If you plan to run a small business online, you’ll need to know about search engine optimization (SEO). Even if you plan to hire someone to help you optimize your website for Google, Bing, and the other search engines, you’ll be better off if you at least understand a little about it so you can make sure you are getting your money’s worth from your SEO provider.
Fortunately there are several resources available to you to help you learn more about how you can make sure your business is easy for your customers to find online. Below are just a handful.
The best SEO guides for small business owners
The Beginner’s Guide to SEO
This free resource from Moz will show you how search engines operate, how you can set up your website so search engines like Google and Bing can find you, and what you can do to help your site rise to the top of the rankings.
The Advanced Guide to SEO
Once you’ve followed the advice in the Beginner’s Guide, you’ll want to review the ideas in this free guide from QuickSprout. It covers things like site speed, WordPress plugins to help with SEO, creating linkable content and other techniques for attracting links to your site. This guide promises to help you take your SEO to the next level.
The Small Business Guide to Google Analytics
Once you’ve got your site optimized for search engines, you’ll want to track the visitors to your site so you can see where they click, where they leave your site, and when they buy. Setting up analytics can be tricky, but this Guide from Simply Business will walk you through the steps and answer any questions you (or your programmer) have. Another analytics resource worth checking out is Kissmetric’s Beginner’s Guide to Google Analytics. This second guide will walk you through the basics so you understand what Google Analytics does and how it can help you. Mashable printed a similar Guide here.
Once you’ve checked out those free, online resources you may feel the need to learn more. We don’t blame you because when it comes to attracting customers to your website, knowledge is power. Here are a couple of books we’ve read and recommend:
Search Engine Optimization in an Hour a Day
When you follow the steps outlined in this book by Jennifer Grappone and Gradiva Couzin, you’ll have a simple plan to make gradual improvements to your site—without spending hours and hours pouring through HTML. The authors also provide several downloadable templates for checking your ranking and making improvements.
Search Engine Optimization Secrets
This books by Danny Dover is targeted toward SEOs (those who do search engine optimization for a living) but it’s a great resource if you want to learn more. It walks you through the basics of creating, formatting, and promoting your website online. But it covers more than the basics. You also get a template for “auditing” your website to make sure your SEO is done right. Plus you’ll learn how to see what your competitors are doing online.
Yeah, we can hear you saying, “I’m too busy with my business to spend time on SEO.” Fortunately the free SEO resources above are simple and won’t take much of your time to master. But for those small business owners who invest the time to learn more about SEO, these guides will give you the tools to grow your business in ways that your competition won’t be able to match.
