What does SEO stand for… what is SEO? How to SEO Optimize my Website and what are SEO tools?  These are questions the small business owner needs to be asking themselves.  To Search Engine Optimize is to align a website/content to match the audience’s search and to assist search engines to realize the site’s content.  This blog will not go in depth into What SEO is and how it works, but will focus more on what business can do to improve SEO.  Especially for new small businesses, being able to create awareness and drive traffic to their website is a major challenge.  Although these businesses do not have the SEO Marketing resources that larger companies may, they can still create a strong SEO plan and they can compete with the Big Dogs of “SEO Search”.

In order to compete in the Engine Optimization SEO world, a business needs to define who their target audience is.  In other words, ask who is SEO of this site for?  Additionally, the business should ask questions like the following: What do they care about?  Who do they idolize?  What online platforms are they active on?  Ideally the business wants to find an under-served niche market.  The goal is to be established as an expert for the niche market.  A crucial point to consider is how your audience searches for content: What keywords will they use in pursuit of the content?  To Search Engine Optimize SEO, the site needs to be positioned for specific keywords and SEO Titles need to be applicable for the niche market.  For example, instead of SEO Optimizing for keywords “Lacrosse gear”, the site should SEO Optimize using keywords “Lacrosse Head and shaft”.  This search certainly has less competition, but those who are searching for Lacrosse Heads and shafts will likely have a better understanding of equipment.  Additionally, by providing valuable content or reviews on Lacrosse Heads and Shafts the site could establish itself as a credible source to evaluate lacrosse gear.  If the audience finds value in the content of the site, they will more likely share it with other potential customers.  This will strengthen the Search Engine Optimization of the site.

Once the business has chosen a niche market, they can start to SEO Optimize to the target market.  Goals and tracking of goals should be established.  The following link offers examples of goals for SEO: https://moz.com/blog/the-6-goals-of-seo-choosing-the-right-ones-for-your-business.  These goals should correlate with how your audience searches and consumes content.  For example, if the audience is active on mobile devices then the site should be SEO optimized to mobile.

An important aspect of Search Engines Optimization is the amount and quality of links to the website.    (https://moz.com/beginners-guide-to-seo/growing-popularity-and-links)  In order to SEO Optimize, two kinds of links should be addressed in the SEO plan.  The first is self-created and the second is the use of Outreach links.  Self-created links are links from other sites like social media that the business makes.  Outreach links are created by other entities.  With a little research one can locate complimentary websites and reach out to the owner of the site to create related links.  A good option is to offer to create a link to their site in exchange for a link to your site.  This way both entities are benefit and each one strengthens their SEO Optimization.

The last aspect to consider in SEO Optimization is the value of quality content.  Engaging content with SEO Writing encourages the audience to return and share the content.  Search engines place a high value on this kind of activity as it will substantially boost the Search Optimization.  Search engines strive to find quality content for their users. If a site continually delivers applicable and relevant content to site users, then search engines will more likely find that site.