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  • SEO for a Small Business: Your Blueprint for Online Growth

    In today’s digital-first world, a strong online presence isn’t just nice to have; it’s absolutely essential for small businesses to thrive. You might have a fantastic product or service, but if potential customers can’t find you online, you’re missing out on immense opportunities. This is where SEO for a small business comes in – it’s the invisible force that connects your services with the people actively searching for them.

    Think of search engine optimization (SEO) as your digital storefront’s beacon, guiding customers directly to your doorstep, whether physical or virtual. It’s how small businesses can truly level the playing field against larger competitors, attract local customers, and build a sustainable future. Let’s dive deep into how you can harness the power of SEO to transform your small enterprise.

    1. Understanding the Power of SEO for Small Business Growth

    What is SEO and Why is it Crucial for Small Businesses?

    Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is the practice of improving your website to increase its visibility in search engine results pages (SERPs) like Google, Bing, and Yahoo. The goal is to rank higher for relevant keywords, driving more organic (unpaid) traffic to your site. Unlike paid advertising, where you pay for every click, SEO aims for natural, sustained visibility.

    How SEO differs from paid advertising:
    * Organic vs. Paid: SEO focuses on earning rankings through relevance and authority, while paid ads (PPC) involve bidding on keywords to display ads.
    * Long-term vs. Short-term: SEO builds long-term assets and authority, offering sustainable traffic. Paid ads provide immediate visibility but stop once the budget runs out.
    * Trust and Credibility: Users often perceive organic results as more credible and trustworthy than paid ads.

    Key benefits for small businesses:
    * Increased Online Visibility: SEO helps your business appear prominently when people search for products or services you offer, increasing your chances of being discovered. This is key to increase local online visibility.
    * Higher Organic Traffic: More visibility translates to more visitors to your website, who are often highly qualified leads actively searching for what you provide.
    * Improved Lead Generation and Sales: By attracting relevant traffic, SEO helps convert visitors into inquiries, customers, and ultimately, sales.
    * Building Brand Authority and Trust: Consistently ranking high for relevant searches establishes your business as an authority in your niche, fostering trust with potential customers. This
    significantly boosts your small business online presence
    optimization    .

    Common SEO Myths and Realities for Small Enterprises

    Many small business owners shy away from SEO due to misconceptions. Let’s debunk some common myths:

    • Myth: SEO is too expensive for small businesses.
    • Reality: While professional SEO services can be an investment, there are countless affordable SEO for small businesses strategies and DIY SEO for small business owners tactics that can yield significant results with time and effort. It doesn’t have to break the bank.
    • Myth: SEO is a one-time task.
    • Reality: SEO is an ongoing process. Search algorithms evolve, competitors emerge, and customer behaviors shift. Continuous optimization is vital to maintain and improve your rankings. * Reality: SEO is a long-term investment with sustainable ROI. * Unlike quick-fix marketing, SEO builds evergreen assets. The effort you put in today can continue to pay dividends for months and years to come, making the cost of SEO for small business a worthy investment. This answers the question: is SEO worth it for small businesses? Absolutely!
    • Reality: Local SEO can level the playing field against larger competitors.
    • For many small businesses, competition isn’t just national but hyper-local. Local SEO for small business focuses on attracting nearby customers, allowing small, specialized businesses to outrank national chains for location-specific searches.

    2. Essential On-Page and Technical SEO Foundations

    To begin your SEO journey, you need a solid foundation. This involves optimizing elements directly on your website and ensuring it’s technically sound for search engines.

    Keyword Research: Finding What Your Customers Search For

    Keyword research is the bedrock of any successful SEO strategy. It’s about understanding the language your potential customers use when searching for your products or services.

    • Identifying primary and secondary keywords relevant to your niche: What are the core services you offer? Brainstorm broad terms (e.g., “bakery in [city]”) and then drill down into more specific offerings (e.g., “gluten-free cupcakes [city]”).
    • Focusing on long-tail keywords for targeted traffic: These are longer, more specific phrases (e.g., “best vegan bakery near me” or “emergency plumber in downtown [city]”). They have lower search volume but often indicate higher intent, leading to better conversion rates. This is especially true for keyword research for local businesses. * Analyzing competitor keywords: See what keywords your local and industry competitors are ranking for. This can uncover new opportunities.
    • Tools for small business keyword research: Google Keyword Planner (free with a Google Ads account), SEMrush (paid, but has free trials/limited features), Ahrefs (paid), and even Google’s “People also ask” section and related searches can provide valuable insights for your small business SEO efforts.

    Optimizing Your Website’s Structure and Content

    Your website isn’t just for visitors; it also needs to be easily understood by search engine crawlers. Good on-page SEO for small business ensures this.

    • Creating a user-friendly website navigation: A clear, intuitive menu helps both users and search engines find important pages on your site. Organize your services and products logically. * Ensuring mobile-friendliness and responsive design: A significant portion of online searches, especially local ones, happen on mobile devices. Your website must look and function perfectly on all screen sizes. This is crucial for mobile optimization for local companies.
    • Basic technical SEO considerations: These elements help search engines crawl and index your site efficiently, forming the backbone of your technical SEO for local businesses.
    • Website speed optimization: Users (and Google) despise slow websites. Optimize images, leverage browser caching, and consider a fast hosting provider.
    • SSL certificate (HTTPS): An SSL certificate encrypts data between the user and your site, indicated by “HTTPS” in the URL. It’s a ranking factor and builds trust.
    • XML sitemaps and robots.txt for crawlability: An XML sitemap helps search engines discover all your important pages, while a robots.txt file tells crawlers which pages not to visit.

    Crafting Compelling Meta Titles and Descriptions

    Meta titles and descriptions are snippets of text that appear in search results. They are your first impression to potential customers.

    • Best practices for writing engaging meta titles: Keep them concise (around 50-60 characters), include your primary keyword naturally, and make them compelling. Include your brand name at the end (e.g., “[Primary Keyword] | [Your Business Name]”).
    • Optimizing meta descriptions for click-through rates (CTR): While not a direct ranking factor, a well-written meta description (around 150-160 characters) encourages users to click. Describe what users will find on the page and include a call to action if
      appropriate. Include target keywords to highlight relevance. * Including target keywords naturally in meta tags: While keyword stuffing is penalized, strategically placing your main keyword in your title and description helps search engines understand your page’s relevance.

    3. Dominating Local Search: A Small Business SEO Imperative

    For most small businesses, local customers are your bread and butter. Local SEO for small business is arguably the most impactful strategy you can implement.

    Google Business Profile: Your #1 Local SEO Tool

    Your https://example.com/seo-for-small-business“>Google Business
    Profile (GBP), formerly Google My Business, is the cornerstone of local search optimization for small business. It’s your free business listing that appears in Google Search, Google Maps, and the local pack.

    • Setting up and verifying your Google Business Profile (GBP): Claim and verify your listing immediately. This usually involves receiving a postcard with a verification code at your physical address.
    • Optimizing all sections of your GBP: Fill out every section completely and accurately.
    • Business description, services, products, photos: Use keywords naturally in your description. Upload high-quality photos of your storefront, products, services, and team.
    • Managing and responding to customer reviews: Encourage customers to leave reviews. Respond to all reviews, both positive and negative, professionally and promptly. This builds trust and shows you value customer feedback.
    • Utilizing GBP posts for updates and offers: Use the “Posts” feature to share news, promotions, events, and product updates. This keeps your profile active and engaging.
    • Keeping your information accurate and consistent across the web (NAP consistency): Ensure your Name, Address, and Phone Number (NAP) are identical on your GBP, website, and all other online directories. This consistency is a critical signal for Google My Business for local SEO and Google Maps SEO for small businesses.

    Local Citations and Directory Listings

    Local citations are mentions of your business’s NAP on other websites, even without a link back to your site. They strengthen your local presence.

    • Understanding the importance of NAP (Name, Address, Phone Number) consistency: As mentioned, consistent NAP information across the web reinforces your business’s legitimacy and location for search engines.
    • Listing your business in relevant online directories: Beyond Google, list your business on major directories like Yelp, Yellow Pages, TripAdvisor, Foursquare, and industry-specific sites. These are key for local citation building for small businesses.
    • Strategies for building local backlinks from community partners: Reach out to local chambers of commerce, community organizations, suppliers, or other non-competing local businesses for partnership opportunities that could result in a backlink to your site. This strengthens your overall domain authority.

    Geographic Keyword Targeting

    Integrating location-specific keywords is vital for attracting local customers with SEO.

    • Integrating “near me” and city-specific keywords into your content: People often search for “plumber near me” or “coffee shop [city name]”. Ensure these phrases are naturally incorporated into your website content, especially on service pages.
    • Creating location-specific landing pages for multi-location businesses: If you have multiple branches, create a dedicated, optimized page for each location, detailing its services, address, hours, and local testimonials.
    • Optimizing service pages for local search queries: Instead of just “Plumbing Services,” consider “Emergency Plumbing Services in Anytown, CA.” This direct approach helps your small business website ranking for specific local searches.

    4. Crafting Content That Attracts and Converts

    Content is the magnet that pulls visitors to your site and helps convert them into customers. It’s how SEO strategies for small companies truly shine.

    Developing a Content Strategy for Your Target Audience

    Your content needs to be valuable and relevant to your ideal customer.

    • Identifying customer pain points and questions: What problems do your customers face that your business solves? What questions do they frequently ask? Use these as content ideas.
    • Brainstorming content ideas: blog posts, FAQs, how-to guides, local news:
    • Blog posts: Share industry insights, product reviews, or local event coverage.
    • FAQs: Directly answer common customer questions, which can also help with voice search SEO for small business.
    • How-to guides: Demonstrate your expertise and help users solve problems.
    • Local news/events: Show your involvement in the community. * Planning a content calendar to maintain consistency: Regularly publishing fresh, high-quality content is a strong signal to search engines. A calendar helps you stay organized.
    • Leveraging different content formats (text, images, video): Varying your content keeps your audience engaged and caters to different preferences. This is core to content marketing for small business SEO.

    On-Page Content Optimization Best Practices

    Once you have content ideas, optimize them for both users and search engines.

    • Strategic placement of keywords throughout your content (headings, body, image alt text): Integrate your target keywords naturally. Include them in your H1 heading, a few H2/H3 subheadings, and within the body text. Don’t forget image alt text for
      accessibility and SEO. This is where semantic SEO for local businesses comes into play, ensuring your content thoroughly covers the topic.
    • Ensuring readability and user experience: Google prioritizes user experience. Your content should be easy to read and digest. * Using clear headings and subheadings (H1, H2, H3): Break up long blocks of text and improve readability.
    • Incorporating engaging visuals: Images, infographics, and videos make content more appealing.
    • Breaking up text with bullet points and short paragraphs: This makes your content scannable and less intimidating.
    • Implementing an effective internal linking strategy: Link relevant pages within your own website. This helps search engines understand your site’s structure and passes “link equity” to important pages.

    Building Authority Through High-Quality Backlinks

    Backlinks (links from other websites to yours) are like votes of confidence. The more high-quality backlinks you have, the more authoritative your site appears to search engines.

    • Understanding what makes a good backlink: Not all backlinks are equal. Focus on getting links from reputable, relevant websites with high domain authority. Quality always trumps quantity.
    • Strategies for earning backlinks: This is often the most challenging part of SEO, but crucial for link building for small business websites.
    • Creating valuable, shareable content: Content that solves problems, provides unique insights, or entertains is more likely to be shared and linked to.
    • Guest posting on industry-relevant blogs: Offer to write an article for another blog in your niche, including a link back to your site in your author bio or within the content.
    • Local outreach and partnerships: Collaborate with other local businesses, charities, or community groups. Sponsor a local event, and often you’ll get a link from their website.
    • Broken link building opportunities: Find broken links on reputable websites in your industry. Contact the webmaster, suggest your relevant content as a replacement, and you might earn a backlink.

    5. Measuring Success and Adapting Your SEO Strategy

    SEO is an ongoing process of monitoring, analyzing, and adapting. To ensure your efforts are paying off, you need to track your progress and be prepared to pivot. This is part of the best SEO practices for small businesses.

    Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) for Small Business SEO

    Knowing what to measure helps you understand the impact of your SEO work.

    • Tracking organic traffic volume and trends: Is the number of visitors coming from search engines increasing over time? This is a primary indicator of SEO success.
    • Monitoring keyword rankings for target terms: Are you moving up the search results for the keywords you’re targeting? Several tools can help track this.
    • Measuring conversion rates (website inquiries, phone calls, online sales): Ultimately, SEO should contribute to your business goals. Track how many organic visitors complete desired actions on your site.
    • Analyzing local pack rankings and Google Business Profile insights: For local businesses, tracking your position in the local pack (the map results) and reviewing GBP performance metrics (views, calls, direction requests) is critical for how to improve small business search ranking.

    Utilizing Google Analytics and Google Search Console

    These free tools from Google are indispensable for any small business SEO strategy.

    • Setting up and navigating basic reports in Google Analytics: Understand where your traffic comes from, which pages are most popular, and how users interact with your site.
    • Understanding user behavior metrics (bounce rate, time on page): A high bounce rate or short time on page might indicate issues with your content or user experience.
    • Using Google Search Console to:
    • Monitor website performance in search results: See how many impressions and clicks your site gets for different keywords. * Identify crawl errors and indexation issues: GSC alerts you to problems that might prevent Google from properly indexing your site.
    • Discover top-performing keywords and pages: See which keywords are bringing you traffic and which pages are most popular in search results, giving you insights into your website traffic for small business SEO.

    Continuous Improvement and Staying Ahead of the Curve

    SEO is not a “set it and forget it” endeavor. It requires consistent attention and adaptation.

    • Regularly auditing your website for SEO opportunities: Periodically review your site for technical issues, content gaps, or new keyword opportunities. A small business SEO checklist can be very helpful here.
    • Staying informed about algorithm updates and industry changes: Google frequently updates its algorithms. Keep an eye on reputable SEO news sources to understand potential impacts on your rankings. * Analyzing competitor SEO strategies and adapting your
      approach:       What are your local competitors doing well? What are their weaknesses? Learn from them and adjust your own small business digital marketing SEO efforts.
    • The importance of ongoing content creation and optimization: Keep producing valuable content and continually update existing pages to ensure they remain relevant and optimized. This continuous effort is what differentiates successful small business SEO from stagnant efforts.

    Conclusion

    SEO for a small business is a powerful, cost-effective way to build your brand, attract more customers, and drive sustainable growth. It’s not a secret formula, but rather a methodical application of best practices, consistent effort, and a keen understanding of your audience. By focusing on strong foundations, dominating local search, creating compelling content, and diligently measuring your results, you’ll be well on your way to a thriving online presence and a prosperous future for your small enterprise. Start today, and watch your business climb the search rankings and attract the local customers you deserve!

  • SEO for Small Businesses: Dominate Local Search & Unlock Growth

    SEO for Small Businesses: Dominate Local Search & Unlock Growth

    In today’s digital-first world, your small business needs more than just a storefront and a friendly smile to attract customers. It needs a powerful online presence, and that’s where Search Engine Optimization (SEO) comes into play.

    For local businesses, mastering SEO isn’t just an option; it’s a strategic imperative for survival and growth against larger competitors.

    seo for small businesses

    Why SEO Matters for Small Businesses

    Imagine a world where your ideal customers are actively searching for the products or services you offer, and your business consistently appears at the top of their search results. That’s the power of effective SEO, and it’s transformative for small enterprises.

    1.1. What is SEO and Why is it Crucial for Small Businesses?

    Understanding Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

    SEO is the practice of increasing the quantity and quality of traffic to your website through organic search engine results. It’s about making your website more visible to people who are looking for solutions that you provide, without paying for ad space.

    Think of it as enhancing your shop window so that it catches the eye of passersby, but in the vast digital marketplace.

    The Power of Organic Traffic for Customer Acquisition

    Organic traffic, meaning visitors who find your site through unpaid search results, is often considered the most valuable. These users are typically actively seeking information or products, making them highly qualified leads.

    For small businesses, this translates into a sustainable stream of potential customers who are already interested in what you have to offer, reducing reliance on expensive advertising.

    Why Small Businesses Can’t Afford to Ignore SEO

    In a world where 97% of consumers use the internet to find local businesses, neglecting SEO means leaving money on the table. The importance of SEO for small businesses cannot be overstated. It’s the engine that drives organic traffic small business growth and helps you build a strong online presence for local businesses without breaking the bank.

    Why Small Businesses Cant Afford to Ignore SEO visual selection

    Bridging the Gap with Larger Competitors in Local Markets

    While national chains have massive marketing budgets, small businesses have a unique advantage: locality. A targeted local SEO strategy allows you to compete fiercely in your specific geographic area, often outranking larger businesses that don’t optimize for local search.

    This is a critical aspect of digital marketing for small businesses that truly levels the playing field.

    1.2. Common SEO Myths and Realities for Local Companies

    Let’s debunk some common misconceptions that often deter small business owners from embracing SEO.

    • Myth: SEO is too expensive or complex for small budgets. * Reality: While professional SEO services can be an investment, there are countless affordable SEO for small
      businesses       strategies and free tools available.

      Many foundational tasks can be tackled in-house, making DIY SEO small business guide resources invaluable. You’d be surprised at how much you can achieve without a massive budget.
    • Myth: Only large, national companies benefit from SEO. Reality: This couldn’t be further from the truth. Local SEO provides a significant competitive edge specifically for small businesses. When someone searches for “plumber near me,” Google prioritizes local businesses, giving you a golden opportunity to shine right in your community.

      What is local SEO for small businesses? It’s your ticket to being found by customers right outside your door!
    • Myth: SEO is a one-time setup and you’re done.
      Reality: SEO is an ongoing process. Search engine algorithms constantly evolve, competitors emerge, and user behavior shifts. Ongoing maintenance, adaptation, and consistent content creation are key to sustained visibility.

      If you’re wondering how long until SEO works for small business? It’s not an overnight fix; expect to see significant results typically within 3-6 months, with continuous improvement thereafter.

    Foundational SEO Strategies for Small Businesses

    Before you can dominate your local market, you need a solid
    foundation. These are the core elements every small business website needs to be search-engine friendly.

    Why Small Businesses Cant Afford to Ignore SEO visual selection 1

    2.1. Keyword Research: Finding What Your Customers Search For

    Understanding what your potential customers type into search engines is the bedrock of any successful SEO campaign. This is where your keyword research for local businesses truly begins.

    • Understanding User Intent (Navigational, Informational, Transactional): Is a user trying to find a specific website (navigational), learn something (informational), or buy something (transactional)? Tailoring your content to match this intent is crucial.
    • Focusing on Long-Tail Keywords relevant to your niche: Instead of just “bakery,” think “best gluten-free bakery in [city name].” These longer, more specific phrases have less competition and often indicate higher purchase intent.
    • Identifying Local Keywords (e.g., “plumber near me,” “bakery in [city]”): These are critical for attracting local customers. Always include your service area in your keyword strategy.
    • Tools for Keyword Research (Google Keyword Planner, SEMrush, Ahrefs, Ubersuggest): Even on a budget, tools like Google Keyword Planner are free and invaluable. For more robust analysis, consider trial versions of SEMrush or Ubersuggest. These are some of the best free SEO tools for small businesses to get started.
    • Mapping Keywords to Your Website’s Services and Products: Ensure each service or product page on your site targets specific keywords, signaling relevance to search engines. This is a key business SEO tips to make sure your content is focused.

    2.2. On-Page Optimization: Making Your Website Search-Engine Friendly

    Once you know your keywords, it’s time to implement them on your website. This is on-page SEO for small business websites at its finest.

    • Optimizing Title Tags and Meta Descriptions for click-through rates: These are the headlines and descriptions users see in search results. Make them compelling, include your primary keyword, and clearly communicate what the page is about.
    • Crafting Engaging, High-Quality, and Keyword-Rich Content: Your content should be helpful, informative, and naturally incorporate your target keywords. Quality always trumps quantity.
    • Effective Use of Header Tags (H1, H2, H3) for structure and readability: Use H1 for your main title (one per page), and H2, H3 for subheadings to break up content and highlight important topics for both users and search engines.
    • Image Optimization (Alt Text, Descriptive File Names,
      Compression):       Describe your images using relevant keywords in their alt text and file names. Compress images to ensure fast loading times – crucial for user experience and SEO.
    • Internal Linking Best Practices to distribute link equity: Link relevant pages within your own website using descriptive anchor text. This helps search engines understand your site’s structure and passes authority between pages. All these elements contribute to robust website optimization small business efforts.

    2.3. Technical SEO Basics for Small Business Websites

    Technical SEO focuses on the backend of your website to help search engines crawl and index it more effectively. Don’t let the word “technical” intimidate you; these are foundational for any small business SEO strategy.

    • Website Speed and Mobile-Friendliness (Core Web Vitals): Google prioritizes fast-loading, mobile-responsive websites. Use Google’s PageSpeed Insights to check your site’s performance. Optimizing for mobile SEO for local businesses is non-negotiable, as most local searches happen on smartphones.
    • Ensuring an SSL Certificate (HTTPS) for security and ranking: An SSL certificate encrypts data, securing your website. Google favors secure sites, so ensure your URL starts with `https://`.
    • Setting Up and Submitting XML Sitemaps: An XML sitemap is a list of all the important pages on your website, guiding search engine bots through your site. Submit it via Google Search Console. * Utilizing Robots.txt for crawl control: This file tells search engine crawlers which pages or files they can or cannot request from your site. Use it wisely to prevent unimportant pages from being indexed.
    • Implementing Structured Data Markup (Schema) for local businesses: Schema markup provides search engines with specific information about your business (e.g., address, phone number, ratings, services). This can lead to rich snippets in search results, improving visibility and helping to improve small business search ranking.

    Local SEO: Dominating Your Geographic Market

    This is where small businesses truly shine. Local SEO is all about being found by customers in your immediate vicinity, turning online searches into real-world visits. It’s an essential part of any successful local search engine optimization for businesses campaign.

    3.1. Google Business Profile (GBP) Optimization

    Your Google Business Profile (formerly Google My Business) is arguably the most important local SEO tool. It’s how you appear in Google Maps and the local “3-pack” of search results.

    • Claiming, Verifying, and Completely Filling Out Your GBP Listing: This is step one. Provide accurate, up-to-date information for every field. This is your comprehensive Google My Business optimization guide.
    • Adding Accurate Business Information (Hours, Services, Photos, Description): Ensure NAP (Name, Address, Phone) consistency. Upload high-quality photos of your business, products, and team. A compelling business description can also set you apart.
    • Utilizing GBP Posts for Updates, Offers, and Events: Use this feature to announce sales, new products, or events. These posts appear on your profile and can drive engagement.
    • Actively Responding to Customer Questions and Reviews: Show potential customers you’re engaged and care about their feedback. Prompt and professional responses build trust and improve your ranking. This is a crucial element of your local SEO checklist for small business.

    3.2. Local Citations and Directory Listings

    Citations are online mentions of your business’s NAP information. Consistency is king here for strong local SEO ranking factors.

    • Understanding NAP (Name, Address, Phone Number) Consistency Across All Listings: Inconsistent NAP data confuses search engines and erodes trust. Ensure your business name, address, and phone number are identical across every online listing.
    • Submitting to Key Local Directories (Yelp, Yellow Pages, Industry-Specific Sites): Manually submit your business information to popular directories. Don’t forget industry-specific ones (e.g., Angi for home services).
    • Managing Data Aggregators (e.g., Factual, Infogroup): These companies feed business data to hundreds of smaller directories. Ensuring your information is correct with them can automate broad consistency.
    • Cleaning Up Inconsistent or Duplicate Listings: Periodically audit your citations. Identify and correct any discrepancies or merge duplicate listings to strengthen your local SEO.

    3.3. Generating Local Reviews and Testimonials

    Reviews are social proof that builds trust and boosts your local search rankings. This is part of your online review management small business strategy.

    • Strategies for Encouraging Customers to Leave Reviews (e.g., follow-up emails, in-store signage): Make it easy for customers. A polite request at the point of sale, a link in a follow-up email, or a QR code on your business card can work wonders.
    • Responding Professionally to All Reviews (Positive and Negative): Always thank customers for positive reviews. For negative ones, respond courteously, offer to resolve the issue offline, and show that you value feedback. Your handling of negative reviews can often be more impactful than the positive ones.
    • Showcasing Positive Testimonials prominently on your website and marketing materials: Don’t let great reviews just sit on Google. Feature them on your website, social media, and in your marketing collateral to amplify their impact.

    Content and Link Building for Small Business SEO Growth

    Beyond technical SEO fixes, quality content and strong backlinks are vital for increasing your domain authority and attracting a wider audience.

    4.1. Content Marketing That Attracts Local Customers

    Content isn’t just for big brands. For small business SEO, localized content can be incredibly powerful.

    • Blogging for Local SEO (Local Guides, Event Recaps, FAQs specific to your area): Create blog posts about local events, “best things to do in [your city],” or address common questions from local customers. This builds your reputation as a community expert. This helps shape your content strategy for small businesses.
    • Creating Service/Product Pages Optimized for Local Search Intent: Each service or product you offer should have its own dedicated page, optimized with local keywords and detailed
      descriptions.
    • Developing Engaging Multimedia Content (Video, Infographics related to local topics): Videos showcasing your business, local neighborhood, or client testimonials can be highly engaging. Infographics about local market trends can also attract attention. * Guest Blogging on Complementary Local Business Websites or Publications: Write articles for non-competing local businesses (e.g., a bakery writing for a local coffee shop’s blog). This exposes your brand to new local audiences and generates valuable backlinks.

    4.2. Building Quality Backlinks for Authority

    Backlinks (links from other websites to yours) are like votes of confidence. The more high-quality, relevant backlinks you have, the more authority Google perceives your site to have. This is the essence of off-page SEO for small businesses.

    • Understanding the Importance of Backlinks for Domain
      Authority:       Backlinks signal to search engines that your site is a credible and authoritative source of information. This significantly impacts your ranking potential.
    • Local Outreach Strategies (Partnerships, Sponsorships, Local Event Participation): Sponsor a local sports team, partner with a charity, or participate in community events. These activities can earn you natural mentions and links from local news sites or organization pages. This is smart backlink building for small business. * Broken Link Building Opportunities within your niche: Find broken links on reputable websites in your industry. Reach out to the webmaster, suggest your relevant content as a replacement, and potentially earn a backlink.
    • Competitor Backlink Analysis to find new link prospects: Tools like Ahrefs or SEMrush allow you to see where your competitors are getting their backlinks. This can reveal valuable opportunities for your own outreach efforts.

    Measuring Success and Continuous Improvement

    SEO isn’t a “set it and forget it” task. To ensure your efforts are paying off and to stay ahead, you need to constantly monitor, analyze, and adapt.

    5.1. Essential SEO Tools for Small Businesses

    These tools are your eyes and ears in the digital landscape, offering insights into your performance and areas for improvement. Embracing them is one of the best SEO practices for local businesses.

    • Google Analytics for website traffic and user behavior insights: Track visitors, bounce rates, time on site, conversion rates, and more. Understand how users interact with your website. * Google Search Console for technical SEO, keyword performance, and errors: This free tool tells you how Google sees your site, identifying indexing issues, top-performing keywords, and crawl errors.
    • Google Business Profile Insights for local visibility metrics: See how many people viewed your profile, requested directions, or called your business directly from GBP.
    • Local SEO Ranking Trackers (e.g., BrightLocal, Moz Local): These specialized tools help you monitor your local rankings for specific keywords and track your performance in the local pack.

    5.2. Tracking Your SEO Performance and Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)

    Knowing what to measure is crucial to understanding the impact of your SEO efforts. This helps you understand the true SEO benefits for small businesses.

    • Monitoring Organic Traffic and Conversion Rates: Are more people finding you through search? Are they then taking desired actions (e.g., making a purchase, filling out a form, calling)? This answers the question, is SEO effective for small businesses? * Tracking Keyword Rankings (Local and General): Are your target keywords moving up in the search results? Are you appearing in the local 3-pack?
    • Analyzing User Engagement Metrics (Bounce Rate, Time on Site): High bounce rates or low time on site can indicate content or user experience issues that need addressing.
    • Measuring Local Visibility and Map Pack Rankings: How often do you appear in Google Maps and the local search results for relevant queries? This is a strong indicator of local success.

    5.3. Adapting to Algorithm Changes and Future-Proofing Your Strategy

    The SEO landscape is dynamic. What works today might not work tomorrow, making continuous learning vital.

    • Staying Updated with SEO News, Trends, and Google Algorithm Updates: Follow reputable SEO blogs and news sources to stay informed about changes that could impact your rankings.
    • The Importance of User Experience (UX) and E-E-A-T (Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, Trustworthiness): Google increasingly prioritizes websites that offer an excellent user experience and demonstrate E-E-A-T. Focus on providing real value and establishing your authority.
    • Embracing Voice Search Optimization for local queries: With the rise of smart speakers and mobile assistants, optimizing for natural language, conversational queries (e.g., “Where’s the best pizza near me?”) is becoming increasingly important.
    • Considering AI’s Impact on Search and Content Creation: AI is already influencing search results and content generation.
      Understanding how to leverage AI tools responsibly while maintaining high-quality, human-centric content will be key to future-proofing your strategy. As for how much does SEO cost for a small business? It’s not just a one-time fee; it’s an ongoing investment in expertise, tools, and content that adapts to this ever-changing digital environment.

    By following this comprehensive guide, small businesses can build a robust online presence, attract more local customers, and truly dominate their geographic market. SEO is an ongoing journey, but one that promises significant returns for those who commit to it.

  • Actionable Guide to On-Page SEO: Enhancing User Experience and Search Engine Rankings

    Actionable Guide to On-Page SEO: Enhancing User Experience and Search Engine Rankings

    Let’s face it: creating a website is only half the battle. The real challenge is getting people to actually visit it. If you’ve ever wondered why your website isn’t showing up in search results or why your traffic numbers are stuck in the single digits, the answer might lie in on-page SEO.

    Related Reads:

    How to do On Page SEO | Template and Checklist (PDF)

    SEO Internal Linking Best Practices for Beginners

    On-Page SEO Examples of Implementation: Beginner’s Guide to On-Page SEO

    Don’t worry—this isn’t as intimidating as it sounds. In fact, on-page SEO is all about making your website better for both users and search engines. And the best part? You don’t need to be a tech wizard to get started.

    In this guide, we’ll break down everything you need to know about on-page SEO in a friendly, easy-to-understand way. By the end, you’ll have a clear roadmap to optimize your website, improve your rankings, and attract more visitors. Let’s dive in!

    What is On-Page SEO?

    On-page SEO, also known as on-site SEO, is the process of optimizing individual web pages to rank higher in search engine results pages (SERPs) and attract more relevant organic traffic. Unlike off-page SEO, which focuses on external factors like backlinks, on-page SEO deals with the elements directly on your website. These include your content, HTML source code, images, user experience (UX), and site structure.

    Think of on-page SEO as tidying up your house before guests arrive. You want everything to look clean, organized, and inviting so that your visitors (and search engines) have a great experience.

    Why On-Page SEO is Crucial for Website Success

    You might be wondering, “Why should I care about on-page SEO?” Here’s the deal: search engines like Google want to provide the best possible results for their users. If your website is well-optimized, it sends a clear signal to Google that your content is valuable, relevant, and trustworthy. This can lead to higher rankings, more traffic, and ultimately, more conversions.

    But it’s not just about pleasing search engines. On-page SEO also improves the user experience. Pages that load quickly, are easy to navigate, and provide useful information are more likely to keep visitors engaged. This means lower bounce rates, longer time on site, and a higher chance of turning visitors into customers.

    Key Components of On-Page SEO

    Now that we’ve covered the basics, let’s get into the nitty-gritty of on-page SEO. Here are the key elements you need to focus on:

    1. Title Tags: The Foundation of On-Page SEO

    The title tag is one of the most important on-page SEO factors. It’s the clickable headline you see in search engine results, and it tells both users and search engines what your page is about.

    Best Practices for Title Tags:

    • Keep it under 60 characters to ensure it displays fully in search results.
    • Include your primary keyword near the beginning.
    • Make it compelling and descriptive to encourage clicks.
    • Ensure each page has a unique title to avoid confusion.

    Example: If you’re writing a blog post about coffee brewing methods, your title tag might look like this:
    “Top 10 Best Coffee Brewing Methods for 2025 | Ultimate Guide”

    This title is clear, includes the target keyword, and entices users to click.

    2. Meta Descriptions: Crafting Engaging Summaries

    While meta descriptions don’t directly impact rankings, they play a big role in getting users to click on your page. A meta description is a short summary of your page’s content that appears below the title in search results.

    Best Practices for Meta Descriptions:

    • Keep it under 160 characters.
    • Include relevant keywords naturally.
    • Write persuasive copy that explains the page’s value.
    • Make it relevant to the specific content of the page.

    Example: For the coffee brewing guide, a meta description might be:
    “Discover the best coffee brewing methods of 2025. Learn how to brew your perfect cup with step-by-step guides and expert tips. Start brewing today!”

    3. Headings (H1, H2, H3, etc.): Structuring Content for Readability

    Headings are like signposts for your content. They break up text, making it easier for readers to scan and find what they’re looking for. From an SEO perspective, headings help search engines understand the structure and importance of your content.

    Best Practices for Headings:

    • Use a clear hierarchy (H1 for the main title, H2 for subheadings, H3 for subsections, etc.).
    • Include relevant keywords in your headings.
    • Make headings descriptive and directly related to the content.

    Example: For the coffee brewing guide, your headings might look like this:

    • H1: “Best Coffee Brewing Methods for 2025”
    • H2: “1. French Press”
    • H2: “2. Espresso Machine”
    • H3: “Why Espresso Machines Are Ideal for Busy Mornings”

    4. Content Quality: The Heart of On-Page SEO

    High-quality content is the backbone of any successful website. Google prioritizes pages that provide value to users, so your content should be informative, engaging, and original.

    Best Practices for Content:

    • Conduct keyword research to understand what your audience is searching for.
    • Write in a clear, conversational tone.
    • Regularly update your content to keep it fresh and relevant.
    • Use multimedia (images, videos, infographics) to enhance engagement.

    Example: An article on coffee brewing methods should cover various techniques in detail, provide practical tips, and include visuals like photos or videos to make it more engaging.

    5. URL Structure: Keep It Simple and Descriptive

    A clean, descriptive URL structure helps both users and search engines understand what your page is about. It also makes your site easier to navigate.

    Best Practices for URL Structure:

    • Use hyphens to separate words (e.g., /best-coffee-brewing-methods).
    • Keep URLs short and to the point.
    • Include relevant keywords where possible.

    Example: A good URL for a coffee brewing page might be:
    www.example.com/best-coffee-brewing-methods-2025

    6. Internal Linking: Boosting SEO and Enhancing Navigation

    Internal linking refers to linking to other pages within your website. This helps search engines understand your site’s structure and keeps users engaged by guiding them to related content.

    Best Practices for Internal Linking:

    • Use descriptive anchor text for your links.
    • Link to relevant pages that provide additional value.
    • Don’t overdo it—only link where it makes sense.

    Example: On a page about coffee brewing methods, you could link to related pages like:
    “How to Choose the Best Coffee Beans”
    “The Ultimate Guide to Coffee Grinders”

    7. Image Optimization: Improving Load Time and Accessibility

    Images make your content more engaging, but they can slow down your site if not optimized properly. Optimizing images improves page load speed and makes your site more accessible.

    Best Practices for Image Optimization:

    • Compress images to reduce file size.
    • Use descriptive file names and alt text.
    • Implement responsive images that adjust to different screen sizes.

    Example: An image of a French Press might have an alt text like:
    “French Press coffee brewing method with freshly ground beans.”

    8. Mobile Friendliness: Optimizing for Mobile Users

    With more people browsing on mobile devices than ever before, having a mobile-friendly website is crucial. Google uses mobile-first indexing, meaning it prioritizes the mobile version of your site for ranking.

    Best Practices for Mobile Optimization:

    • Use responsive design to ensure your site adapts to any screen size.
    • Keep navigation simple and easy to use on mobile.
    • Avoid pop-ups that disrupt the mobile browsing experience.

    9. Page Load Speed: A Critical Ranking Factor

    Slow-loading pages frustrate users and hurt your rankings. Google considers page speed a direct ranking factor, so it’s essential to optimize your site’s performance.

    Best Practices for Page Load Speed:

    • Compress images and files.
    • Use a Content Delivery Network (CDN) to serve content faster.
    • Minimize JavaScript and CSS files.

    10. Keyword Usage: The Importance of Strategic Placement

    Keywords are still a vital part of on-page SEO, but it’s important to use them naturally. Overusing keywords (a practice known as keyword stuffing) can lead to penalties.

    Best Practices for Keyword Usage:

    • Use primary and related keywords naturally in your content.
    • Place keywords in titles, headings, meta descriptions, and body content.
    • Focus on readability and user experience—don’t force keywords where they don’t belong.

    Advanced On-Page SEO Strategies

    Once you’ve mastered the basics, you can explore more advanced strategies to take your SEO to the next level:

    • Semantic Search Optimization: Use related terms and synonyms to help search engines understand the context of your content.
    • Content Clusters: Organize your content around pillar pages and topic clusters to improve SEO and user navigation.
    • Schema Markup: Implement structured data to help search engines better understand your content and display rich snippets in search results.

    Common On-Page SEO Mistakes to Avoid

    Even with the best intentions, it’s easy to make mistakes. Here are some common pitfalls to watch out for:

    • Ignoring Mobile Optimization: A mobile-unfriendly site will hurt your rankings.
    • Duplicate Content: Avoid using the same content across multiple pages.
    • Overusing Keywords: Keyword stuffing can harm your rankings.
    • Neglecting User Experience: A poorly designed site will drive users away.
    • Slow Page Speed: Slow-loading pages lead to higher bounce rates.

    Why Not Start Optimizing Today?

    On-page SEO might seem overwhelming at first, but it’s really about making your website the best it can be—for both users and search engines. By focusing on the elements we’ve covered, you can improve your rankings, attract more visitors, and achieve your business goals.

    Remember, SEO is an ongoing process. Keep learning, stay updated with industry trends, and don’t be afraid to experiment. With time and effort, you’ll see your website climb the search engine rankings and attract the traffic it deserves.

    So, what are you waiting for? Start optimizing your website today, and watch your online presence grow! If you have any questions or need help along the way, feel free to reach out. Happy optimizing!

    Frequently Asked Questions

  • How to do On Page SEO | Template and Checklist (PDF)

    How to do On Page SEO | Template and Checklist (PDF)

    One of the most important things that you need to learn first about content writing is how to do on page SEO for your articles. In order to keep your website in the best shape and make your pages and content relevant for both users and search engine crawlers, you need to perform a number of optimizations.

    At the end of the article, we have compiled an on-page SEO checklist that can guide you through this process and a PDF template that you can download as a sample.

    >> Jump to Checklist and On-Page SEO Template


    For good measure it’s always best to adhere to the Google Guidelines for SEO, but as it may sound super technical at first, here’s a breakdown of what Google wants from your website and content.

    Related Reads:

    Actionable Guide to On-Page SEO: Enhancing User Experience and Search Engine Rankings

    SEO Internal Linking Best Practices for Beginners

    On-Page SEO Examples of Implementation: Beginner’s Guide to On-Page SEO

    Let us first talk about writing content.

    Writing Content

    Alright, so you have done your keyword research and picked the appropriate terms and strategy to get a good traffic volume and reflect your business and now you need to create content around them. That’s the easy part, and what’s the hard part?

    Ranking on the first page. 

    In fact, studies show that most people don’t go beyond exploring the first 3 websites that pop up for any given search query. Think of yourself as the one putting in that query, would you open the 5th or 6th or the 8th link on a search page? Most likely not.

    This is why it is crucial to be at the top.

    In order to rank high, the first thing you need to do is analyse your competitors. Check your competition that is ranking for the keyword you are targeting. Read the content and find out where it is lacking.

    Do you think that a certain thing should have been included in the content? Great! Put it in your content.

    Answer questions that you feel are not being answered in your competitor’s post and make better content yourself. Make the content as engaging as possible. Use powerful sub-headings that answer queries answers.

    This can also put you in one of the featured snippets on the first page, even if you are not in the first position for the desired query. More about this later on in the post.

    Make Lengthy Content

    You wish to write something about something? Make it informative and long!

    Make the content as informative as possible. If you open most of the top results in a search engine, you will find out that most pages are well-written and well beyond the 1500 words mark, with some of the content being as long as 4000 words.

    This goes on to show how much Google values lengthy content that can explain its topic in detail. Give as much detailed information as you can. People stay on your website for reading content that is truly valuable and unique. I

    If you already know what your competitor’s content lacks in, you can easily fill in the gaps and make content that is better than your competitors.

    Writing lengthy content also allows you to cover a lot of different topics on the same page. Google would rather want you to pack related topics into one page than make a different page for each.

    Due to this, always avoid writing thin content that is not informative enough.

    Google would prefer you to make one strong content rather than making multiple thin variations of the same topic divided into several pages.

    Avoid Duplicate & Scraped Content

    Duplicate content, as the name suggests, refers to content that is copied from another domain, or from another page within a single domain. Taking it a step further, ‘scraped’ content is content that is used by a person, without the permission or authorization of the owner/author, and publishing it under their own name.

    While duplicating or copying content from elsewhere might not directly impose a penalty on you, it is highly discouraged. It takes out the credibility out of your website and in most cases, Google only shows one single result of the duplicated contents.

    This is to avoid people navigating to the same content over and over again, without gaining any new information.

    If you have multiple pages with the same content, use the rel=canonical tag to point the crawler to the original source of the content. This way it will know that it contains duplicated content from another page.

    Cloaking

    Cloaking is a practice of hiding content under the HTML part of your website, which is not visible to the human visitor but can be detected by a search engine.

    This practice is often used by users to try to mislead the crawlers into detecting lengthier content.

    The practice can be both good or bad, and Google ‘might’ rank you for it, if it enhances the user experience.

    Keyword Stuffing

    Keyword stuffing has been a consistent part of on-page SEO and is considered one of the best SEO practices. However, in today’s times, keyword stuffing is nothing but one part of your strategy. You might have heard several people saying that you need to mention your keyword at least X times in your content.

    True, mentioning your keyword in your content is important and it makes your content appear relevant to that keyword. Though, Google not only checks the density of the keyword that has appeared in your content, but also other key terms that are relatable to the keyword.

    If these terms, known as LSI keywords, are present in your content and can be seen used in support of your original keyword, Google deems your content to be relevant and well-written.

    There are no ‘X times’ you need to insert your keyword into your content. You may keep it to a good 2-3% of your content length as long as you are writing informative content. While writing, the use of LSI keywords can be a good indicator for crawlers that your topic is covering different aspects of the topic and is using relatable terms.

    Auto-Generated Content

    Let me just say that I’m not against those using AI writers. I’m just not advocating the use of an AI writer alone and not editing or fact-checking a piece before publishing.

    The practice of auto-generating content through a program is often the lowest quality SEO practice one can perform. Auto-generated content is used for manipulating search engines and makes little sense to the readers. It is often robotic and is created by spinning and changing existing content by modifying synonyms.

    This content can neither be quality-based nor reliable. It provides no value to the user as its unreadable in most cases. With machine learning growing, auto-generated content has been getting better and hard to detect but it’s still a practice that should not be too relied on.

    But you know what, I also believe that auto-generated content can be useful as a guide if you have no idea how to start your article. The best way to use autogenerated content is just to use it as a jumpstart and insert a human touch into your pieces than just letting the AI write for you.

    Create Specialized Content Based On Locations

    So you are in a business that spans several locations or cities. When creating your website, it is important that you mention all your primary contact details on the right pages. Mostly, this information can be found in the header or footer section of your pages, especially on the “Contact Us” page.

    The information must be displayed prominently and accurately to the user.

    For offices at more than one location, you can create separate pages, uniquely describing the services at each different location. For example, for City Abc and City xyz, you can create separate pages, like domain.com/abc and domain.com/xyz.

    Besides optimizing your content, there are several best SEO practices that you can perform to upscale your on-page SEO. These most typically deal with HTML tags that are responsible for showing your page data to the crawlers and the search engines.

    Header Tag

    Header tags are HTML tags that are used to define the headings on your page. These go from <h1> to <h6> in decreasing order of importance. The H1 tag is the main tag, which is used to describe the main heading of your page.

    The H1 tag is usually derived from the title of the page. From H2 to H6, all are used to describe sub-headings on a page.

    <h1> The Main Heading </h1>

    <h2> Level 1 Sub-Heading </h2>

    <h3> Level 2 Sub-Heading</h3>

    <h3> Level 2 Sub-Heading </h3>

    The header tags can be used to differentiate sub-sections of your page and are a great indicator for crawlers. These can divide your pages according to the importance and sub-headings of your topic.

    The primary use of the header tag should be limited to discussing what the upcoming paragraph or media will be about. Other than this, it should not be used for buttons or phone numbers, or any such element.

    While the main heading enclosed in H1 provides the topic of the page, the H2 sub-heading is more specific in what is going to be discussed, and with H3, we move into even more specific topics.

    Title Tag

    The Title tag is an HTML element that describes the title of your page. It is enclosed within the head tag and what you write in it appears as the title for your page in the browser as well as search engines.

    <head>

       <title>Your Page Heading</title>

    </head>

    Your title must be descriptive of the page content. The same titles for two pages from a single domain may arise confusion, which is why it is important to create a unique title. The title tag is what will show for your page in search results

    This article for example, “How to do On-Page SEO | Template and Checklist” is the title of the page.

    Similarly, the Title tag will appear when you share your link elsewhere, this goes the same if you’re sharing a blog post on another platform like this:

    Title Tag Optimizations

    • Significance: Your title is reflective of your page’s content and will be the first thing users read in SERPs. A good title can drive users to your website and make them read your content. Make your title informative and use modifiers as well as adjectives, such as “top”, and “best” to make your title look ‘powerful’.
    • Keyword in Title: Also, make sure that your main keyword is included in the title. This can help both the search engines and users better understand the intent of your page. The closer your keyword is to the front, the more your chances are of getting a higher position and getting higher click rates.

    Quick Tip: Try starting your title from your main keyword, as long as it does not look unnatural.

    • Length Optimization: The length of your title should fall in the range of 50-60 characters, as most search engines only allow up to the first 60 characters to be displayed on the SERPs. Beyond that, your title will be cut off with an ellipsis “…”. However, it is not a concrete practice that you must always perform if your title provides valuable information.
    • Branding: Everyone loves branding, and why not? Most people mention their own brand name at the beginning or at the end of the title. It creates awareness of the brand publishing the content and trustworthiness for recurring readers.

    Meta Description

    Similar to the Title tag, Meta description tag are HTML elements that describe the page content to the search engine and is shown in SERPs for the user. The meta description provides a short summary of your page and is mentioned below the title tag in a search result.

    These are also enclosed within the head tag of your HTML document.

    <head>

       <meta name=”description” content=”summary of your page”/>

    </head>

    This meta description looks like this on the search page:

    In the above image, Google automatically fetched a “description” of the content. This feature was rolled out last 2020, but as a good practice, you can set your own meta description just in case Google decides to use it, right?

    In most cases, Google may put a more relevant description than the one already mentioned by you, from your page’s content. Nonetheless, you should still always provide a default meta description for each page.

    • Optimize Description: The meta description should provide a quick summary of your key concept in it. Try to write something that engages the user and makes him think that you have the right solution for his/her search query.

      You can also use your main keyword in the description for boosted results.
    • Description Length: Your meta descriptions should be around 150-200 characters long for them to display on the SERP appropriately. Any more than that and it will be cut off.

    URL Structure

    URL is the short form for Uniform Resource Locator. URLs are addresses for HTML pages on the web. Just like title tags and meta descriptions, these URLs are shown in the browser and the search engine results pages.

    The naming and formatting of this can highly affect your click rates. A well-formatted URL is easy to identify for users and also crucial for search engines in evaluating your pages.

    Organizing Page Names

    Search engines promote the use of unique URLs for each page of the website so that they can be displayed in the search results properly. However, it is also important to use clean URLs that can convey the topic to the reader, without visiting the URL. For example,

    domain.com/clothing/mens-clothing

    domain.com/pid?=7864

    The first URL conveys not only more information to the user, but it is also easy to remember for most. It clarifies the information that is contained on the page and does not confuse the user. Keep in mind that user interaction is your primary motive.

    Make it convenient for people to look up and search your URLs.

    Avoid Nesting Under Wrong Folders

    Another thing to make sure of is your pages are not nested under the wrong or irrelevant folders. The folder’s name is reflective of the type of pages under it. This also provides an indication to the search engine. Similarly, a news-based website may put its content in time-indicative folders, but it might not be appropriate for a blog to do so.

    All in all, short URLs are preferred by both search engines and witness a better click rate from the users. This gets us to our next topic, URL length.

    URL Length

    Studies show that shorter URLs have better click-through rates than their longer counterparts. People seem to prefer URLs that are shorter and descriptive rather than the ones which are heavily nested. For example,

    domain.com/food-items/bakery/cakes/blueberry-cake

    OR

    domain.com/bakery/blueberry-cake

    In most cases, people will prefer the second one. And just like title tags and meta descriptions, if the URL is too long, it will be cut off in the SERP. Try to keep your URL short and descriptive enough to guide the user properly.

    You can minimize length by including fewer words in the page title and removing any unnecessary subfolders. This will also make your URLs easier to copy and paste.

    Placing Keywords in URL

    When targeting a keyword, you can put it in the URL to boost the relevancy of the page. However, you need to make sure that you only put it in the URL, if it naturally fits in there. If you are going overboard and stuffing your URL with multiple keywords, the search engine might detect it.

    This is the case when you have multiple folders that are named in relation to the page. If you have your page under various nested folders and they are optimized for your targeted keyword, your URL might appear to be keyword-stuffed.

    This practice can make you appear manipulative and spammy. Your URL should look natural and as mentioned in the point above, try to keep your URL short to avoid this.

    HTTPS Protocol

    The “s” in “https” stands for secure. Google recommends that all websites run on a secure protocol i.e. HTTPS. To make sure that you are using the HTTPS protocol, you need to obtain an SSL certificate. These certificates are used for encrypting data.

    These ensure that the data passed between the browser and web server remains private. For sites running on HTTP, Google Chrome displays a “not secure” sign causing the sites to appear untrustworthy and unreliable.

    Additional Tips

    • Whenever modifying or creating specific URLs for your page, try to avoid the usage of plus signs (+), spaces (%20), or underscores (_). Instead, use a hyphen character (-) for separating words in a URL.
    • Always avoid having case-sensitive URLs. Always opt for a lowercase URL approach.

    Internal Linking

    A website’s crawlability highly depends on its internal linking structure. When you link to different pages under your own website, you ensure that the crawlers are able to find all your website’s pages. Thus, all your pages are crawled equally and it also helps users to better navigate through your website.

    A great example of internal linking is how Wikipedia links different topics on one page.

    Links that are required to be clicked, such as from a drop-down menu, are mostly hidden from search engine crawlers. If your internal pages are linked through this type of approach, your pages might never get indexed. Due to this, it is vital to have other ways to connect to the pages.

    Anchor Text

    With the use of Anchor text in HTML, you can link text to other pages. The following is an example of anchor text in HTML

    <a href=http://www.domain.com/”></a> – Example: http://www.domain.com/

    <a href=http://www.domain.com/” Title=”Keyword”>Keyword</a> – Example: Keyword

    The anchor text indicates the type of content that is available on the destination page. It is an indication for search engines that if I link to another page with the anchor text “apple pie”, the targeted page will be about apple pie.

    However, you need to make sure that you don’t go overboard with the practice. Overuse of internal links using the same keyword anchor can appear as if you are trying to manipulate the rankings.

    Hence, it’s better if you make anchor text fit naturally in your content.

    Link Volume

    Another thing to take care of when using anchor texts is the number of links on a given page. Having too many links on your page will not directly impose a penalty on you, but will affect how Google evaluates and ranks your pages.

    The more links that appear on a page, the lesser authority they pass to their targeted pages. A page can have only a limited amount of authority, and if you end up linking too much out of it, each link will get lesser authority passed.

    Moreover, aside from passing authority, links also serve as a way for the user to navigate better through the website. While you optimize your links for search engines, you will also get the added benefit of making better navigation for users.

    Use links that are helpful and provide quality to the search engine as well as the user. Spamming too many links in your content will take the readability value out of it.

    Redirecting Pages

    Renaming or removing pages is a common occurrence, but when you do it, it is important that you update all links pointing toward that page. At the very least, you need to redirect all the URLs to the new location. However, it is highly advised that you update all internal links so that the users and crawlers do not have to go through redirects to arrive at the targeted page.

    Moreover, having too many redirects may affect your on-page SEO. As stated by Google, you should avoid chaining redirects, ideally no more than 3 and fewer than 5.        

    Image Optimization

    Images occupy the most space in a site and are the culprits of most slow web pages. The best way through which you can solve it by compressing your images. There are various solutions when it comes to image compression, you can try testing options like “Save for Web” in Photoshop, image sizing software or compression tools, such as TinyPNG or Canva.

    Knowing which image format can exhibit your image intent best is also important.

    • GIF – To be used when you need to use an animated image
    • JPEG – When you don’t have to preserve high image resolution
    • PNG – When you have to preserve high image resolution
      • PNG-24 – When your image has a lot of colors
      • PNG-8 – When your image does not have a lot of colors

    If you own an e-commerce website, your thumbnails might slow down your page’s loading speed. Most people leave your page within 3 seconds if it’s not loaded properly. Due to this, it is essential that you compress your images and optimize your images.

    Alt Text

    Alt text or alternative text describes the image to the visually impaired through screen readers. It is important to have alt text descriptions for an image so that a visually impaired person can understand what the picture depicts on your web page.

    Search engine crawlers also use alt text to better understand the purpose of your image, which provides an additional benefit of expressing better image context to Google. However, you need to make sure that your alt text does not read robotically. It should be natural, just like your content. For example,

    <img src=”weddingbride.jpg” alt=”A bride moving towards her wedding stage”>

    Improving Readability of your Site

    Your site may contain the best-written content, but without proper formatting, your audience might never be able to enjoy it! It is important to follow some principles that boost the readability of the overall site. These are as follows:

    • Headings: Break up your content with helpful headings. These can help the users navigate through all the sections of the page, especially when the user is looking to read a particular section rather than the whole content.
    • Bullet Points: Bullet points provide a great way of providing quick and accurate information to the users.
    • Text size & color: Avoid fonts that look too big or too tiny. Google recommends that you use a 16-point font to make your text readable, even on mobile. The text color should complement the page’s background to promote readability.
    • Paragraph Breaks: Avoid writing walls of text without any break. People prefer reading shorter sentences and a big piece of content might get totally ignored, if not divided in the right way. Shorter paragraphs encourage visitors to stay and read more of your content.
    • Supporting Media: Always try using appropriate media, such as videos or images that complement your content or can help describe a related topic.
    • Bold & Italics: Make use of bold and italics wherever applicable to put emphasis on particular things. Correct usage of these formatting options can help you highlight key points of your content.

    By better formatting your site and its content, you provide a better user experience to the readers. Moreover, it can also boost your page’s ability to show in feature snippets or better known as “position 0”

    Featured Snippets

    A featured snippet is the unofficial “position 0” which appears at the top of a SERP. There is no special way or code that you can insert for your page to show in this place.

    What you can do is structure your content to better answer a query intent and you will eventually be there. This is what a featured snippet looks like (as shown in Google):

    For any given query, if you are providing a suitable result in a well-formatted manner, your chances of getting featured in a snippet increase. For example, for a query searching to “learn SEO”, you can create a bullet list of points and if Google deems it good, you might have your full list of points featured in the snippet.

    On Page SEO Checklist and Final Words

    By following the above-mentioned on-page SEO checklist, you can create a website that is well-optimized for both users and search engines. Not only will it affect your search engine rankings and crawlability, but also enhance the experience of users when they visit your website.

    Here’s the checklist to guide you when optimizing every post/page on your website:

    This may look tedious but we’ll have future posts that will guide you on how to optimize for these with or without plugins!

    For now, you can download the sample template for on-page SEO.

    Download the above On Page SEO Template for your future reference

    Remember, that the practice of on-page SEO is an ongoing process. The process has constantly evolved with the introduction of various algorithm updates in the past and will keep growing in the future.

  • 2 Years Before Getting The Right Traffic

    2 Years Before Getting The Right Traffic

    This therapist website was created last 2022 and it was only after the 6 months SEO campaign that I customized for them that they started to rank and get the needed traffic they missed for two years.

    This is a typical 6 month result example for an aged domain/website. Please note that SEO results after a typical 6 month campaign is different for new websites (websites created in less than a year)

    My SEO services makes sure that aged websites get these visible results during and after the 6 months campaign. Here’s a stark difference of what it’s like without SEO optimizations and when you get those services.

    Screenshot 2025 06 14 at 9.21.06 PM

    The Challenge

    This is a Squarespace Website Created in 2022 which was not getting visibility despite the years

    This Squarespace therapy website was first created last 2022 and when I first audited it, below was the first 3-month lookback that we had when we first reconnected the website to its Google Searh Console account.

    Screenshot 2025 06 14 at 9.40.17 PM

    If we look at its Impressions, this means that the website is showing up for only 5-6 times a day and people are clicking on it for none to at least once a day.

    Below is the website’s other metrics. Its Health Score means that it can further improve its structure; and looking at its Domain Rating and Referring Domains/Backlinks means that it needs to improve its reputation by acquiring quality links from reputable websites.

    Screenshot 2025 06 14 at 9.36.32 PM

    This aged website clearly needs technical, on-page, off-page and content strategy for it to rank in a span of 6 months.

    The Solution

    Recommendations to get things moving

    I recommended the following for the website:

    1. Creation of a number of service page and location pages
      The website did not have any individual service pages so we have to create one for each service that she offers.

    2. Keyword research for future blogs to support the new service pages and touch client pain points
      I could say that aged websites are what I usually call, ripe for the picking. It’s common knowledge that Google has more confidence and trust on aged websites than new websites so keyword-guided content for aged websites can help increase chances of ranking better than before.

    3. Technical optimizations and keyword targeting for current pages. I usually do this as the first step for every website that I handle.

    4. A simple offpage strategy was done to make sure that the website gets enough reputation to help the new content rank with the targeted keywords for the services. Before the new pages were published, I first made sure that the website has enough reputation.

      This usually happens at around second to the third month, this is also the reason why I usually recommend publishing only during the end of second or mid of the third month.

    The Result

    A comparison of 6 months before and after the SEO implementation

    Below shows the difference in Clicks and Impressions during the 6 months implementation (upper metrics or Last 6 Months) and before the implementation (lower metrics or Previous 6 Months).

    Screenshot 2025 06 14 at 10.10.22 PM
    Screenshot 2025 06 14 at 10.17.02 PM
    • Significant Visibility Improvement: The Google Search Console data clearly shows a substantial increase in website impressions compared to the previous six months without SEO optimizations. This rise indicates that the site is now appearing for a broader range of search terms, keywords, and queries entered by users.

    • Increase in Topic Authority:
      The acquisition of high-quality off-page backlinks has significantly contributed to enhancing the website’s overall topic authority. These links originate from reputable, niche-relevant websites that are closely aligned with the client’s industry or subject matter.

      As a result, the client’s site benefits from improved Domain Rating (DR), a key metric used to assess a website’s backlink profile strength. These contextually relevant backlinks not only help build trust in the eyes of search engines but also reinforce the website’s topical expertise, making it more likely to rank higher for relevant search queries.
    • Improved Site Health:
      The website’s technical and structural integrity has been markedly improved through a comprehensive audit and subsequent optimization process.

      This includes resolving issues related to faulty or broken redirects, enhancing internal linking to improve crawlability and user navigation, and correcting content formatting to ensure consistency and readability.

      In addition, proactive measures have been put in place to ensure that all existing and future URLs are optimized for search engine indexing and crawling. This holistic approach to technical SEO strengthens the website’s foundation, leading to better user experience and improved performance in organic search results.

    This case study show typical 6-month SEO results for aged website which are “ripe for the picking”.

    If you’ve worked with a few SEO experts before but still haven’t seen real improvements after six months or more, it might be because the real problems with your website haven’t been fully understood or fixed.

    Sometimes, people focus on the wrong things or just scratch the surface. To get results that last, your site might need a more thoughtful, personalized approach that really gets to the heart of what’s holding it back.

    Read more case studies or articles about on-page SEO and technical SEO. You can also check out my available services:

    Frequently Asked Questions

    Can you do the same for my website?

    Yes I can create a strategy for you that is customized for your website need and target outcome. Implementation time may vary in time depending on your budget and results are also variable due to the different competitiveness of different business niches.

    You can set up a call/email exchange with me for a free consultation.

    What did you actually do on this project?

    I did everything for their Squarespace website from initial audit, monitoring, on page, and technical SEO optimizations , keyword research, and content strategy.

    The content creation was done by their writer guided by my keyword research.

    Which package did they get?

    They chose the Custom package since they have their own writer and I implemented the new content and mostly everything in my strategy for the site.

  • Typical result of 6 months of SEO Campaign for a new website

    Typical result of 6 months of SEO Campaign for a new website

    A new website (created less than a year) is considered harder to rank than aged websites.

    So if you availed an SEO campaign for your new site, here are some typical results you may get. I usually update my SEO case studies months or a year after.

    SEO is a long game, it does not bring instant results. It is therefore best if your first SEO campaign makes sure that your new website is ready for creation of additional content, and upcoming algorithm changes.

    The Result

    We’re into the 6th month of the campaign for this Squarespace website and we can say that we have greatly improved the site’s visibility by basing on the the following metrics:

    Impressions
    How frequent they show up on Google Search when a user searches a term

    January 2025

    10-30 Impressions

    Screenshot 2025 06 14 at 11.41.31 AM

    June 2025

    20-50 Impressions

    Screenshot 2025 06 14 at 11.25.07 AM

    GSC Queries
    Search terms they are showing up for when a user searches a term on Google

    February 2025
    (Sitemap was only submitted after first audit so January had no data)

    Started with 26 Queries

    Screenshot 2025 06 14 at 11.07.47 AM

    June 2025

    91 Queries after 6 Months

    Screenshot 2025 06 14 at 11.40.01 AM

    Other Site Metrics

    Site Health
    Soundness of web structure

    Domain Rating
    How trusted a website is according to their niche/topic

    Referring Domains/Backlinks
    How many other websites are linking/pointing to their site

    January 2025

    10-30 Impressions

    Screenshot 2025 06 14 at 11.56.43 AM

    June 2025

    20-50 Impressions

    Screenshot 2025 06 14 at 11.52.37 AM

    This is a typical result that you can get from 6 months of SEO Campaign for a new website (website is less than a year old when campaign was started.)

    Here’s what the results mean for a new website:

    • Website is now structurally sound and ready for implementation of new pages and blogs
    • Impressions show that the website is now getting organic and relevant traffic from targeted topics searched for by prospect clients.
    • The website now has relevant reputation to write about the topics and niche that it targets thus helping it to rank better.

    The Challenge

    A Squarespace website first created in 2024

    My client had their Squarespace website created since June 2024 but when I first audited it it had the following metrics:

    Screenshot 2025 06 13 at 9.44.24 PM

    I also looked into their Google Search Console (GSC) to get a good view of what the website was like in about 6 months after it was created. But as most new websites, they seem to not have their sitemap submitted yet so that was the first thing I did after the audit (first audit was January 2025).

    I submitted the sitemap right after I wrote the initial audit (January 2025).

    Since this is a typical scenario of new websites, the only data we’ll have of its baseline performance is the GSC data that we’ll have in a few months before we implement the new content for the site.

    The Solution

    A strategy for exisiting service pages and needing to target two locations

    Below are the recorded metrics of the website on the second month (February 2025) which served as the base metrics for this case study.

    Metrics by February 2025

    Screenshot 2025 06 14 at 11.07.47 AM
    Screenshot 2025 06 14 at 11.05.33 AM
    • Base number of queries was 26 (of the number of search terms/keywords it was showing up for)
    • The Impressions (violet line) noted from the site was at first from less than 10-20 but since off page links were created after submission of sitemap (January) it had a typical effect of increasing impressions after a month.

    Below were just some of my recommendations for the site:

    • Acquisition of off page links to increase topic authority before publishing other pages.

      This is my usual recommendation for new websites (or those website that are less than a year old, and those website with not much content and quality backlinks)

    • Keyword Realignment, On page and Technical SEO adjustments for existing and upcoming pages

      This is a typical inclusion for all SEO campaigns.

    • Creation of targeted supporting landing pages to supplement its existing service pages

      The website already had service pages but since it was a difficult and focused niche its service pages had to have supporting pages that can give relevancy to it since keyword research showwed that the services offered had no keyword traffic for it so relevant pages that can be related to it were created.

    • Each of the supporting landing pages above had two versions that are uniquely created to target two different states.

      The website was targeting two states for its therapy services, so two versions of each supporting landing page was created since keyword research showed that both the two locations had traffic for the same keywords in the supporting pages.

      For example:

      Couples counseling in Hollywood
      Couples counseling in Philadelphia


      The website had an existing service page with the keyword “couples therapy” so we created two unique versions that targets the same supporting keyword (couples counseling) while also making sure that the two locations are targeted.

    This case study is a good example on what to expect for the first 6 months for a new website. The best you need to expect is an increase in visibility or impressions.

    Read more on my other case studies and see how the other websites I’ve handled continued to improve without other SEO intervention and while only taking my SEO retainer services after the main 6 months campaign.

    Screenshot 2025 06 14 at 1.14.39 PM

    What to do after the first 6 months campaign

    These recommendations are for new websites who has availed 6 months of SEO services and has achieved the above sample results:

    1. Make sure that new blogs are optimized before publishing. I make sure to give my clients some points on how to publish new blogs using the templates that I give them after my services.
    2. Make sure that any new service or landing pages to be created uses the sample template as deployed on their website. This makes sure that the website is structurally consistent and optimized for Google crawlers.
    3. Make sure that new pages or blogs published are guided by keyword research. I make sure that my clients has a list of keywords that they can use for blog writing on their own after our SEO services. Usually they can avail my keyword research services or resort to customized retainer services after the main SEO campaign.

    Frequently Asked Questions

    Can you do the same for my website?

    Yes I can create a strategy for you that is customized for your website need and target outcome. Implementation time may vary in time depending on your budget and results are also variable due to the different competitiveness of different business niches.

    You can set up a call/email exchange with me for a free consultation.

    What did you actually do on this project?

    I did everything from initial audit, monitoring, on page, and technical SEO optimizations on Squaresace , keyword research, and content strategy.

    The content creation was done by me too.

    Which package did they get?

    They chose the Basic package since they have their own writer and they plan to implement an SEO strategy for 6 months.

  • Getting Visible After 4 Years

    Getting Visible After 4 Years

    This therapist website has been on the space for 4 years and it was only after our SEO campaign that they were able to improve their visibility and they were able to maintain the momentum I created for them by continuously publishing targeted content.

    If you’re not a new website and you’re struggling to rank, this is almost what it’s like when you get the basic SEO optimization.

    My SEO services makes sure that not only will you rank even after my campaign has ended, but you can also sustain the momentum and metric gained as long as you create quality content.

    Continuous Improvements After the SEO Campaign

    And just before we dive into the details here’s an update of the site’s performance months after the end of the campaign.

    While they did not avail of the SEO retainer services, the website was able to continuously improve its visibility with the help of continuous content creation and optimization (guided by the video guides I gave on the last SEO report).

    Screenshot 2025 06 13 at 8.54.05 PM

    The Challenge

    A Squarespace Website Created in 2020 strugging with visibility

    This Squarespace therapy website was first created last 2020 and when I first audited it, I looked at the 16-month lookback and saw that it only had about 3690+ impression during that month range which can translate into like just almost like 7-8 impressions in a day (image below).

    Screenshot 2025 06 13 at 7.26.25 PM

    Initial 16-month lookback and metrics audit

    The following is the website’s metrics just before I started implementing my strategy.

    Screenshot 2025 06 13 at 7.21.12 PM

    The website clearly needed technical, on-page, off-page and content strategy for it to rank in the span of 6 months.

    The Solution

    Focusing on low-hanging wins to move the needle

    When on the first month, a few technical, on page and off page strategies were implemented on the site that gave a few nudges to help the site’s initial metrics.

    Screenshot 2025 06 13 at 7.41.05 PM

    Below are some of my recommendations for the site to make sure that the website is able to rank even after the campaign:

    1. Creation of additional service page and location pages
      This was done to help the site create more visibility for her target customers and accumulate content and relevancy for their target location.
    2. Keyword research for blog posts to target client pain points
      This is mostly one for the things that gives the best result to help funnel the right clients that are looking for the therapist services. We made sure to create and schedule one blog for them four months since the first and second month content were consumed by the creation of service and location pages.
    3. Technical optimizations and keyword targeting were done to the website’s existing and new pages to make sure that exisiting structure and each content published during our campaign are aligned towards the goal of ranking the right keywords.
    4. A simple offpage strategy was created to make sure that the website has enough reputation to help the new content rank with the targeted keywords for the services.
    5. Templated pages for easy SEO implementation after the campaign. Since my SEO strategy is mostly about making a new website easily sustainable for clients, I made sure that they had templated location and blog pages that they can tweak and customize if they plan to continue publishing after our campaign.

      Video guides are included and are downloadable in the last SEO report to make sure that they can save details on how to maintain the SEO optimizations done on the site.

    The second and third month involved content creation and approval process so that we could start pushing the content on the last week of the second month.

    The Result

    Finally Visible

    Improvement in impressions were seen by mid September. This was driven by the optimized new service pages, keyword realignment on the existiing pages and topic authority gained from the backlinks acquired.

    Initial Audit (July 2024)

    By the end of the campaign (December 2024), we were able to significantly increase the website’s visibility for their brand name, services and location.

    Below is a 6-month range comparison of the before and after the SEO campaign and difference in site metrics that we recorded.

    6 month Range Comparison of Before and After SEO Campaign 1
    Screenshot 2025 06 13 at 8.31.35 PM

    • Great Improvement in Visibility: You can clearly see from the GSC data above that impressions greatly increased as compared from the previous 6 months without SEO optimizations. This increase in impressions is a signal that the website is now showing up for more terms/keywords/queries searched for by people .
    • Increase in topic authority: The off-page links acquired has helped the website increase its Domain Rating or topic relevancy coming from the other niche relevant websites that are pointing to the client’s website.
    • Improved site health: This is achieved by fixing technical and structural website issues. This includes fixing redirections, interlinking, content formatting and making sure that all urls and upcoming ones will be crawled and indexed.

    This case study is another testimony that a website that is optimized for sustainability is better than getting optimization that only diminishes after the end of campaigns.

    If you’ve have a number of SEO Specialists before and you’re struggling to get actual results in a minimum of 6 months, then maybe they are not addressing the root issues needed by your website.

    Read more case studies or articles about on-page SEO and technical SEO. You can also check out my available services:

    Frequently Asked Questions

    Can you do the same for my website?

    Yes I can create a strategy for you that is customized for your website need and target outcome. Implementation time may vary in time depending on your budget and results are also variable due to the different competitiveness of different business niches.

    You can set up a call/email exchange with me for a free consultation.

    What did you actually do on this project?

    I did everything from initial audit, monitoring, on page, and technical SEO optimizations on WordPress , keyword research, and content strategy.

    The content creation was done by their writer guided by my keyword research.

    Which package did they get?

    They chose the Custom package since they have their own writer and I implemented the new content and mostly everything in my strategy for the site.

  • You can rank without blogs.

    You can rank without blogs.

    This WordPress website was a private therapy group that opted to not create blogs.

    I would usually recommend creating blogs to create initial traffic and target keywords but it is also possible to rank without blogs, but this was only possible for them because they had a different kind of fresh content that they push through once every few months.

    One common thing that gets overlooked is keeping your content fresh and relevant. Search engines love updated, useful content and it’s the reason why I recommend creating blogs—and when that’s combined with smart SEO, it can really make a difference.

    If your site isn’t regularly publishing new content or updating old pages, that could be one of the reasons you’re not getting the traction you want.

    But how was it effective for this website?

    Continuous Improvements After the SEO Campaign

    And just before we dive into the details here’s an update of the site’s performance months after the end of the campaign.

    Remember how my usual 6 months of SEO gets a great spike in impressions just before the end of the campaign? Well this website did not have that since they opted to not have blogs, so I devised a different strategy for them that works better for their desired post-SEO maintenance.

    Screenshot 2025 06 14 at 11.00.50 PM 1

    The Challenge

    This WordPress website didn’t want blogs but they already had brand traffic yet not much for their services and target locations.

    This is an aged domain/website (more than one year after creations) and was created first last 2020.

    When I first audited the website last March 2024, I found out that it did not have a sitemap submitted yet on their Google Search Console, so that was the first thing I did. This is the reason now why a 16-month lookback will show the date 3/7/24.

    Below are the first two months of the website’s Clicks and Impressions.

    Screenshot 2025 06 14 at 11.44.09 PM

    You can see that the website’s Clicks and Impressions already doesn’t touch the zero-clicks/impressions in a day which means that they have already existing organic traffic that we need to build upon for improvement.

    The Solution

    No blogs but a lot of content creation

    Usually I would recommend publishing blogs since this website already has good reputation from Google and could easily rank higher with new and fresh content. But they mentioned that blogs are unsustainable for them so I had to create a strategy that accounts for that.

    Below are some of my recommendations for the site :

    1. Creation of Specific Service Pages
      Initially, the website only had a general overview of their services, which limited its visibility in search results. I recommended creating dedicated pages for each individual service they offer.

      This helps search engines understand the full scope of their offerings and allows each page to be optimized for relevant keywords. It also improves user experience by making it easier for potential clients to find exactly what they’re looking for.

    2. Internal Linking Between Therapist Profiles and Service Pages
      The existing therapist profile pages were then to be rewritten with added details that can be interlinked to the new service pages. I suggested building strong internal links between these pages to create a clearer site structure and keyword signaling and association for the new service pages.

    3. Adding Therapist Pages to the Sitemap
      The therapist profile pages were missing from the sitemap, which meant search engines might not even be aware they existed.

      I made sure to include these pages in the sitemap to ensure they are properly crawled and indexed. This small step can significantly improve the chances of those pages appearing in search results.

    4. Simple Off-Page SEO Strategy
      To support the site’s authority and help the new service pages rank for their targeted keywords, I implemented a basic off-page SEO strategy. This included building high-quality backlinks from relevant and reputable websites, as well as making sure the site had mentions in online directories and professional listings.

      These off-site signals help build trust with search engines and improve the overall visibility of the content.

    The Result

    Quick Improvement in Queries and why the strategy was effective

    The website had a quick improvement in Queries from 203 (March 2024) to 1000 (May 2024). 1000 is the maximum Top Queries shown in Google Search Console.

    Screenshot 2025 06 15 at 12.15.50 AM

    Impressions (violet line) continued to improve to date as shown from below:

    Screenshot 2025 06 15 at 12.26.32 AM

    But how did this strategy become effective for them? This was only possible because they had more than 25 therapist profiles and they routinely add and deleted profiles, this could have given a signal to Google that they keep their content fresh.

    This website could have improved more if they created a blog but what’s more important is that they have established stability and still had improvements even after the SEO services ended.

    This case study is another testimony that a website that is optimized for sustainability is better than getting optimization that only diminishes after the end of campaigns.

    If you’ve have a number of SEO Specialists before and you’re struggling to get actual results in a minimum of 6 months, then maybe they are not addressing the root issues needed by your website.

    Read more case studies or articles about on-page SEO and technical SEO. You can also check out my available services:

    Frequently Asked Questions

    Can you do the same for my website?

    Yes I can create a strategy for you that is customized for your website need and target outcome. Implementation time may vary in time depending on your budget and results are also variable due to the different competitiveness of different business niches.

    You can set up a call/email exchange with me for a free consultation.

    What did you actually do on this project?

    I did everything from initial audit, monitoring, on page, and technical SEO optimizations on WordPress , keyword research, and content strategy.

    The content creation was done by their writer guided by my keyword research.

    Which package did they get?

    They chose the Custom package since they have their own writer and I implemented the new content and mostly everything in my strategy for the site.

  • Long Tail Keywords in SEO: An Elderly Care Website’s Success

    Long Tail Keywords in SEO: An Elderly Care Website’s Success

    I’ve always been a fan of long tail keywords in SEO and my content strategy to help a domain get their first traffic traction. This is what exactly what my strategy was for an elderly care website.

    This a specific strategy that works for Home Care SEO.

    A home health care website struggling to gain organic traction tapped for my services and, this approach became the game-changer. Over the course of a year, a focused strategy on long-tail keywords not only boosted the site’s search engine rankings but also drove meaningful engagement and conversions.

    Screenshot 2025 02 13 at 8.56.23 PM

    This case study explores how targeting specific, user-focused search terms helped turn an underperforming website into a thriving online resource in a competitive niche.

    The Challenge

    When I first took on this project, the website was barely making a dent in the digital space.

    With only 16 outdated articles, it was failing to attract traffic or engage potential clients. In the home health care industry, where families and caregivers often search for highly specific information, the site was virtually invisible.

    The challenge was clear: transform this dormant platform into a dynamic, traffic-generating hub that could connect with its audience and drive real results.

    Our goals for the website were ambitious but focused:

    1. Boost Visibility with Long-Tail Keywords in SEO: Improve search engine rankings by targeting specific, less competitive phrases that matched the exact needs of the audience.
    2. Enhance Engagement and Conversions: Create content that resonated with users, encouraging them to stay longer, explore more, and ultimately convert into leads.
    3. Establish Thought Leadership: Position the website as a trusted authority in the home health care industry, offering valuable insights and guidance to its audience.

    The Strategy

    To achieve these objectives, we developed a multi-faceted SEO strategy centered around long-tail keywords in SEO. Here’s how we made it happen:

    1. The Power of Long-Tail Keywords in SEO

    Long-tail keywords—those longer, more specific search phrases—were the backbone of our approach. While they may have lower search volumes compared to broader terms, they often have higher conversion rates because they align closely with user intent. Here’s what we did:

    • In-Depth Keyword Research: We started by identifying long-tail keywords that reflected the specific concerns and questions of people searching for home health care services. For example, instead of just targeting “home health care,” we focused on phrases like that answers their queries about elderly management, and lifestyle changes.
    • Content Creation: Over the course of a year, we published 32 new articles, each carefully optimized for the long-tail keywords we identified. These pieces were designed to address the nuanced needs of our audience, providing practical advice, answering common questions, and offering solutions to real problems.

    2. On-Site SEO Enhancements

    To maximize the impact of our content, we also made several on-site optimizations:

    • Optimized Service Pages: We created dedicated pages for each service the company offered, ensuring they were not only search-engine-friendly but also user-friendly. Each page was tailored to answer specific questions and guide visitors toward taking action.
    • Strategic Interlinking: By linking related articles and service pages, we improved the site’s internal structure. This made it easier for search engines to crawl and index the site while also helping visitors find the information they needed.
    • Revamping Existing Content: The 16 original articles were given a complete overhaul. We updated the information, improved readability, and optimized them for the long-tail keywords we identified.

    Results

    The results of my efforts were nothing short of transformative. Here’s what we achieved:

    Screenshot 2025 06 14 at 1.04.16 PM
    • Early Traffic Gains: Within just two months of implementing my strategy, the website started to see consistent traffic. In less than 6 months, days with zero clicks became a thing of the past, and we began to see steady growth in organic clicks.
    • Increased Engagement: Visitors were spending more time on the site, exploring multiple pages, and engaging with the content. This was a clear sign that we were meeting their needs and providing value.
    • Conversion Rate Growth: By the end of the year, the website saw a 60% increase in lead conversions. This was a direct result of our targeted content strategy and the improved user experience we created.

    This case study is a testament to the power of long-tail keywords in SEO, especially in specialized industries like elderly health care. By focusing on the specific needs and search behaviors of their audience, the website was able to rise above the competition and establish itself as a trusted resource.

    The success of this strategy wasn’t just about driving traffic—it was about creating meaningful connections with users and guiding them toward taking action. For businesses in competitive niches, this approach offers a clear roadmap for achieving sustainable growth and building a strong online presence.

    In the end, the senior health care website didn’t just improve its metrics—it became a go-to destination for families and caregivers seeking reliable information and support. And that’s the true measure of success.

    Why Long Tail Keywords in SEO Work

    Long tail keywords in SEO work because they tap into the specific intent of users. When someone searches for “24/7 in-home care for elderly parents,” they’re not just browsing—they’re looking for a solution. By targeting these precise phrases, businesses can attract highly qualified traffic that’s more likely to convert.

    For anyone looking to improve their SEO strategy, especially in a competitive niche, long-tail keywords are a powerful tool. They may require more effort in terms of research and content creation, but the results speak for themselves.

    Final Thoughts

    If your website is struggling to gain traction, consider the potential of long-tail keywords in SEO.

    Because by understanding your audience’s specific needs and crafting content that speaks directly to them, you can unlock new levels of visibility, engagement, and growth.

    Content is king, and strategy is queen.

    Frequently Asked Questions

    Can you do the same for my website?

    I can help you set up your struggling website.

    You can set up a call/email exchange with me for a free consultation.

    What did you actually do on this project?

    I was responsible for the initial audit, strategic plan for 12 months, on page, content and technical optimization planning as they have a different team for execution.

    I wrote the content for them.

    Were you in charge of the setup of their Google Search Console account?

    Yes, they did not have any GSC setup when I first audited the site.

  • Blogging Benefits for Business: A Sample of Success

    Blogging Benefits for Business: A Sample of Success

    You might think that having a website is enough to attract visitors, especially if your SEO specialist is boasting about building tons of backlinks.

    But here’s the thing: backlinks alone won’t cut it. Sure, they help, but their impact is minimal without high-quality content and a solid content strategy driven by keyword research.

    Let’s dive into a real-life example to show you why blogs are a game-changer for your website’s success.

    A Year After the SEO Campaign

    And just before we dive into the details here’s an update of the site’s performance a year after.

    Blogging benefits for business

    The Challenge

    A Website Struggling to Rank

    This website launched in July 2023 with high hopes of improving its online visibility. The team focused heavily on building backlinks, believing they were the key to ranking higher on search engines. At first glance, it seemed like they were on the right track.

    Metrics

    The Data: Backlinks vs. Organic Traffic

    Using Ahrefs, we analyzed the website’s performance before any major changes were made. Here’s what we found:

    • Backlinks (Blue Line): The website had been building backlinks consistently since its launch.
    • Organic Keywords (Orange Line): Despite the backlinks, the website struggled to rank for relevant keywords.

    Next, we looked at the Google Search Console (GSC) metrics:

    • Clicks (Blue Line): This represents how often users clicked on the website after it appeared in search results.
    • Impressions (Violet Line): This shows how often the website appeared in search results, even if users didn’t click.

    The data revealed a critical issue: while the website had a decent number of impressions (thanks to backlinks), it wasn’t translating into clicks. This meant the website wasn’t ranking for the right keywords, and users weren’t finding the content relevant enough to click on.

    Interestingly, there was a brief spike in organic keywords in September 2023, but this didn’t result in a corresponding increase in clicks or impressions. This further highlighted the disconnect between backlinks and actual user engagement.

    The Solution

    A Holistic SEO Strategy

    When I took over the website’s SEO in March 2024, I knew we needed a comprehensive approach.

    The solution 1

    Here’s what I proposed:

    1. Keyword Realignment: We identified and targeted keywords that were relevant to the website’s niche and audience.
    2. Content Creation: We developed a content strategy guided by keyword research to ensure every blog post addressed user intent.
    3. Technical SEO Fixes: We optimized the website’s technical aspects, such as site speed, mobile responsiveness, and crawlability.
    4. On-Page SEO: We improved meta tags, headers, and internal linking to make the website more search-engine-friendly.

    The Result

    What nine months of SEO optimization without much focus on backlinks can do for your site.

    Blogging benefits for Business

    By April 29, 2024, the first blog post was published. Over the next three months, we consistently published high-quality, keyword-optimized content. The results were impressive:

    • Improved Keyword Rankings: The Ahrefs graph confirmed that the website was ranking for more organic keywords, driving meaningful traffic.
    • 5 Articles Published: By June 15, 2024, the website had five new blog posts.
    • Increased Clicks and Impressions: The GSC graph showed a steady upward trend in both metrics, proving that the content was resonating with the target audience.
    The result

    You might wonder if the increase in traffic was due to more backlinks. But the Ahrefs graph below tells a different story.

    While backlinks (blue line) remained steady, it was the organic keywords—driven by quality content—that fueled the growth in organic traffic (yellow line) that corresponds to clicks and impressions.

    This case study clearly demonstrates that while backlinks can boost visibility, quality content is the real driver of traffic and engagement.

    backanowevne 1

    You can see from the above Ahrefs graph that the website’s backlinks were definitely not the driver of clicks and impressions. It was the organic keywords that drove those, which also is a great example how having quality content is the best way to get traffic for your website than just having backlinks.

    THROUGH THIS CASE STUDY, ONCE AGAIN, WE PROVED THAT QUALITY CONTENT IS A GREAT DRIVER OF TRAFFIC AND ONLINE VISIBILITY THAN BACKLINKS.

    Why Blogs Are Important For Your Website

    More Reasons Why Blogs Are Crucial for Your Website

    Blogs aren’t just about SEO—they offer a host of benefits that can transform your website into a powerful marketing tool. Here’s why:

    1. Engages Visitors: Blogs encourage interaction through comments, shares, and discussions, helping you build a community around your brand.
    2. Showcases Expertise: Well-researched posts position you as an authority in your industry, earning trust from your audience.
    3. Supports Social Media: Blogs provide shareable content for platforms like LinkedIn, Twitter, and Facebook, driving traffic from social channels.
    4. Improves Conversion Rates: By addressing customer pain points and answering common questions, blogs guide users through the buyer’s journey.
    5. Builds Internal Links: Blogs allow you to link to other pages on your site, improving overall SEO and user navigation.
    6. Provides Value to Customers: Informative blogs help customers make better decisions, enhancing their satisfaction with your brand.
    7. Generates Leads: Include CTAs in your blogs to capture leads, whether through newsletter sign-ups, free downloads, or contact forms.
    8. Targets Long-Tail Keywords: Blogs let you rank for specific, less competitive keywords that often have higher conversion rates.
    9. Keeps Your Audience Informed: Regular updates keep your audience in the loop about industry trends, company news, and product launches.
    10. Enhances Brand Voice: Blogs help you develop a consistent tone and style, strengthening your brand identity.

    And the list goes on—from improving user experience to supporting email marketing, blogs are a versatile tool that can elevate your website in countless ways.

    Frequently Asked Questions

    Can you do the same for my website?

    Yes I can create a strategy for you that is customized for your website need and target outcome. Implementation time may vary in time depending on your budget and results are also variable due to the different competitiveness of different business niches.

    You can set up a call/email exchange with me for a free consultation.

    What did you actually do on this project?

    I did everything from initial audit, monitoring, on page, and technical SEO optimizations on WordPress , keyword research, and content strategy.

    The content creation was done by their writer and I only guided them with my keyword research.

    Which package did they get?

    They chose the Custom package since they have their own writer and they plan to implement an SEO strategy for one year.

    Read more case studies or articles about on-page SEO and technical SEO. You can also check out my available services: