Just built a new website for your small business? Did you hire a web designer or agency? Then copy and paste might be keeping your website, and your business, from being noticed by customers.
As they build out the pages of your website, some web designers and agencies may just copy and paste the keywords, descriptions, or meta tags from one page to the next. Once search engines try to read your website they will see duplicated content and punish your rankings as a result. Since 86% of consumers rely on the Internet to find local businesses then there's a good chance that customers are going to visit a competitor's website before even noticing the new website you've built.
What you can do today
Not sure about your own website? It's always good practice to review the title tags and meta descriptions of your webpages on a regular basis. This is especially true if you are consistently making changes to your website or adding new content.
You want to ensure that titles and descriptions accurately reflect the content on your webpages. Even more importantly, the terminology should anticipate the needs of your customers.
This isn't some sort of advanced psychology--it's simply recognizing the usual questions that customers may ask when visiting your website. For instance, if your business is somewhat difficult to find and offers directions on a webpage it's helpful to mention more than just 'Location' in your title and description and instead add something like 'Directions for customers arriving from I-5'.
Your long-term SEO strategy
It's important to check for critical errors. But even those that have the right keywords and metadata should have a longer-term SEO strategy for their website to ensure it matches the evolution of their business and any changes to their website and content.
Many small business owners and managers don't have the time or resources to run or delegate these strategies. We're here to help with easy-to-use technology that avoids the overhead of a digital marketing agency. Reach out today for a SEO evaluation or a demo of our new app!
