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.

If you have a Google My Business account, you should never miss the Google Posts feature. Launched back in 2017, this tool lets you publish posts as part of your Knowledge Graph tab on search results. You can use this to announce events, promos, invitations, memberships, and so on. Below, we discussed a brief guide on how to use it on your account.

However, you should remember that this is only available on GMB accounts.

What is Google Posts?

Google Posts is a complementary tool inside Google My Business account. It was experimentally launched in 2016 and was limited to presidential candidates’ use. After a few months, Google released it to all GMB account owners.

Using the Google Post tool, you can publish posts, much like social media posts, below the Knowledge tab of your search result. Take note that this will only be displayed or triggered upon the search of your brand or business.

You can use Google Posts to promote your e-commerce site, send an invite to your customers, publish CTAs, and more. Most of all, it allows your audience to know more about your business with only a little nudging.

How it works

Through your Google My Business account, you’ll see the “Posts” tab where you can create the Google Posts.

Upon clicking “Create Post”, you can now add an image which should have a minimum of 344 x 344 pixels and a maximum of 750 x 750 pixels. Take note that Google will crop the image in a square format.

You can also add text up to 300 words as well as a CTA button from the indicated options. Just tick the one that you need and publish it.

Overall, you can publish up to 10 posts that will be displayed in a carousel format on search results. Take note that the more posts you have, the smaller the displayed image becomes.

Also, each post will expire within seven days. An exception to this is events-based posts that will be removed once the event date has finished.

In addition, you can view the click stats of your post on your GMB account to gauge how each one is performing in engagements.

Benefits of using Google Posts

If you own a business, regardless of the niche, you will benefit from utilizing Google Posts. It gives you an additional platform to send your message and encourage readers to click through your CTAs.

It’s not as comprehensive as social media sites, but Google Posts has its advantages. No doubt, it’s added visibility for no added cost and platform.

Also, there’s no doubt that Google Posts reach a wider audience. You just have to use it right to drive traffic to your site and possibly improve sales.

Conclusion

Google Posts is an intuitive tool that you should utilize within your Google My Business account. It comes for free and it gives you an added edge when it comes to reader engagement.

We’re yet to know if this feature is a ranking signal. Nevertheless, there’s no reason not to use it for your benefit.

Schema markup is a string of code used to help search engines index pages correctly. Also, it’s used to generated rich snippets for search results. It highlights the information about a business or a professional, specifically their NAP (Name, Address, Phone Number).

The goal of this code is to provide internet users with accurate information about a specific business category they’re searching for. It will increase the visibility of a website or person online. Therefore, it increases their sales and traffic.

Who should use Schema Markups?

Anyone who wants to highlight their business or profession should use the schema markup. Also, those who have websites should utilize this code to increase the indexability of their pages. Since it helps web crawlers, it increases their ranking factor, another benefit that web developers should seek.

Overall, schema markups can increase traffic, drive sales, and boost your presence online. It’s slightly technical, but with the help of pre-coded plugins and platforms, even non-programmers can learn about this code.

How to add schema markups on your website

Here, we will discuss brief steps on how to generate and integrate this code on your website.

Step 1. Display NAP in HMTL text

If you don’t know it yet, Google and other search engines can’t crawl text within an image. So for schema markups to work, you have to place it in plain HTML text. It can be on the footer or the header of your website based on your preference.

By encoding it in plain text or HTML, crawlers can easily read and recognize the information. Also, it will make the next step effective.

Step 2. Adding the schema code

You don’t have to be a coding geek just to learn how to add schema markups for your website. The first thing that you have to do is to install a schema plugin, something that you can easily find if you have a WordPress-based site.

After that, you should go to Google’s Structured Data Markup Helper. Paste the URL of your website on it and click the “start tagging” button.

Once it’s set, click “Create HTML” This will generate the schema code that you will add on your site. Make sure that you add it properly, so the rich snippets will be generated properly once an internet user enters a specific query.

Important reminders

When adding schema markups, make sure that you don’t make it spammy. Google is smart, and the search engine will detect this unacceptable practice. Moreover, your site will be penalized and you’ll lose all your SEO efforts.

Aside from that, you should always adhere to the Google guidelines in integrating schema codes. This will be your lodestar to prevent any penalties on your website.

Also, you should always use proper schema markups. Avoid misleading web crawlers. By doing so, you’re not just exposing your website to penalties, you’re also making your readers a big disservice.

Last but not least, you should never make invisible content on your markups. This is a black hat tactic that Google will penalize.

It’s a fact that local businesses will benefit from a successful SEO campaign. But for this to happen, they need to master the basics, including meta descriptions. These little details make a big difference to a business’ ranking and visibility on the web. All of which will reflect on their sales.

The role of meta descriptions

Meta descriptions are short descriptions that provide internet users with enough information about what a page contains. This is displayed on the search pages, which allow users to understand what the page is about even before clicking through the result.

Also, meta descriptions are the first thing that will push a lead towards your sales funnel. How you write this part will play a big role in how effective the description is when it comes to convincing potential customers.

Aside from that, meta descriptions are a big part of indexing your pages. Search engine crawlers of Bing and Google use meta data like title tags, descriptions, and robot tags to index pages properly. If utilized well, your pages will be indexed to the queries where it’s most related to.

Descriptions, along with other tags, help display your pages on the right places and with the right queries. Through this, you can target the right customers and increase your conversion rate in the process.

Important meta data tags

If you’re revamping your SEO efforts, make sure that you focus on the following tags:

Meta description

This 160-character description is displayed just below the title tag. It’s the first bit of information that the user will see before deciding to click through or not on your site.

For this part, you should utilize keywords and supply as much information as possible. Although short, meta descriptions play a big role in opening the door to your sales funnel.

If written well, meta descriptions will help rank your site better. At all costs, you should write a unique meta description for each page to avoid duplication.

 Title tags

Title tags are short headlines that will be displayed as the largest portion of the search result. It should be informative enough to give the users the idea of what they will see inside the page.

For local businesses, this should include the location and specific service or product that the business offers.

Take note that title tags are 60-character long texts. Just like meta descriptions, you should utilize keywords here, ideally at the beginning for better indexing.

Robot tags

The robot tag is responsible for identifying which pages should be indexed or not. Also, it ensures that your pages are being crawled properly.

Take note that some pages are better to be unindexable, especially if the content is still thin. However, this is a slightly technical matter.

If you can’t perform the optimization, you can always tap the help of SEO experts.

Final words

Meta descriptions are an integral part of ranking a website and boosting your pages’ click-through rates and conversion.

It’s a simple and basic component, but it should be done right to ensure that your business website will enjoy the benefits.