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Now is the best time to evaluate your web presence and improve your Search Engine Optimization! (Photo: Getty Images)

In the COVID-19 world that we now live in, many businesses are making the leap to online sales and more online interaction with customers. Now is the best time to evaluate your web presence and improve your Search Engine Optimization! It is imperative that consumers today can locate information about your business before their visit or purchase. People are looking for all types of information, many folks will research a product or service online prior to seeking assistance. Your website allows folks to do just that, but only if they can find you first.

Let’s cover a few tips to help improve your website overall making it easier for search engines to crawl your site and index your information.

First, let’s start with your content. You should be creating content for your website regularly. If the information is stale it is less likely to populate in a search. This aligns with Google’s relevancy factor. The more accurate and timely the information the better position it will return in a search result. So focus on improving your content updating it regularly. You need to write with both your target market and Google in mind when creating content. Use keywords when writing the text for your site. Include information that will inform the consumer and provide a resolution for the problem they are searching for. Along with your content, you want to make sure you are utilizing keywords and phrases in your title text. In many website builder platforms, you have the opportunity to format text and assign title or header tags. The most important information on your page should be assigned title or header tags and will help with your optimization efforts.

Utilize the SEO features of your web builder. Many sites allow you to fill in the page title and description. This can usually be found in the settings of the site. This information is not visible on the page but it is used by search engines to populate a results page. These descriptions help viewers narrow down their search.  The description should be a short paragraph that sums up the content of the page. Use plenty of keywords that a user might search for in order to find your site.

If a user conducts a search with keywords from your description, your site is more likely to show up in the search engine result. The keywords that match the search are also highlighted bringing attention to your listing and causing it to stand out to the viewer. 

Next, let’s look at how your business appears across the web. Be sure to set up and maintain your Google My Business profile. This is a free tool offered by Google to help display specific information about your business including; hours of operation, location, phone number, and real-time posts about the business. These posts can be utilized to showcase information about how you are protecting customers in the current climate. The key here is to keep this information accurate and up to date. If you have temporarily closed, altered your hours, or modified your services, this is a great tool to keep new customers informed.

This is just a brief look at a few tips to help you improve SEO. Feel free to reach out to a small business advisor at the ASU-Small Business Development Center for one on one advising to help you improve your SEO.

“Business Tips” was written by Dezaray Johnson, Certified Business Advisor, and Training Coordinator of Angelo State University’s Small Business Development Center.  FMI: [email protected]. If you appreciate locally driven journalism, consider a digital subscription to GoSanAngelo.com. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram for news updates. Submit news tips to [email protected]. 

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