How To Get Your Small Business Found On Google

In today’s digital age, having a website for your small business is no longer optional. With more and more consumers turning to the internet to find products and services, having a website that is easily discoverable on search engines like Google can make all the difference when it comes to growing your customer base. In this article, we will discuss how small businesses in the UK can rank their website on Google using various tools and techniques.

Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

Search engine optimisation, or SEO, is the process of optimising your website to improve its visibility and ranking on search engines like Google. While SEO can be a complex process, there are a few basic steps you can take to improve your website’s ranking:

Keyword research

Identify the keywords that your target audience is searching for on Google. Use tools like Google Keyword Planner to find popular keywords in your industry. There are many other plugins available too such as Neil Patel, H-Supertools, Moz and AHREFS that can all help you to define the best and most accurate keywords and phrases to use before you begin your optimisation.

On-page optimisation

Make sure your website’s pages are optimised with the keywords you have identified. This includes optimising your page titles, meta descriptions, and content. You will also need to ensure that your content is not stuffed with keywords because that looks pretty rubbish to read and don’t want your website to look spammy and then get penalised by Google, keep your keyword density to around 5%

Content creation

Create high-quality, engaging content that is optimised with your target keywords. Regularly adding fresh, relevant content to your website can help improve your ranking. Google loves well written and easy to read content that is concise and to the point, but mainly it needs to be relevant to your service or offering.

Website structure

Make sure your website is easy to navigate and has a clear hierarchy. Use internal linking to help search engines crawl your website and understand its structure. Also, if you are creating a WordPress website, you’ll want to download a plugin like Yoast or All In One SEO and generate the sitemap link. You’ll then need to head over to Google Console, create an account, submit your website via domain or a HTML tag and then add the sitemap there so Google can index your website.

Google My Business

Google My Business is a free tool that allows small businesses to manage their online presence on Google, including their search results and Google Maps listings. Having a verified Google My Business listing can help improve your website’s visibility on Google and attract more local customers through the maps and without a Google Business account you are making life hard for yourself.

To set up a Google My Business listing, head over to Google Business and add your business information, including your address, phone number, and website. Once your listing is verified, you can update your business information, respond to customer reviews, and add photos to your listing. It’s a great tool for growing your business locally so make sure to keep it updates with recent work, offers, services and new products and keep those reviews coming in too. Once you rank high in the maps locally you’ll be getting traffic to your website too which is a real brucey bonus.

Backlinks

Backlinks are links from other websites that point to your website. Having high-quality backlinks can help improve your website’s authority and ranking on search engines like Google. Here are a few ways to build backlinks for your small business website:

Guest posting

Reach out to other websites in your industry and offer to write a guest post for their website. In exchange for your content, you can include a link back to your website. You will need to ensure that the website you are linking from is in your sector and is relevant to your industry, it’s no good writing an article about kitchens from barber website. You’ll need to ensure the content is relevant and well written as mentioned above.

Broken link building

Find broken links on other websites and offer to replace the broken link with a link to your website. Also ensure that you are link building too, getting links from local directories like Yell, Thomson Local and also local business directories and websites close to your town is a big plus.

Infographics

Create high-quality infographics related to your industry and share them on social media and other websites. Infographics are highly shareable and can attract backlinks to your website.

Social Media

Social media can be a powerful tool for improving your website’s visibility and attracting more customers. Social media is free, but it takes time but if done right you can really market yourself well on Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat and TikTok as well as Twitter.

Here are a few tips for using social media to improve your website’s ranking:

Share your content

Share your website’s content on social media to attract more visitors and improve your website’s engagement metrics. Google loves quality social signals, so ensure to add links to your website too to get those clicks coming in.

Engage with your audience

Use social media to engage with your audience and build relationships with potential customers. Respond to comments and messages in a timely manner to build trust and credibility.

Use hashtags

Use relevant hashtags on social media to help your content reach a wider audience. For example, if you are a kitchen company looking to showcase your products make sure you check out the trending hashtags for kitchens. A good tool for this is Tag Finder, simply put in your keyword and it will generate the best hashtags and most used for visibility in your country or area.

Other Tools

In addition to the tools and techniques mentioned above, there are a few other tools that can help small businesses improve their website’s ranking on Google:

1. Google Search Console: Google Search Console is a free tool that provides valuable insights into your website’s performance on Google. It can help you identify technical issues, monitor your website’s traffic, and improve your website’s ranking.
2. Google Analytics: Google Analytics is a free tool that provides detailed insights into your website’s traffic and user behaviour. It can help you understand which pages are performing well, where your traffic is coming from, and how users are interacting with your website.

3. Local business directories: Register your business on local business directories such as Yelp, Yellow Pages, and Bing Places. This can help improve your website’s visibility in local search results.
4. Online reviews: Encourage your customers to leave online reviews on Google, Yelp, and other review sites. Positive reviews can help improve your website’s reputation and ranking on search engines.
5. Mobile optimisation: With more and more people using their mobile devices to access the internet, it’s important to ensure that your website is optimized for mobile. This can help improve your website’s ranking on Google and provide a better user experience for your visitors.

Ranking your website on Google can be a daunting task, especially for small businesses with limited resources. This is why it’s good to work with a quality company that specialises in digital marketing and web design to take the headache away from you.

However, by following the tips and techniques outlined in this article, you can improve your website’s visibility and attract more customers to your business. Whether you’re focusing on SEO, Google My Business, backlinks, social media, or other tools, it’s important to take a holistic approach and consistently monitor your website’s performance. With patience and persistence, you can achieve a high ranking on Google and grow your small business.