If you have been working for small-scale brands over the past few years and thinking on whether it is time to try to reach a bigger market, you might want to see this first. Even if your strategies and your techniques have contributed to the success of the smaller brands that you have worked with, it may not necessarily do the same to the bigger ones. Why?

Popular brands encounter set backs too!

Although it may seem like it is a no-brainer, it is really more complex and complicated as it looks. You cannot just liberally apply same practices on all the brands you are working with just because you think it will work well. If you are lucky, well, it might… but for the most part, it really will not. Even if the scale of the brands is not that significantly different or far apart, a single use or misuse of a technique can make a world of a difference.

When talking about handling bigger brands, there are many other things to consider that may not necessarily apply to smaller brands. Aside from the fact that you are going to be dealing with a wider market, you would also be addressing more setbacks and dilemmas. This is exactly the reason why you will a fresher approach on marketing if you are thinking of working with bigger brands. This is where search engine optimization saves the day.

Why incorporate SEO?

More like why not? Search engine optimization is a methodology of strategies, techniques and tactics used to increase the amount of visitors to a website by obtaining a high-ranking placement in the search results page of a search engine (SERP). Therefore, to put it simply, SEO helps to ensure that your site is more accessible to search engines and it also increases the chances that your site will be found by the said search engines.

In this modern day approach to marketing, not only that it helps stretch our audience to its maximum potential. However, it also makes it more convenient for our brand to always stay in the game. Incorporating search engine optimization to your system will enhance technical performance, your content, website health, marketing, data processing, and total site performance. Being more visible and accessible to search engines is like being the prettiest girl at your prom; it is always going to be so hard to miss you.

Huge brands have more responsibilities and have greater tendencies to face bigger marketing challenges and setbacks.  To counter all of that, you need to incorporate search engine optimization Moreover, you can use in its full glory because of the fact that it holistically takes care of most of the marketing job for you. If you apply SEO the correct way, you really will not need to think much at all. In diving in to a bigger water, you need to equip yourself for a longer and more exhausting swim, but search engine optimization will help keep you afloat.

Up Next:

I will talk about some SEO Tips That Will Help Marketers Conquer Huge Brands

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One of the finest way of creating a business is by developing the search engine optimization or SEO elements is to develop the  site’s possibilities of being in the list of Google for connected searches.

Keywords are essential part of the approach; optimizing your site for definite determinants will give you the capability to confine the searchers for the keyword you are ranking for. Hence, you will be able to distinguish your preferred market. Therefore, altering your keywords can impact your site’s capability.

To prosper, you have to learn to pick the precise keywords. But could you determine what the early set keywords are? Here are some guidelines you may want to consider:

Distinguish your objectives.

First thing to do is to give yourself time to really deliberate on your objectives before you even start to determine the keywords. Here are some of the examples:

• How quickly do you want to see the outcome? SEO is a long time process to get the kind of results you will be happy with. It could take a few or often longer months. But if you want a significant results, then you are left to do only one thing. And that is to choose low-competition and high-volume keywords.
• Are your adaptable to your target audience? Are you bent on focusing on a specific audience or you could be amenable to different kinds of people who goes and visit your site?
• What sort of category of the traffic are you appealing to? Do you care for people to acquire your products or are you centering on brand awareness at the moment?

Choose on the correct mix.

Immediately after you know your intent, you can decide on the opposite extremes amid “head” and “longtail” keywords. The former are made of small phrases usually one or even three words which is linked to higher traffic and huge adversaries.

Do your introductory research.

As soon as you are all set on the objectives you want to accomplish, you can now begin to the research:

• Emerge with basic concepts. Kick off by charting ideas regarding what people might be searching for. You need not to be exhaustive, but at least you can aim to look for a minimal wide category of searches, and keywords meant for header and long-tail keywords so that it will be easy for people to find you.
• Usage of matter and keywords. What comes next is to utilize an online tool to aid you to have extra subject ideas.
• Come up with a list. Transport the keywords and put it in the spreadsheet, which will make it easier for you to classify them by their various fields.

Reduce the list.

Start with discarding of the feeblest candidates. Look at the factors below:

• Consider the search volume.; this refers to the many times a specific phrase is search. It is a convenient way to measure how much traffic you will gain from a particular search inquiry.
• Subsequently, pay attention on every keyword’s rivalry. The bigger the rivalry, the harder to rank for those keywords.
• The relevancy of every single keyword should be analyzed. Will it really convey the type of traffic your site needs?

Pick the finest contenders. 

• The topmost keywords can be a personal preference. Every site has a particular keywords determined by the objectives. Be cautious and lessen your huge keyword list.
• Be observant to know the growth of the keywords and do not be afraid to make modifications if it does not do its job. Pick a few that is easy to optimize.

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In SEO there are a lot of strategies and information that are actually just noises. Whether or not it is okay with you, know that SEO has needs for only the small things. SEO, after all is truly simple.

Doing business in a small space

To start with, you can develop a weekly approach. Here’s a list of what you can do on a weekly basis:

1. Try doing 2 blog posts.

Content is the SEO’s catalytic agent for results. No matter how hard you work to optimize your site, it is not enough. You need a good content to continuously rank for the correct search terms.

Many businesses think that it good to post one blog a day. Yes, it sounds good, but it could be too intense. You could just end up being disappointed. Also, your everyday post will have numerous errors. Two blog posts a week is manageable and simpler, too. You might not know it, but you could really have the right content to improve your SEO scheme.

2. Include some guest post too.

Alongside your content on your site, you similarly need to commit some of your valuable time in posting on other sites. Guest blogging can elevate your site. Here are the reasons why:

• Developing your website’s backlinks.
• Advancing your brand’s awareness.
• Brand association with the lead players in the industry.
• Starting your personal brand.
• Bringing forth leads and traffic.
• Building buzz on social media.

3. Collaborate with influencers.

Know who the biggest influencers in the industry are. Set a target of communicating with an influencer every day. The encounter could be brief or lengthy depends on how things are going along.

Casual things like giving a comment on the influencer’s blog post to having lunch or coffee together. You could also join the influencer in one of those seminars or conventions. The end result could be a big network and a good professional relationship. In time, these influencers will start mentioning your name, linking to your site, and giving you a chance to widen your network with their audiences.

4. Devote time with Google Analytics data.

One of the things you have to do is to find time to spend with Google Analytics. What is a few minutes, every Monday and then go back to it every Saturday. It will help you see the changes and discover the critical patterns earlier. Employing SEO schemes will just go to waste if you do not bother to examine what goes on in your own website.

5. Do alterations in your site.

Now that you have examined your site’s analytics, you can now perform the kind of optimization that is needed. Here are some examples:

• The minute you observe that your loading is getting slow than its average speed, devote some time to make it faster.
• If you fail to rank for a handful of keyword, or you saw a chance to rank using other keywords. Be bold and take the opportunity to insert fresh keywords and concepts to heighten your ranking.
• Make a duplicate of what works well. Use the same template for the pages that earn less clicks.

An hour a week is the secret to consistently to perfect and intensify your efforts!

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SEO is crucial to rank a website, so it will gain traffic and possibly earn money once monetized. All website owners exhaust all possible means of optimization, but some fall prey to some bad practices.

A sudden decline in traffic and poor rankings are just some tell-tale signs that you’re doing something wrong on your optimization.

What you need to do here is to assess and audit your SEO methods. Chances are you’re committing some of these mistakes:

*Using Heading tags for formatting on your website

You can use as many H1, H2, H3, etc., tags on your website as you like. Every page should have one H1 tag and one H2 tag at least. What kills websites is when H tags are overused or are used purely for formatting.

Web crawlers can detect the inappropriate use of H tags and penalize your site for doing so. This will affect your ranking and the indexability of your pages.

The correct way to use H tags is to use them structurally. Think of H1 tags as a chapter, H2 tags as a sub-chapter snd H3 tags as a sub-sub-chapter. One should always follow the other and they should nestle underneath each other. Note, it is completely okay to have several H2 tags after an H1 tag.

*Using spammy content

Google hates spammy content and the search engine sees to it that spammy websites get penalized for such a bad practice.

Spammy content like commenting with unrelated and stuffy links on threads, sending spammy push notifications on subscribers, and more are just some of the typical examples.

However, some website owners even pay writers to do this. It’s a desperate move, and although it may give additional traffic, it will become detrimental later on.

*Duplicating content

Duplicate content is a two-edged sword. Copying and plagiarizing blocks of content is a no-no, not just in Google but in the entire writing practice.

However, Google has a specific definition to duplicate content – the one that they use to define which one to penalize.

According to the search engine, duplicate content is “matching or appreciably similar blocks of content present in more than one location on the web”.

This sets the record straight, as it’s almost impossible to write 100% unique content. With millions of pages on the web, many websites may use the same words and talk about the same things.

*Placing too many ads

Too many ads on the above-fold of your website will earn you a thumbs-down from Google. This practice defeats the purpose of information. Aside from that, it will put off visitors due to the eyesore of excessive advertisement banners.

The above-fold is the part of the website that’s visible without scrolling. Since it’s also the first portion that your readers see, ads aren’t the best first impression to give.

*Overkilling keyword optimization

This one is a classic mistake: keyword stuffing. Over-optimizing your pages with the same keyword will get you penalized by Google.

Also, it’s unappealing for readers to read the same lines over and over again. This double whammy will send your website to the depths of SERPs.

If you want to optimize your content well, use latent semantic indexing (LSI) keywords instead. These keywords are in the same topic, but not directly synonymous to your main keyword.

Also, the rule of thumb is 0.5% keyword density. Anyway, 1% can be forgivable. Anything beyond that is too much.

Many local businesses shy away from SEO due to the perceived cost. As much as it may cost a fee over time, you can optimize your website for free with some hacks.

If you don’t have the budget yet for paid SEO services, you can give your business website a head start using the following steps:

*Get listed in online directories

For business owners, getting listed on Google My Business (GMB) is an important start. Once listed, your business will appear on Google Maps, Google’s Local Pack, Knowledge Graph, and more.

Make sure that you claim your business online and supply accurate NAP (Name, Address, Phone number). Moreover, it’s believed that GMB listings are on top of all the ranking signals when it comes to businesses, be it local or national.

Aside from GMB, you can also list your business on Yellow Pages, Yelp, TripAdvisor, and more.

*Aim to get positive reviews

About 85% of all potential buyers rely on customer reviews when it comes to their purchasing decision. With this, you should focus on acquiring positive reviews by replying and resolving complaints. In addition, a large chunk of negative reviews will be edited if you provide the customer with an acceptable resolution.

Also, follow up to previous customers so they will post a review on your website or Google. A simple email can go a long way here. Once the customer posts a review, always thank them or respond to their complaints.

*Focus on getting backlinks from other local businesses

For local businesses, local links are gems. You can do this by blogging or talking about another local business within your niche that’s not a competitor. By doing this, you’ll likely get a shout out or backlink from them.

Backlinking is one of the most important ranking signals, especially among businesses. The more established backlinks you get, the more points you get from Google.

Also, doing this will make your website easier to discover, which will lead to more traffic and engagements.

*Localize your content and keywords

Local business owners like you should never forget to geo-target their keywords. Also, you should optimize your content with location modifier keywords. These keywords will help Google determine the location where you want to rank.

Aside from that, you should create location-specific keywords for each location of your business. This landing page will be the platform of your sales funnel while it also adds golden points in SEO.

Moreover, local keywords will help Google display your pages on the right location.

*Produce regular content

Aside from practicing all the mentioned tips, it’s important that you produce content regularly. Establish a blog where you can post once a month or bimonthly if you have the extra time.

Make sure that you optimize the content with low competition keywords relevant to your business or niche. Aside from your website’s content, you can also offer another business to exchange content with you through guest posting. This way, you can secure backlinks and boost your online presence for free.

Final words

SEO can be technical, but with these basic methods, you can now optimize your website without spending a dime. Consistency and quality content will go a long way here.