Some clients just want results ASAP and won’t accept “SEO is a long-term strategy” conversation as an answer to the question, “How long will it take for me to see results?”. The truth is that SEO done properly is a GREAT long-term strategy but there are several things we can do to realize some early wins. Here are just a few of them.

How to Improve Your SEO? Start With Local

Even if you consider yourself a global business, Google’s Local Search database is valuable.

1)   Your Google My Business profile can be a treasure trove of high quality search engine traffic. This is not a secret and therefore I am surprised that so many businesses ignore this goldmine. If you have not claimed your local profiles yet, that would be your first step. Start here: https://www.google.com/business/ and get that listing verified. Complete the profile 100% including images for branding, team photos, products pictures and exterior building pictures that are flattering. I go as far as optimizing image file names and captions.

In the info section, you are asked for a business description. DO NOT IGNORE this opportunity. As you can see from this example below, write a well thought out business description that includes your top 3 keyword phrases. Do not force anything, it must read well for the user. Search bots crawl and index this content and it is VERY valuable in delivering top of the page results. I also recommend you expand your geographical reach by including regional location information that searchers might use such as county names, surrounding states and even slang or acronyms that may be used by searchers.

2)  Find Keywords with Low Competition: Your competitors may have been doing SEO for years and therefore the more competitive (or obvious) keyword phrases will be more difficult to win page one positions initially. So my recommendation is to invest a little time researching keywords in Ahrefs, SEMRush and other keyword discovery tools that show Keyword Difficulty metrics. Most business owners target the big broad keywords because the traffic volume metrics are much greater. But what does that matter if your ability to win a Google page 1 position is just not realistic. Longer tail keywords and keyword variations may have less volume but offer you a greater opportunity to win faster.

3)   Google Search Console Query reports is a wonderful resource of keyword data to discover what keywords you may already be ranking for but you don’t know about yet. First off, if you are not yet using this free tool from Google…you are missing out on much more than the query reports. 3-4 weeks after adding your website to Google’s Search Console, you will start to see Query report data. The longer you have been using it, more keyword data you will have to work with. I often download this keyword data into Excel, filter out the keywords that we already are getting clicks from and sort the list by impressions. Then I highlight rank position information that is under position 25. From this list, look through the queries that offer the best chances to win new customers.

Then I will write a blog post, create a new page or build a new digital asset that I can deploy on this client’s website. The example used above is for a telecommunication engineer that customizes radio communication solutions and these 5 new phrases can be easy wins. One new client for this engineer can deliver a $50,000 contract so it is a no brainer to go this extra mile.

4)  Faster Page Load Speeds is a ranking factor these days. If your website loads slow, Google sees that as a negative visitor experience. Let’s get that fixed ASAP. There are many tools that help us measure page speed. I have been using this one to help me identify what may be slowing a client’s page down. If your website is built on WordPress, there is an ever-growing list of plugins that improve page speed. Click this link to see a good list of plugins that might work for you. Install the best one for you and let’s get your website up to speed.

5)  Mobil First Indexing is Here. That means that Google is more focused on your ability to satisfy the mobile visitor these days. The first step, let’s see if your website is Mobile Friendly by testing it here:

Speed and performance are key ingredients to your website’s success in the mobile world. In addition to being lightning fast, your mobile site should offer an enjoyable user experience. Find out what your mobile customers’ consider most important on your site and make that content easy for them to find on your mobile presentation. Try to remove any obstacles and make sure users can achieve their goals quickly. There’s a lot you need to consider when optimizing user experience. We can help you prioritize content and winning more visitors in the world of mobile first indexing.

SEO Optimization Tips That Boost Traffic Take Work

Yes, these 5 SEO recommendations may take an investment of your time but will definitely help you realize a return on your investment in the short term. Developing high quality content, seeking authoritative backlinks and deploying and long term SEO strategy should not be ignored but these tips are a must for any business looking to win new customers from Google and other search engines.