You’ve already built a great business. It’s time to make sure people can find it.
Some “marketing agencies” charge a fortune for this. But one thing I’ve learned - you don’t need to spend a fortune to make your website rank highly on Google.
In fact, some of the best techniques don’t cost much at all.
1) Leverage Free Tools
If you’re running a marketing agency, like me, you don’t have a choice: peak performance requires a lot of (expensive) software. But for companies doing it on your own, there are great tools that can improve performance:
- Tracking Performance and Troubleshooting: Google Analytics & Search Console
- Identify and Prioritize Opportunities: Ahrefs Webmaster Tools (AWT) & Moz
- Real-time Trend Data: AnswerThePublic
2) Update, Update, Update
Google values up-to-date content. Even if you have nothing new to say, add to or change your key pages regularly. This will help convince Google that your site isn’t “old news”.
3) Focus on Long-Tail Keywords
Remember David vs. Goliath? If you’re a small brand you need to be nimble.
Don’t fight Nike and Amazon for the term “running shoes”. You’ll never win. But can you rank for “women’s running shoes for flat feet?” It’s possible with the right kind of effort.
Use Moz, AWT, and other tools to find long-tail keywords that have decent volume and relate to your business. Or book a chat with me and I’ll run a report for you.
4) Use Best Practices
There’s no way to cover everything in one article, but here are a few of the most important best practices to keep in mind:
- Laser focus on your highest-trafficked pages only
- Site needs to load quickly (look up “Core Web Vitals”)
- Google Business Profile is crucial for local search (e.g., restaurants)
- Mobile is king for SEO - that’s how Google indexes your site
Hope this helps!
P.S. Need help with your SEO strategy? It’s easier when you’ve got an expert on your side. You can book a chat with me here.