As a small business, you’re probably already familiar with search engine optimization or SEO.
You may not, however, already be implementing it to your advantage.
This may be because of your lack of knowledge about how to go about it or a limited budget to work with.
Either way, in today’s digital world, SEO is essential, and worth the time it takes to include in your marketing strategy.
If optimizing your website and ranking higher in search engine rankings still seems challenging, it helps to know that there are affordable SEO services and relating strategies that can make all the difference for your small business.
Here is what you will learn in this post:
Why Should You Invest in SEO Services?
Without investing in SEO services, you leave it up to chance whether potential customers find you are not.
But with these SEO services, you can gain more visibility and brand recognition, generate leads, and create more conversion opportunities.
While your marketing budget may be small, there’s a lot you can do with those smaller amounts when it comes to SEO, and knowing which best practices to focus on will be key.
How Much Does SEO Cost?
An SEO strategy for small businesses can be surprisingly affordable.
SEO service agencies today can create a customizable SEO campaign for your small business, and this commonly ranges anywhere between $800 to $1500 a month.
Another option is to take it in-house with the help of the various affordable SEO tools available online today.
Start by designating an SEO marketing budget, then create a plan to make the most of what you have.
Affordable vs. Cheap Services for SEO
Today you have several options to help increase your business visibility and bottom line.
However, the last thing you want is a cheap, one-size-fits-all SEO strategy that will more than likely leave you disappointed.
You can recognize these cheap SEO services by their boilerplate or generic characteristics, designed to reach quick website optimization for a lower cost and with no ability to customize for your small business needs.
Your small business is unique, so your SEO strategy should be also. To help with this, seek out affordable, not cheap, services for best effect.
To be more exact, seek out the affordable SEO services listed below and use them to your advantage to obtain beneficial results.
6 Affordable SEO Services
Whether you want to work with an SEO agency or keep it in-house, you’ll want to be sure the following SEO services and related strategies are included to help your small business achieve higher success.
1. Technical SEO
Technical SEO refers to the process of back-end website optimization.
This process will include the invisible elements of your website which make it work correctly for crawlability and indexing.
Important Technical SEO strategies your small business needs include:
- Website architecture/structure
- URL structure
- Caching
- Page speed optimization
- 3xx or 4xx Error detection and repair
- Log file analysis
- Image Compression
During your website design, applying these technical SEO strategies can prevent issues from occurring later on, saving you excess time and money in the long run.
Affordable SEO Tools for technical SEO include:
- WordPress, to create a mobile-friendly, optimized website.
- PageSpeed Insights by Google.
- GT Metrix, for website testing and monitoring.
- Xenu Link Sleuth, to identify 404 errors and missing tags.
- CognitiveSEO Toolset, to help with the structure of your website.
2. Content Marketing
Content is the heart of your digital marketing strategy. It can make or break your SEO strategy as well.
Optimizing your website content is essential, then, whether that content is text, images, or video.
Your content will alert search engines and potential customers to the value you offer, and this can move you up higher on search engine results pages (SERPs).
To create that valuable content, start by conducting keyword research.
Don’t just focus on single keywords but also on what are known as long-tail keywords, which have less competition.
There are many beneficial online resources available to help with this, including many that are free.
However, you may want to spend part of your marketing budget here for a paid resource, as your keyword research is crucial to everything you do in SEO.
Some online keyword research tools include:
- Google Autosuggest
- Google Keyword Planner
- KeywordTool
- SEMrush
- KWFinder
Also, to help you find topics that searchers are asking about today, try using the free tool AnswerThePublic.
Include different types of content, all surrounding your keywords. These may include blog posts, videos, or visual content such as infographics.
Also, consider adding interactive content, which can engage viewers and keep them on your website longer. This longer dwell time, in turn, will get you noticed by the search engine algorithms.
Finally, to help you stay on track, plan your content with the help of an editorial calendar and any other content governance tools you find helpful.
3. Link building
Links are a recognizable and valuable SEO element.
However, link building is not a simple process where you determine who will link back to your website.
Instead, you’ll need to create a link-building strategy that includes both internal and external links, then continue to monitor these links to ensure they remain relevant and continue to work over time.
Include the following in your strategy.
Research Competitors’ Links
Start by analyzing what other businesses in your field or niche are linking to, especially those businesses already ranking high up in search engine results.
Become familiar with what your competitors are doing right, and this will help you improve your own strategy.
For help with this, locate one of the available backlink analysis tools online, such as the one offered by CognitiveSEO.
Link to High-Quality Sources
Within your content, such as blog posts, always link to relevant, high-quality sources.
Include Internal Links
Use internal links in your content to direct potential customers to other information on your website. This internal linking will also help search engines index your site’s content.
Try Guest Posting
Guest posting is the process of creating content for publishing on a website owned by someone else.
Along with the content, you can include your name and usually a link back to your own website. This tactic will bring you recognition by a wider audience.
Comment on Other Websites or Blogs
Comment on other blogs or websites on topics relating to your business in some way.
By doing so, you can build relationships and create potential opportunities for others to promote your small business website.
In other words, commenting allows you to mention your brand and lure viewers to your website.
4. Video marketing SEO
Video marketing is big today, but you don’t have to be a big business to benefit.
Before getting started creating your videos, however, begin with your keyword research. From there, create videos around what people are already searching for and showcase what you have to offer.
Making these videos today can be as easy as picking up your Smartphone. You can also find affordable online video editing software for whatever your needs may be.
A few tips to help you optimize your videos better include:
- Add keywords to titles and descriptions of each video (and maybe source links).
- Repurpose content into video format, such as a popular blog or podcast episode. Interlink the two for double exposure.
- Include attractive thumbnail images.
5. Social Media Platforms SEO
With so many consumers using social media today, you don’t want to leave these platforms out of your SEO strategy.
A well-thought-out and planned social media marketing strategy can boost the number of visitors to your website and improve your SEO.
To be successful, create thorough, consistent profiles on your chosen platforms which will more than likely include Facebook.
Build a community on these social media platforms by providing useful, engaging, or entertaining content and by responding to comments.
6. Local SEO
Search engines value providing users with local results to their queries. To make sure you are one of those results, you need to optimize for local SEO.
Here are specific ways you can accomplish this:
- Claim and update your free Google My Business Profile.
- Ask customers to post reviews.
- Use social media marketing.
- Ensure NAP (Name, Address, Phone) citations are consistent across all platforms.
- Partner with another local business for promotions or backlinking.
Wrap Up: Affordable SEO Services Benefit Your Small Business
Knowing and implementing these top six services and their corresponding strategies can take your SEO to a whole new level and put you higher up on those search engine result pages.
The good news is that your small business doesn’t need to spend a fortune accomplishing these measures for success.
Affordable SEO services are available today by specialized marketing agencies as well as online for your in-house use. You can incorporate these in various ways to fit within a planned marketing budget and enjoy the success they bring.
For more help with this, learn how you can make the most of your budget with this free assessment and marketing budget planner bundle.
