Brighton Chamber: Top tips to help you become an SEO ninja

By telling Google exactly where you are and what you do, it helps them to put your business in front of nearby potential customers.

It’s often thought that ‘SEO’ is some form of wizardry that can only be performed by professionals.

I’d like to share eight tricks of the trade so that you can be a wizard, too.

1) You’ve got to have a Google My Business page. This a free service, enabling you to own your space. You can add your address, local, opening hours and it puts your business on the map.

2) Anything that you post on social media, from blogs to the latest deals, should also be posted on your Google My Business page. The more active you are on your page, the more Google trusts your business.

3) Another vital part of ensuring you’ve got great local SEO is through NAP (number, address, postcode) citations. Essentially, you need to make sure that your details are the same across all sites your business is listed on, such as websites and directories.

4) To move a little towards the technical, you need to make sure you’re using schema markup. It’s essentially a code that you put across your website to ensure that Google knows what your business is about and can be easily worked with a developer.

5) Using localised keywords across your site, also referred to as on-page optimisation, is also an essential Local SEO practice. Local keywords should be in your title tags, alt image tags, headers and within your content.

6) Make sure you’ve got local links pointing to your website. This can either be through a local directory, business or blogger. Go after as many local links as you can.

7) Encourage as many people as you can to leave reviews. They’re extremely important for local ranking as it tells Google that people are using and engaging with what your business is offering. The best review sites include Trip Advisor, Yelp and Facebook.

8) The latest Google algorithm updates are based on promoting sites with the best user experience, so you have to ensure that your site is as easy to use as possible. Every piece of content needs a purpose.

Stuart Davies is the co-founder of digital marketing agency, Creative Bloom and is leading a Bite-sized Learning: How to be an SEO ninja for Brighton Chamber on May 10. For more information about Brighton Chamber training and networking events, visit: www.businessinbrighton.org.uk/events