic, and opens the door for exposure in news search sites. Related bonus tip: Only issue a release when you have something newsworthy to report. Don’t waste journalists’ time. 8. Start a blog and participate with other related blogs
Search engines, Google especially, love blogs for the fresh content and highly-structured data. Beyond that, there’s no better way to join the conversations that are already taking place about your industry and/or company. Reading and commenting on other blogs can also increase your exposure and help you acquire new links. Related bonus tip: Put your blog at yourdomain.com/blog so your main domain gets the benefit of any links to your blog posts. If that’s not possible, use blog.yourdomain.com. 9. Use social media marketing wisely
If your small business has a visual element, join the appropriate communities on Flickr and post high-quality photos there. If you’re a service-oriented business, use Yahoo Answers to position yourself as an expert in your industry. With any social media site you use, the first rule is don’t spam! Be an active, contributing member of the site. The idea is to interact with potential customers, not annoy them. 10. Commit yourself to the process and be patient
SEO isn’t a one-time event. Search engine algorithms change regularly, so the tactics that worked last year may not work this year. SEO requires a long-term outlook and commitment. Results often take months to see, and this is especially true the smaller you are, and the newer you are to doing business online.
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