Tips to help your Business Get Found Online

Establishing a strong online presence is essential for small and medium-sized enterprises – whether you run a local bakery, a boutique consultancy, or a neighbourhood hardware store you need to be able to be found online. To help potential customers find you more easily, you can utilise the power of SEO (Search Engine Optimisation). Improving (aka optimising) your SEO helps your business appear in search results when people nearby search for products or services you offer. It’s like putting a spotlight on your business for local customers and making it easier for people to find your business, contact you, and visit your store or office. 

SEO seems like one of those buzz words and can easily be put in the ‘too-hard’ basket. However, here are some tips to help you increase your online visibility to potential customers. 

1. Make the most of your Google Business Profile (GBP) 

You’ve probably heard of ‘Google My Business’ which is an online profile for your business. It’s now known as a Google Business profile and allows you to input information such as business hours, contact information, and images of your products or services. To make changes to your listing, simply search for your business in Google, and on the right-hand side it should come up with your business. Scroll down and click ‘Own this business’ and you’ll be asked to manage this business. If you want to go the extra mile, you can ask for reviews, share updates and offers, but this is not necessary. 

2. Make sure your website is optimised for mobile devices 

People searching from their smartphones is becoming more popular than searching from computers and laptops, so it’s essential your website displays nicely on a mobile device. If you’re not sure, you can check by using your own mobile device and opening up your website – you’ll soon see if there’s a problem! 

3. Build backlinks to your website 

Having high-quality links to your website (called backlinks), can boost your SEO. For example, you can get listed in an online directory, chamber of commerce, or local pages. If you sponsor an event, ask them to link the online information to your website. KEY TIP - make sure the websites that link to yours are ‘high quality’ – which means from reputable websites rather than random websites. 

4. Optimise your website’s SEO 

When was the last time you looked at what you’re saying on your website? Are you using the common terms/names for what you’re selling? Is it easy to read, and have you included what people might search for in your descriptions? Make sure the words you’re using on your website match what people are searching for. 

5. More complicated SEO efforts 

If you feel like you’ve mastered the above and are looking for some slightly more complicated things to try, here are some ideas: 

a) Ask for reviews from satisfied customers on your Google Business profile and on social media. This shows you value customer feedback. 

b) Promote your products or services to a local audience through paid ads using location-specific campaigns such as Google Ads or Meta Ads (Facebook & Instagram). 

c) Analyse and track how your website and paid advertising is performing by using Google Analytics and Google Search.