In our last post, we talked about where to start, so now I want to cover what to focus on to get the most growth. 

The 3 main things that can affect your SEO are your content, metadata, and marketing:

• Content can make or break a website. Use it to tell users what you offer, where you serve, and why they should do business with you.
  
  
• Metadata will help gain more attention from Google and allows you to control who you are targeting with your website.
  
  
• Marketing drives traffic to your site. Google likes to promote popular sites, so use your resources to drive as much traffic to the website as possible, but make sure it is not all paid traffic because Google will see this is false traffic and can penalize you for it.

If you have good content on our website that is helpful for users, your site will be pushed more in search.

• Keep it simple: Tell users what they need to know right away to improve engagement and conversions. This also shows Google that the content on your website is relevant, helpful, and clean.
  
  

• Include text on every page: Having some sort of text on every page is important. Users don’t want to read a page of only text, but having some text on every page is important to support the metadata and to explain to users and Google what this page is for and how it is relevant to them.
  
  

• Use calls to action: Including buttons and forms throughout your site will help gain more inquiries and bookings. Sometimes you need to tell users what they need to do and leave them with just enough content to make them want to contact you for more. If you sell products on your website include buttons linking to your shop pages to help drive more sales.
  
  

• Use keywords properly: Make sure to include the main keywords for that page content naturally within the text on the page at least 1-2 times (organically). Using a keyword too much, hiding keywords,  listing keywords is seen as spammy and will hurt your SEO more than help.

Once you have your content in place, you can input your metadata and add your keywords on the backend of the site as needed. Metadata can be customized on every page of your website. There are length requirements (see example below) to keep in mind for Google, so keeping things short and sweet is key as well as mentioning the main phrases you want to be found for that relate to the content on that specific page. Tell Google what it needs to know about your business while also explaining to users what you offer and why they should click to learn more.

If you aren’t sure where to add your data, give us a call or take a look at this support article to see how you customize your data on every page of the website. 

Here is an example of good metadata to create for your home page if you were a painter in the Greensboro, NC area. This is meeting all of Google's requirements while connecting with the user to urge them to click on the website:

PAGE TITLE

Your meta title is a brief and accurate description of your business. Make sure to include the main location your business is registered, what your main service is for that page, and your business name. This appears in both search results and open website browser tabs.

The optimal length is: 55-60 characters

Example: “Greensboro, NC Professional Painting Services | Zibster”

META DESCRIPTION

Your meta description should summarize what the page is about. Search engines use this to give users a brief summary of the page/website before they click on it, so finding a balance in writing for Google and users is important. Make sure to use the main keyword from your title and your main location, while also including some verbiage that shows users what sets you apart and makes them want to click to see more. Words like professional, certified, 15+ years of experience are great things to try and include if you have the space.

The optimal length is: 50-155 characters.

Example: “Interior & Exterior Professional Painting Services for all your Commercial & Residential contracting needs in Greensboro, Winston-Salem & surrounding areas.”

META KEYWORDS 

Keywords and phrases should be unique, separated by commas, and relevant to the content of the page you are optimizing. You should use no more than 15 keyword phrases per page to avoid being penalized by Google.

Example: “Greensboro Professional Painting Services, Greensboro Interior painting Services, Greensboro Exterior Painting Services, Greensboro Painting Contractors, Greensboro House Painters, Greensboro Residential Painting Services, Greensboro Commercial Painting Services, Winston-Salem Professional Painting Services, Winston-Salem Interior painting Services, Winston-Salem Exterior Painting Services, Winston-Salem Painting Contractors, Winston-Salem House Painters, Winston-Salem Residential Painting Services, Winston-Salem Commercial Painting Services, Triad Professional Painting Services”

Something to keep in mind when adding keywords in your metadata and front end content is to use keywords properly. Only include keywords on a page that relates to the content on the front end of the site. For instance, the example above is great for a home page, but if I wanted to optimize my residential painting services page I would only use residential and home keywords here and would not use commercial jargon or keywords, this way every page has its own set of keywords that Google will see relates to the front end content.

When adding keywords to the front end content of your website make sure to use keywords that flow with the content on that specific page, and naturally include keywords 1-2 times. You want to provide these keywords to Google to support your metadata, but you also want to make sure it makes sense to users reading it and it flows with the voice you have created on your site. Don’t overuse keywords throughout the site because this will be seen as spammy and will hurt you more than help you.

Once your content and metadata are in place you can monitor this and tweak it as needed, but to really gain more attention from search engines you need to stay active and market the website to drive more traffic. 

There are many free tools to help with this, but the main ones I suggest taking advantage of are your Google listing, social media, blogging, and email marketing.

• Google Business listing: Your Google listing is used to verify your business in the local area. This is the best platform to drive reviews because it will have a big impact on your local search results and helps build more credibility with Google and potential clients.
  
  Don’t have a Google Listing and want to learn more? Read this article and show Google you mean business.
  
  

• Social media: All social platforms are great including Pinterest, Instagram, and LinkedIn, but Facebook is usually the best platform to drive traffic to your website. The main tip I can give you is to post weekly about your services and include a link back to your website in your posts to gain more traffic. Link users to a specific page showing more information similar to the post content to have a better level of engagement rather than sending users to the general homepage. The more clicks required to find information on your site, the more chances we have of losing a potential client.
  
  

• Blogging: Blogs don’t have to be long. Short informative posts can be great when you have helpful content for a client. When blogging frequently it is okay to have some posts that are 1-2 short paragraphs with pictures to illustrate your point and show off your products and services. Users usually don’t want to read a long blog, just as much as you don’t want to write them, and running a business leaves you with little spare time, so the text you include can just be a quick summary with your keywords worked in (1-2 times in the post) to help boost rankings. This will gain more attention because you are consistently pushing your keywords and showing that you are active and staying relevant.
  
  

• Email marketing: You have an email marketing tool in your Zibster account so you can send blast emails to your whole client list or select groups/segments. Email marketing is a great way to keep users updated, promote services and sales, and to drive more traffic to your website. It’s important to always include a button or text link in every email directing people to a specific page on your website for the client to learn more and/or book with you.

Like we've said before, there is a lot that goes into SEO, so try not to get overwhelmed. Focus on these basics and you will be able to grow your online presence. 

Need help with your SEO? We’d love to work with you one-on-one through our amazing SEO Go service. Our team will optimize your pages, provide content suggestions, and get you a personalized game plan to build up your search engine results. Call our Pro Services team at 844.353.3412 to inquire about this amazing service.