Looking for SEO Tips for Business Startups? Great, you’re in luck! One of the most common complaints I hear from potential customers is about their website’s search engine ranking. They’ve had a site built elsewhere but want to know why doesn’t it come up in Google on the first page? Where do you start to explain search engine optimisation easily and quickly?

Here is what I usually say to them about retrospective SEO and what as a business you need to focus to improve your search engine ranking:

1. You need to have UNIQUE page titles which include your keywords. No more than 65 characters long.
2. You need to include the keywords in the page heading <H1> tag
3. You need to put the keywords as close to the beginning of the first sentence.
4. You need to put the keywords and similar or related phrases in the copy. If your keyword is “Dog” then you would expect to see the words; kennel, dog lead, dog food, walkies, bone.
5. Ideally you need to have around 300 words per page to index well in the search engines. They need enough text to analyse it basically.
6. You need to put internal links from keywords to other pages in your site eg. Make the word ‘Product X’ in your text links to the page in the site called ‘Product X’.
7. Using images of your catalogue or brochure instead of typing it all in to your website has no SEO value. You need real text and separate images.
8. All images should have ALT text which should be unique and descriptive of the image. Use keywords if relevant but don’t stuff them if not required.
9. External links to good quality sites can be useful – you are providing information – but don’t use too many.
10. Add Meta Description – this is what is shown in search engine results if specified otherwise it may show the text on the page or the menu if it is just an image. You are not maximising the opportunity to describe the product featured. I like to include a phone number if possible – a call to action. No more than 165 characters long.
11. If they have added Meta Keywords in the head that’s ok but nearly all search engines ignore these – Google does. Doesn’t penalise you but no help either.
12. Write your copy for humans but remember that you need to describe it better in written text. We are lazy in our spoken words but this can be negative on your website. For example, you might say ‘This is our most popular product and it is now back in stock’ but just stop and think. What is the popular product? It is better to write ‘Our popular range of Blue Widgets are back in stock from 1st September’. The keyword ‘blue widgets’ is included and it gives some context. The previous sentence had no SEO value. Make ‘blue widgets’ an internal link to a product page about ‘blue widgets’ and you are starting to get somewhere. I hope that makes sense to everyone.

This is my list of SEO Tips for Business Startups and what I think should be done. I’m sure people will say that you should do other things and they are probably right. No list is exhaustive but I believe that these 12 points will help you improve your search engine ranking.

Another tip is to type in site:www.YOURWEBSITE.co.uk in the Google search bar and see all your SERP results. If someone searches and finds your site they will see the most relevant of these. are they maximised to sell your site or entice a click? Be honest and if you need to address your actual results then do it.

Make sure there is a strong sales message if relevant on your homepage. Think about your USP. Who are you aiming at and what are you offering? Is it clear to a website visitor?

Check to see if your pages are light on detail or information. Cutting corners on content may be ok for customers who know the products but search engines look for content, related keywords, good descriptions, images, technical information. They can only index and assess what is on the page.

For example, ask yourself is that really enough information to base a buying decision on? Does it need to be rewritten and expanded on with good keywords positioned in the right place. Is the main search term you want to be found on in the page title and in the <H1> page heading.

Also make sure you use a ‘call to action’ sign off on each page. Something like this…

If you would like to know more about the range of Blue Widgets available from Blue Widget Ltd. please call us on XXXXX XXXXXX or use the contact form provided. Samples are available upon request.

You need to make your phone number easy to find. In my experience, most people will glance at your site, decide whether they like it, ignore all the text and information you have provided and just call or email you because it is easier. Google needs the text to serve your page to a customer. Don’t think that nobody reads it – Google does and that is how they rate you.

Do this and be critical of your website. This is what you need to do to try and get more visible in the search engines. It is a good first step but there are no guarantees that it will shoot up the rankings. It should help you become more prominent in the search engines and will help you understand what you need to do.

I hope this is useful to you and I hope you enjoyed my SEO Tips for Business Startups.