Customers are researching online before they make a phone call, go in-store, or make a purchase. When customers go to your website, you’re able to engage with them earlier in their buying journey than ever before. So, how do you get more traffic to your website?
Small Business BC recently hosted a webinar featuring Ollo Metrics co-founder Warren Thompson. In his SEO workshop, he demonstrated how you can get more traffic to your website through search engine marketing and analytics. Let’s take a look at some of Warren’s best tips:
Search Engine Marketing Basics
According to Warren, there are two main drivers of web traffic on search engines:
- SEO – Search engine optimization
- PPC – Pay Per Click advertisements
In this article, we’ll focus on SEO, but we’ll touch briefly on PPC here.
PPC marketing includes search ads, display ads, shopping ads, video ads, discovery ads, and Performance Max ads. Warren recommends taking a Google Skillshop course to learn more. Even if you plan on delegating or contracting your ads out to an employee or freelancer, it’s good to understand the basics.
What Goes Into a Website’s SEO?
SEO, search engine optimization, is all about optimizing your website’s content and structure to improve visibility on search engine results pages, namely on Google. Two things contribute to your SEO: both what’s on your website and what’s off your website:
On Your Website
- Blog content
- Site structure
- Site speed
- Mobile-friendly
- Keywords in content
Off Your Website
- Backlinks
- Directory citations
- Google Business Profile
- Social Channels
- Direct branded traffic
How to Improve SEO
According to Warren, there are three things you should do to improve your SEO:
- Use Google Analytics “search queries” to see how your customers search and identify keywords
- Use Ubersuggest to scan your site and all your competitor’s sites for their keywords
- Create high-quality pages and blog posts for people who are searching for those keywords you identified
Using Google Analytics 4 to Understand Your Audience
The first step to increasing your website traffic is to get an understanding of your traffic. Warren recommends using Google Analytics 4 (GA4.) While it might not be the most user-friendly analytics tool, it is effective. Some platforms like Squarespace, Wix, Shopify, and WordPress also have built-in analytics tools.
You can use GA4 to understand your customers and your audience. Who are they? What do they care about? What are they searching for? GA4 has a ton of valuable demographic details on your audience.
So, if you don’t have GA4 on your website already, there are plenty of free tutorials on YouTube about how to set it up. Warren also recommends using Google Search Console, which can be linked to your GA4, to help you see the keywords people are using to find your business.
Using the Right Keywords
Keywords, words or phrases that people enter into search engines to find results, are an important part of your SEO strategy. How do you pick the right keywords? You want to look at your keywords:
- Volume – the total number of monthly searches
- Competition – keyword “difficulty”
- Intent – the “why” behind the search
A tool like Ubersuggest can show you the keywords you already rank for on Google, the pages on your site that are performing the best, which sites are linking back to your site, and the same metrics for your competitors.
Another tool, Google Trends, can help give you more information about keywords, including how popular they are.
Once you find those keywords you want to rank for, it’s time to make some high-quality blog posts and pages on your website. The goal is to build trust, create a great user experience, create informational content that answers questions, and share relevant content. Over time, this will make your website resilient and successful.
Google Business Profile
Finally, an important part of your SEO strategy is having a solid Google Business Profile. Think of this like your online storefront. Here are some tips for improving your online storefront and welcoming more customers:
- Keep your business hours updated
- Update your categories, offerings, and services
- Upload relevant photos to showcase the customer experience
- Include keywords in your description of your profile and in responses to your reviews
- Update menu or appointment profiles
- Update social profiles
- Get reviews to increase trust
By following and implementing these SEO strategies, you’re well on your way to improving your SEO and getting more traffic to your website.
Small Business BC is Here to Help
SBBC is a non-profit resource centre for BC-based small businesses. Whatever your idea of success is, we’re here to provide holistic support and resources at every step of the journey. Check out our range of business webinars, on-demand E-Learning Education, our Talk to an Expert Advisories, or browse our business articles.
