For the past decade or so, search engine optimization or “SEO” has been a buzzword that many small business owners have come across when trying to figure out how best to market their business.
While it is a vital part of ensuring you get noticed online, many people tend to shrink it down to just a buzzword. Why? It can be confusing, it never seems like you get immediate results, and it’s not clear exactly how to be good at SEO.
In this article, I’ll break down what SEO is, why it’s important and how you can build upon your SEO (and yes, it is an ongoing work in progress, but it can be fun!).
What is SEO?
SEO is search engine optimization. Okay, nice. What does search engine optimization mean? Well, I once was told to think about SEO like this. SEO is the perpetual action of pleasing Google, so more people find you online. Ever wonder why websites show up in a particular order when you search online? A few contributing factors, but SEO plays a huge role in this.
Why is SEO important?
As a marketer, I found this joke to be funny, I hope you like it too…
Where is the best place to hide a dead body?
On page 2 of your Google search results
**everyone reading this laughs hysterically*
Joking aside, I think we all can relate to the point here. When searching for something on Google, we NEVER go to page 2 and beyond to find what we are looking for. We stay within the top 3 results, and SEO will help you dramatically in ensuring you show up in those first 3 results.
3 ways to improve your SEO?
Now that you know what SEO is and why it’s important, here are the 3 ways you can improve your SEO
1. Start pumping out that content
Google loves content… even more than all of us, believe it or not! The key thing that Google likes is content FREQUENCY.
Above all, it’s important to make sure that within your website, you are adding photos, articles, posts, videos, etc. regularly. Oftentimes people will assume you can write one article and let it ride (which you certainly can) but constant new content is very important.
When publishing this content regularly it is also important to keep one thing in mind.
Would people search for this content?
I’ll give an example that may be applicable. If you are a martial arts school based in Minneapolis, MN, you likely want people to visit your website so that they can register themselves or their child to be a new student.
The individual will probably go to Google and type in “upcoming martial arts registrations in Minneapolis”.
Make sure that the content you are posting can serve as a result for that individual. In other words. Make sure that the article you just posted this week is promoting your upcoming registration and has keywords in it, like “martial arts” “registration” and “upcoming”.
2. Make sure other people link to your website
The technical term for this is “backlinks”. Google loves backlinks because it verifies that you are a trusted business.
A comparable situation I like to use to explain this:
If a job candidate is telling you how amazing they are and everything they have achieved, you don't take it at face value. But, if a non-biased third party tells you how amazing that job candidate is and everything they achieved, they instantly become 10x more trustworthy.
If another website is linking back to your website, you will instantly become 10x more trustworthy.
Some ideas to get links back to your site- ask your families to help promote your gym, studio, or facility. Find potential sponsors or partners that can drive links back to your website.
3. Your mobile experience should be to the nines
Based on your own web searching behavior, I don’t think you would be surprised to know that most people use their mobile devices to surf the web.
The tricky part with this is when we are making edits to our website, and we are usually doing it from our laptop. So we save and publish, and forget to check how that website looks from our cellphone.
Being mobile-friendly with your website will help your SEO ratings as well. Make sure that you check your website provider’s capabilities for being mobile-friendly!
If you are looking for a website to help with that, SportsEngine Motion is an all-in-one website specifically for studios, gyms, and facilities that includes mobile-friendly capabilities.
About Andie Ostrowski
Andie Ostrowski is a content contributor for NBC Sports Next's GoMotion brand. She graduated with a marketing degree from the University of North Dakota, where she played Division 1 soccer and served on the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee. Today, Andie volunteers as a student mentor in conjunction with the Pancratz Business School Mentor Program.