Get Started with SEO: 3 Things Your Business Should Know Q&A

Our webinar, “Getting Started with SEO: 3 Things Your Business Should Know” was held on June 8th. If you missed it or would like to re-watch it, then we have made it available for you on-demand.

We held a Q&A session at the end, with some fantastic questions asked by those on the webinar. Unfortunately, we could not answer every question due to time constraints, however, we wanted to provide answers to everyone who took the time to ask questions, so without further ado, here are your SEO webinar Q&As.

Q: If someone is searching for something with a local search, does that mean they are actively seeking the thing they are looking for? By that, I mean ready to purchase?

A: That would be a resounding yes. For example, if I were to perform a search for a “local hairdresser,” I would have the intent of using that service. Again, if I were to search for “women’s running trainers near me” then I am likely to be looking to purchase these.

Q: How do you determine the best keywords to focus on for a local business?

A: Brainstorm and select keywords you feel are relevant to your business. Make a list of keywords you are targeting for the page based on what is getting searched by your competitors according to Google search queries and narrow it down to 3 to 5 that are similar or related. (Tip: don’t go after keywords that are generic and will never convert)! Selecting longer tail keywords may have a lower search volume but they are much more likely to convert. For example, if you were searching for a used car locally, you would search “used car in Cardiff” instead of “used car.” If you were looking for a specific brand of car you would search “used Hyundai Cardiff.” By using the car analogy, a used car sales business would likely not want to target “used car” as a keyword. Instead, they would be more likely to use long-tail keywords and narrow the search down using location (in the example Cardiff), or even the brand of car they sell (if they only sell one type of used car).

Q: When it comes to running a blog on your website – how can you rank for multiple keywords?

A: It is possible to rank for more than one keyword. You should keep a list of keywords you want to rank for and a list of keywords for which you do rank. Our blog Tips for conducting effective keyword research can help.

Q: With a blog on the website, is it worth deleting older articles that don’t rank well?

A: We recommend that you do not delete any previous articles, but you should optimise them instead. We have a page on our website which guides you through some methods of optimising blog/article pages. Do not remove keywords from pages as they help rank the page on Google and they will fit naturally in the piece. Our complete guide to SEO will help you optimise your pages.

Q: What are your top tips for link building for small local businesses?

A: There are tons of effective ways to market your business locally. Engaging in the local community is the fastest and easiest way to build links. Get people who use your business to leave reviews too! You can also perform some CSR activities such as donating your time to local causes or sponsoring local events and sports teams. Make sure local news publications are aware of what you are doing to get some business promotions!

You can find local bloggers and get them to write a content piece for you; you could even guest blog on a different website.

Q: You can see Facebook & Twitter posts on google, but Instagram and TikTok posts are not visible. Why is this?

A: Instagram accounts are difficult to index and display in the search results. With Instagram, they run Java Script which Google does not read. Instagram profiles can be indexed, but the images cannot. Apparently, Google is negotiating potential deals with the parent companies of TikTok and Instagram.

Q: Do you need to have Yoast on your website to increase SEO?

A: Yoast is a good WordPress plugin. It will help your SEO as it can give you feedback on the readability of your web content. In addition, Yoast helps with a lot of technical SEO aspects.

Q: Regarding technical SEO, how does canonicalisation work?

A: There may be some pages with the same content on them or the same URL. In the eyes of Google, this is not good practice and could result in Google prioritising other websites over yours. A canonical tag allows you to tell Google which page you consider to be the master page so that you do not get penalised.

Q: Should I always add ALT text to a picture?

A: Yes, ALT text is beneficial for a screen-reader and those who have sight issues. In addition to this, setting alt text for images is especially important for SEO and is a key contributing search engine ranking factor.

Q: If I have Google Analytics, do I need Google Search Console as well?

A: Yes, Google Analytics is user-focused, providing information on those that visit and use your website and Google Search Console is focused on insights and tools that can help improve the presence of a website on SERPs (we highly recommend you get a Google Analytics account!)

Q: What is the most common thing you have seen missed or not utilised by business owners on Google My Business (GMB)?

A: Adding high-quality images. It is such an effective way to stand out from your competitors and customers scrolling through your images is a signal Google takes into consideration. Also, encourage customers to upload photos to your listing; this would also be a great signal for Google, and customer images are also viewed as authentic and trustworthy.

Q: What do I do if my GMB/GBP listings are incorrect?

A: You can contact Google to correct any errors in your listing. The process can take up to two months for the incorrect information to be deleted.

We would like to thank everyone again for attending and interacting with the webinar. To be the first to know about our upcoming webinars, you can sign up for our newsletter and follow us on social media (Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn). If you want to find out more about LOCALiQ and how we can help your business, contact us today.