The Basics of SEO

Have you ever wondered if you’re missing a step in your marketing plan? Maybe you aren’t sure where to start to get your church or business seen online? It can seem like a big jump to go from planning a website to implementation of a marketing plan, especially when you get started with SEO, Search Engine Optimization. SEO has become an important piece of the marketing and development pie for your online presence. It’s now imperative to understand not only what SEO is but how to get your site seen on search engines, such as Google, Bing, DuckDuckGo, and Yahoo. 

Most search engines have the same goal, getting the right sites in front of the searchers as quickly as possible. This is accomplished by the search engines scanning sites for content, links, images, and matching tags and words on the sites immediately with search terms placed in their search boxes. The sites that most closely match the keywords will be prioritized highest. That’s a 10,000 foot view of what happens in milliseconds by robust algorithms. So there’s a bit of a dance to get to the top. That dance is the science, art, and puzzle of SEO. 

Google and SEO

Google is still the biggest search engine and the most prominent player with regards to SEO. You want Google to look favorably at your site and properly match you with searches. There’s a lot of work to do on the backend of your site, as well as the content inside your site to make that happen successfully. But there’s also some quick wins you can use to help give your site and online presence a boost, particularly if you have a location (a building) that allows you face-to-face time with your clients and customers. We’ll be continuing to add more tips on our blogs, but for this one we’ll be focusing on one immediately useful tool… 

Google My Business Is a Great Tool to Get Your SEO Started

Have you ever wondered how to get your business to show up on Google maps? Have you ever wondered how that competitor got up so high on the list of available stores or services on Google searches? The answer, at least in part, will include having, maintaining, and improving a Business Profile on Google and managing a Google My Business account. 

SEO Win—Here’s How to Start with Google My Business

Step 1: Create a Business Profile

This starts with having a google email address. With your business google email address you will begin by going to Google My Business. If you don’t already have any business account you’ll need to take several steps to set it up, including answering a few questions upfront:

1. Name
2. Category of business (from a Google picklist)
3. Contact Information
4. Location
5. Hours of operation
6. Description of business
7. Photographs of business or products

Step 2: Verification

Google walks you right through these different questions about your business, they are fairly straight forward. One item to note is that Google does want to verify that you are a real place, and won’t add you to maps or searches until you have verified your location. Google predominantly requires this be done by mail, so you’ll choose your location (one of the above items you have to enter) and when the postcard comes with your code you can go back into your Google My Business account to add that verification code, it’s on the main screen and easy to find to add. 

Step 3: Add the Details

Once you’ve verified your existence to Google you’ll be free to access all that Google My Business has to offer and it’s certainly more robust than you might think. 

Google My Business allows you to make posts, add photos and videos, events, offers, comment on reviews, message clients and customers, update your information, review insights on your Google Business profile, add specific products and services in detail (this is important!), manage and add users to the profile, and add additional locations. It’s quite a lot almost like setting up a whole new social platform but don’t let it overwhelm you. You can think of Google My Business as your entry way into being found, with 30 minutes of set up you can be found more easily and for free, that’s saying something. 

Don’t Pass Up Free SEO Help

There is not much in the world labeled as “free” that is actually free, even if it is free there are typically strings attached. With that skeptical point of view aside, Google does offer Google My Business for free and it really is completely free! Just know that it is a gateway toward their Google AdWords platform to sell you on selling your ads through GoogleAds. They even offer $100 in credit to new accounts, so be aware that if you aren’t ready or don’t want to run Google paid ads, you can just ignore that credit and keep on updating your profile, adding posts and asking your customers to leave reviews of your business on Google. They’ll also remind you to start your ads every so often so just be on the lookout. It is a free tool, no doubt, and use it to the fullest ability for free. It’s a good freebie.  

If you need help with any of this just let us know, we can help get you started, answer questions you may have, and evaluate if you are ready to start Google Advertising. Google support is not readily available, but we can be, so let us know how we can help you through the first (or next) step into SEO and digital marketing.