Small Business SEO Checklist

An interactive checklist to help you improve your small business website seo.

46% of all searches on Google are seeking local information. (Source) and 88% of consumer local business searches on a mobile device either call or visit the business within 24 hours. (Source) There is so much information out there and it's confusing to determine if the information you are getting is legitimate or from a snake oil salesman.

I have put together this checklist as a guide to small business search engine optimization, check off the items on this list to see where you are at in your journey to improve SEO.

Small Business SEO Checklist

  1. Do Keyword Research
  2. Get a Website
  3. Setup & Optimize Google My Business
  4. Leverage Social Media
  5. Ask for Reviews
  6. Bake SEO into your URL's
  7. Enhance Page Titles and Descriptions for SEO
  8. Monitor and Update Backend SEO

Page Index

  1. Do Keyword Research
  2. Get a Website
  3. Setup & Optimize Google My Business
  4. Leverage Social Media
  5. Ask for Reviews
  6. Bake SEO into your URL's
  7. Optimize URL's for SEO
  8. Monitor and Update Backend SEO Backend SEO
  1. Do Keyword Research

    Keyword research is always the first step when starting SEO, find the keywords that receive traffic in your industry and build a list of keywords including short and long tail phrases.

      • Get a Website

        Your website affects your SEO. So if you don't have one already get one ASAP! Here is the list of 12 SEO ranking factors you Absolutely need to pay attention to if you want to rank on the first page of google.

        1. A Secure and Accessible Website
        2. Page Speed
        3. Mobile Friendliness
        4. Domain Age
        5. URL
        6. Domain Authority
        7. Optimized Content
        8. Technical SEO
        9. User Experience
        10. Links
        11. Social Signals
        12. Business Information

        • Setup & Optimize Google My Business

          Did you know that 88% of searches for local businesses on a mobile device either call or visit the business within 24 hours? Knowing this information we can assume having a website and being listed on local results is incredibly important.

            • Leverage Social Media

              Did you know that 88% of searches for local businesses on a mobile device either call or visit the business within 24 hours? Knowing this information we can assume having a website and being listed on local results is incredibly important.

                • Ask for Reviews

                  92% of B2B buyers are more likely to purchase after reading a trusted review. (Heinz Marketing, 2017) Reach out to your customers who have shared a good experience with your product or service and ask them to leave you a review. You can give them a link to review you on google by searching for your business on google, on the right of your business search result, click the button titled "Write review", copy the URL in the address bar at the top of the browser.

                    • Search for your business on Google
                    • On the right of your business search result, click the button titled "Write review"
                    • Copy the URL in the address bar at the top of your browser.

                  1. Bake SEO into your URL's

                    Create your URL's to include the keywords of the page title and match the content on the page. This will help search engines see your page as relevent for your keywords, helping it rank higher.

                      • Enhance Page Titles and Descriptions for SEO

                        Create your URL's to match the content on the page. Optimize your page titles to include relevent keywords and phrases. This will help search engines see your page as more relevent giving it higher rankings.

                          • Monitor and Update Backend SEO

                            Monitor your websites progress with Google Analytics and Google Search Console. Find search queries that your pages rank for and improve the SEO to increase that pages traffic. Keep up on current SEO news and Google Search Algorithm updates so your site doesn't get hit with penalties.

                              • Have Patience

                                These things take time. So give it time!

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