Many businesses are now operating remotely. And in some cases, there is much less to do. This provides businesses with the opportunity to work on their own business, in particular marketing. As some marketing budgets may be reduced the value of Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is even greater. SEO is the process of increasing your website’s ranking for the purpose of getting more traffic to your site. The volume of searches may have shifted but Google is continuing to rank websites. Why not work on your SEO while you are at home?
Why SEO
One of the advantages of SEO is that it continues to function and get results even when paid search stops. And no one’s SEO is too good. There is always room for growth. A great place to start improving your SEO is to create more good content. Search engines constantly review websites to see what is different. New blog posts, videos, updated or new web pages are all things the engines want to see. They like knowing that the website is evolving and developing.
New Content
Before writing content, research the keywords for which you want to rank. There are a number of free and paid tools that help you with that task. Think about the content that would relate to your keywords and research those topics. Incorporate your keywords into the copy naturally. Do not force or overuse them. As your keywords may pertain to different areas of your business, you can use them over the course of several content pieces. When writing, don’t be afraid to take a point of view. While not everyone will agree, thought-provoking content keeps readers coming back and attracts new ones.
Content Channels
Consider the distribution channels available for content distribution. The written word in a blog or newsletter is the most common. However, more people are turning to podcasts and video. Posting your videos to YouTube and making them available on your website is a great way to boost SEO. Google owns YouTube, so videos on a company site will help rankings. Be mindful of posting too many videos on your website, as that can slow page-load speeds, which might hurt your SEO. If you are not comfortable being in front of the camera or editing video, then podcasts are an alternative. Podcasts lend themselves well to interviews and discussions, pulling in more people/contributors and taking some of the content creation burden off of you.
Backlinks Are Key
With content in hand, get it out in public to develop backlinks. Reach out to thought-leaders in your industry and ask if they will use your content. Some will suggest topics of interest that you can cover, and they will publish. Send articles to local newspapers. Even if they only provide “No-follow” links the publicity will drive traffic to your site. If you have colleagues in your field who work in a non-competitive business exchange blog posts and backlinks. And, look to build your internal links. Link between your blogs and web pages of your site. It will make finding information on your site easier for readers and keep them on your site longer.
Lastly, do not forget the technical side of SEO. Use one of the many free tools to check your website and page load speeds. Double-check that your site is mobile-friendly. See that your site is using the secure protocol – HTTPS. Pay attention to Meta Tags, in particular the Title tags. There are plenty of online resources that can teach the basics of on-page SEO. You don’t have to be a techie to do a credible job optimizing your copy.
Stay At Home SEO
Search Engine Optimization (SEO) does not happen overnight. Time and consistency are your allies. For business people who have some extra time, this is an opportunity to work on content that will hold viewers and listeners. Utilize the break from normal day-to-day activities to develop new channels to distribute your content and create backlinks. If possible, create enough content for a quarter year. Then, when we return to our new normal you can continue to publish regularly. Stay at home SEO will be rewarded. Your efforts will be rewarded by higher page ranking and more leads from your website.
