Start building links
Link building is the process of getting other websites to link back to a page on your own website. Each link acts as a vote of trust from that website and helps search engines to figure out what you do and whether you are a good source of information. A website with a strong backlink profile will have a higher domain authority, which is a score developed by Moz to predict how well a website will rank. The higher your domain authority, the better.
It’s important to go after organic links by promoting your website to influencers in your niche and making sure that you share high-quality, relevant content that others will naturally want to link to.
Optimise your ecommerce listings
If you run an ecommerce business, it’s important to ensure that your products are unique, correctly categorised, and free of duplicate content. You should also aim to make all customer reviews visible to other website visitors, as this builds trust.
Look at the URL structure of your products – what you want is for the focus keyword to also form that focal point of the URL structure, like so: www.domain.com/shop/keyword. As a rule, every product should be accessible from the homepage in no more than three clicks. If it takes more than that, then your navigational structure is likely too convoluted. (Store builders allow you to quickly tweak your URLs, so take advantage of this).
Check out this guide to writing ecommerce product descriptions.
Solicit reviews
Customer reviews can work wonders for your local SEO. Many businesses curate their own online testimonials, but of course, all visitors are aware that this is a biased process. No business in its right mind would include negative testimonials.
Reviews from websites like Trustpilot boost your recognition and (as the name implies) are more trusted by users. Try asking your best customers to leave you a review next time they shop with you – and offer incentives if need be. Negative reviews, if they occur, should also be embraced as an opportunity to show your dedication to good customer service.
Have an email marketing strategy
Regular newsletters, whether weekly, fortnightly or monthly – are a great way to keep your business in the forefront of your customers’ minds. Programs like MailChimp work wonders for automated email marketing campaigns, and some ecommerce builders have their own inbuilt email marketing tools.
Email marketing can help to boost your website’s SEO by increasing on-site engagement, promoting your best content and potentially generating inbound links. It’s also an ideal tool for building brand recognition, especially when you’re just starting out.
Make sure you’re mobile-friendly
Have a mobile-friendly (or responsive) website is key if you hope to make it as an online business. The majority of today’s consumers are multiplatform – they may even be multi-screening as they access your website. Therefore, a consistent experience is crucial.
When a query pops up in a user’s mind, it is often to mobile that they first go. If your website isn’t fast, responsive and easy to navigate, then even with the best SEO in the world, your visitors are not going to hang around. To help your local SEO, make sure your contact details are clearly visible in the top right corner of every page. It’s also worth making yourself aware of Google’s guidelines for mobile to avoid being penalised for providing bad UX – or you could find yourself losing traffic.
Which of these items have you already ticked and which have you yet to check off? As a new business, it can sometimes feel like there’s an endless amount to do and never enough time to do it. Take things step-by-step and you will soon start to notice the results. What’s worked well for you?