SEO done right can open immense opportunities for SMEs like your company. It can widen your reach and build your brand. It can help your business have a formidable presence in the digital sphere.

In part 1 of this blog, we’ve talked about some SEO tips for Irish SMEs – using white hat practices and enlisting the help of specialists. Below are the other things you can do to ensure that your site becomes visible online and reaches the right audience.

Do Local SEO

It is highly recommended for SMEs to do local SEO. This strategic technique is all about targeted marketing.

“Local SEO makes you more visible to potential customers who are in the same area as your business or shop. This is because the search results would be based on your location and the location of the potential customers.”

Optimising your website for local searches makes it possible for you to reach new clients, specifically those who are nearby and actively looking for products or services like yours.

“Reports show that over 60% of local clients make an online query on search engines like Google to find local establishments… In addition, five out of ten users who do a local online search end up visiting the store on the same day.”

Aside from introducing your brand to new clients, local SEO is also about making sure that those who know your company find it.

“It was reported that over 70% of users who are visiting a store for the first time conduct an online search to find out the location of the business. Meanwhile, 68% of local searches are performed to get directions to or the phone number of a local establishment.”

Optimise for Intent

Google, the number one search engine in world, now focuses on showing results that are most relevant to the searcher’s intent and buying journey.

What does this mean?

Having content that matches the search keyword won’t cut it anymore. To rank high on SERPs, your content should provide accurate and comprehensive answers to a user’s query.

With this revolutionary change, knowing your audience, specifically understanding the reason behind their queries, is necessary for you to create effective SEO and content strategies.

Choose the Right Keywords

The shift from Answers to Journeys also changes how keyword research should be done. You can no longer just think of your business or what you want when choosing keywords. You also have to keep your audience in mind, particularly why they are making the query. Simply put, you must optimise your keyword for intent.

Ask these questions:

Where are they in their journey when they use X keyword? What do they expect to find? Are they simply looking for information or have the intention to buy?

How do you find out the intent behind a keyword?

“Simply checking out search results for a query would give you an idea what kind of content is needed. Furthermore, certain words can give you an idea about the user’s intent. For example, searchers with “how to” queries are usually looking for informative content. Hence, blog posts often dominate the search results. Meanwhile, when the words “buy” or “price” is present, the user’s intent is usually to purchase. This is why product pages dominate SERPs for this type of searches.”

Another thing you need to keep in mind is to choose keywords with location intent. This is a must to rank well on local search results. To be more precise, pick mid- or long-tailed keywords that are niche and location specific.

For example, instead of simply using Japanese restaurant, go for “Japanese restaurant in Kilkenny” or “authentic Japanese restaurant in Kilkenny”.

You may also include prominent places and landmarks near your business – “Japanese restaurant near Kilkenny castle”.

Make Your Site Mobile-Friendly

Why do you need to have a mobile-friendly website? Majority of searches nowadays are done using a mobile device. If your site fails to render on mobile devices, visitors are going to leave your site.

Did you know:

Most mobile searches have transactional intent. This means that these users are ready to purchase.

Hence, having a website that is not mobile-friendly is tantamount to losing money.

What’s more:

Mobile-friendliness is one of Google’s ranking signals. So, to be on top of the search results, you need to satisfy this requirement.

Making your site appear in organic search results (and ranking high) can benefit your company in a lot of ways. Yes, this is not an easy task, but it is not impossible either, especially if you work with the right people and employ tried and tested strategies.

Need help with creating an effective SEO strategy for your local business? We have SEO specialists who have successfully helped numerous Irish SMEs. Call us now at 019609023!

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Image by Diego Velázquez from Pixabay