Panda, Penguin, Hummingbird…you have to wonder if Google’s headquarters isn’t actually located deep in the heart of the Mountain View zoo. Google has such cute names for algorithms that can drive your business to the next level or send it to the bottom of the digital dustbin. How are you supposed to keep up with the latest in SEO when Google seems to be changing the way they do business on an hourly basis?
If you are like most small businesses the bulk of your traffic is coming from search results. Getting the most out of search through search engine optimization (SEO) is just too important a task to let slide, but then you also have a business to run as well.
We have three tips that will allow you to keep up with changes and trends in SEO For Local Small Businesses and shouldn’t take up more than 30 minutes to an hour of your time each week. We think you’ll agree that an hour a week is a small price to pay to ensure that you’re getting the most out of your search efforts.
1. Create a Twitter stream for SEO terms but keep those terms specific. Use terms like Google Webmaster Tools, Google algorithm or Google+ and avoid generic terms like SEO or search engine optimization which will flood your account and make the effort unusable. While you’re at it, follow Matt Cutts the leader of Google’s webscam team and Danny Sullivan the founder of MarketingLand. Both of these guys are leaders in the SEO field and their thoughts are well worth reading.
@mattcutts — https://twitter.com/mattcutts
@dannysullivan — https://twitter.com/dannysullivan
2. There’s Google and then there are a slug of people who try to interpret Google. Our advice is to get the latest on what Google is doing and thinking by following Matt Cutt’s blog on Blogspot. He has a great style, is easy to understand and the information he provides is the latest Google thinking. We also like two of the “interpreters” because they go beyond algorithms and include how social media can impact your overall internet marketing. Those blogs are Search Engine and Moz. Both provide actionable tips on how to improve your rankings.
3. Now that Google has encrypted search results so that it’s almost impossible to see what keywords are driving traffic to your website, you need to rely on your Webmaster Tools account to tell you how well your targeted keywords are doing. Webmaster Tools is a rich source of information and if you are not familiar with it invest the time to learn it. It will show you what is working and what needs improvement. You may find that your phrase is appearing frequently in a Search Query but nobody is clicking through. To turn this into a page that drives traffic to your website you may have to tweak (re-write) your meta description to make your listing on Google in the SERP’s more attractive to searchers. This tool will allow you to identify where you can apply the information that you get from the Twitter feed and blogs listed above.
Learn about Google Webmaster Tools
Staying up on SEO For Local Small Businesses isn’t all that difficult as long as you don’t psyc yourself out about it. It’s really a question of time and discipline. We’re confident that if you follow these three tips you’ll be better informed without spending an inordinate amount of your work week on the project.
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