GUIDE: GET MY BUSINESS ONLINE | STEP TEN:
SEO Best Practices and Tools
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When starting a local business in Iowa, figuring out how to be found on the internet is an important first step. In this guide, we’ll review the basic steps you need to take to help your business reach searchers in Iowa.
Title Tags
Title tags are the first thing that a searcher sees when scanning the search results. At IASourceLink, our homepage title tag is “IASourceLink: Helping Iowa Business Start and Grow” We chose this as a result of our keyword research, which should be your first step in preparing your business to rank on Google, too. As a general rule, title tags should be between 55 and 65 characters long.
Meta Descriptions
Though meta descriptions are not considered a ranking factor, it’s important to optimize them on your site. A well optimized meta description can help improve the click-through-rate to your website. It’s considered best practice to include your primary keyword and a call-to-action in your meta description, and to keep it at 160 characters or below.
Keyword Research
Keyword research is when you use a tool, such as Google Adwords, to find out how people in your targeted area are searching. In other words, what are they typing into the search engine when looking for a product or service like yours? This will ensure the title tags you’re writing match what people are trying to find, which in turn, will help them find you easier.
Content
After you have conquered basic SEO tasks like writing new title tags and meta descriptions, it’s time to optimize the content on your site. You want content to be helpful and worthwhile for users on your site. During the writing process, work your primary keyword into the content as many times as feels natural. Avoid adding too many keywords as it can make the content difficult to read.
Hopefully, these basic SEO tips will help as you create your business’ website. SEO is an important step that you don’t want to ignore. After all, there are over 5.6 billion searches done every day — and you can’t afford to miss out on potential customers.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do you have questions about SEO and tools to stand out online? You should consider checking out our Resource Navigator. It houses the contact information of 400 of our most helpful partners from across the state who provide free to low-cost assistance to Iowa entrepreneurs and small business owners.
Q: How important is SEO for my website?
A: Extremely! Making sure your website is easily accessible and readable by different search engines is key to getting found online. With well over 1 billion websites on the internet, making sure yours stands out is more important than ever.
Q: What is SEO or Search Engine Optimization?
A: SEO, or Search Engine Optimization, is the process of improving the quality and quantity of website traffic to a website or a web page from search engines.
Q: Is SEO a “one and done” kind of thing?
A: Not entirely. Once you launch a page on your website, the words you write, the pictures you use, and the links you include will determine your ranking in the search results. If you want to keep climbing up the rankings, you need to keep improving your pages with more helpful information, link more between pages on your website, and stay up to date on the newest best practices for SEO.
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NOTICE: The information included on this website is to be used only as a guide. It is not intended to cover all provisions of the law or every taxpayer's specific circumstances.
