Content development tips for small business SEO success

As a small business, trying to stand out online, attracting traffic and making conversions can be really tough. Especially with all the larger competing companies taking up the digital space. But that doesn’t mean it can’t be done. In fact, your company could muscle in on the online market place, simply by making sure you know who to target, and how to target them, using a range of Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) strategies. And here at Pumpkin Web Design, we are Preston’s leading web marketing and web design experts. We work with both small and large businesses around the region, to deliver web marketing solutions that get results. As a result, we have produced this guide to content development tips for small business SEO success.

Content and SEO: A partnership

While on-page and off-page SEO techniques target many aspects of your digital presence, including technical changes and social media, your content can also be used to support SEO.

The content of your website should principally aim to:

• provide the relevant information that users are seeking
• be original and unique- copied content just wont cut it
• be professional and in line with your company branding

And each of these aims can also influence SEO. For example, search engine algorithms are looking for websites that are:

• relevant
• original
• authorative
• reliable, and
• professional

If your website can tick these boxes through great content, it is more likely to rank higher on the Search Engine Results Page (SERP). This means that more organic traffic will be generated through a relevant search.

Content development tips for small business SEO success

So we know that content can make a big difference to your SEO, but how do you go about creating content that will really be influential? Well, there are a number of steps.

1. Keyword Research

All pieces of great content start with keyword research. This is where you research relevant topics that your company should be ranking for. And while there will be a principal keyword you are aiming to pin down for your company, there will also be long tail keywords or phrases that you will need to explore too. These different types of keywords play important, but different roles. For example, a plumber in Preston would need the website to rank for “Preston plumber”, while articles or blog content produced would need to rank for more specific enquiries, such as “resetting boiler pressure”. This two pronged approach, using a blog section, means that you can target a much wider audience, and provide a lot more relevant information. Which ultimately means more traffic, and more sales.

However, you can’t simply choose your keywords at random. Your keywords need to be well researched. And before selecting a keyword, you should consider:

• the volume of the competition
• the relevance of the keyword
• the keywords your competitors are ranking for

2. Content ideation and creation

Choose the right type of content to provide the information for your keyword. Would it be better suited with a:

• text based article
• a video (with full transcript for the SEO value)
• a listicle
• a downloadable resource
• or, an infographic?

Choosing the most appropriate content type can help to improve the performance of the content, and your website in general.

For more information or professional advice and support, especially about content development tips, get in touch with the experts today, here at Pumpkin Web Design.