SEO (Search Engine Optimisation) is still important in 2018, but you don’t necessarily need to pay an SEO company. SEO used to be about mindless link building but since google changed their algorithms a few years ago a lot of these techniques are no longer effective and can actually hurt your SEO. In 2018 social media marketing is just as important as SEO and should not be ignored.

Good SEO and Social Marketing is about building good content that is useful to your audience and driving users to your website via various channels. Google has secret algorithms that it uses to rank websites but they are constantly optimising these algorithms to favour useful websites. This means that any techniques that trick Google into thinking your website is useful will eventually become obsolete.

There are simple ways you can improve your online presence that will naturally help with SEO. The best advice is to not focus on SEO tricks but focus on publishing quality content and building links that make sense and are actually helpful to your target audience.

Backlinks

Building quality links is not easy and  you should not try to spam the internet with links to your website. If your website is good then links to your site will build naturally but there are some good ideas you can use to get some initial links to your site. A few quality links is far better than hundreds of spammy irrelevant links.

  • Make sure you link to your website from your social media accounts (Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram). A link in your main profile and a single post that introduces your website is enough, don’t keep posting your homepage link as it won’t help, although posting to new content is always recommended.
  • If you have a Planfy profile you can add a link from your profile to your website. Do the same for any other profiles you may have online.
  • See if there is a local business directory / newspaper where you can link to your website. But don’t add your link to irrelevant business directories.
  • If you have a good relationship with another local business you could see if they are interested in linking to your website in return for a link on yours. You could even go as far as writing a blog posts about each-other, which will add content to your website as well as a back link. Don’t go crazy with this technique and only do it with a business you would actually recommend.

Optimise your Website

  • Your website should be optimised to sell your services and to push users towards a desired call to action such as booking an appointment. We recommend offering both online bookings and phone bookings as everyone has their personal preference. Users who are busy working or looking after children may not be able to call and will prefer to book online.
  • Make sure the text on your website includes the keywords that your visitors will be searching on Google. At the same time make sure that your text reads well and helps the user learn about your services.
  • It is a good idea to make a few key phrases bold so they stand out (a lot of users skim read text).
  • Make sure the meta title and description promotes your services and includes the keywords that users will be searching.
  • If you offer different services then you should consider having a separate landing page for each service so you can sell them effectively. If you use Google Adwords then you can direct users to a page that is relevant to their search.
  • Create a blog or website which will allow you to start creating content. You can use WordPress, Medium or Wix to get started quickly. Write articles that are interesting to your users rather than posting a sales pitch. You can write articles that try to sell your services but try to keep a nice balance otherwise users will get annoyed and unfollow you.
  • After posting articles to your blog make sure you share them on various social networks (Facebook / Twitter). This will drive your followers to your website where they will read your article. There is nothing wrong with re-sharing an article after an amount of time but don’t over do it.
  • You should have an advert next to your blog post which will introduce the reader to your services. If they click this ad you can take them to your main website where you sell the service. This is also a good point to capture their email address so you can send them future promotions.
  • If you use Google or Facebook Ads then make sure you add re-marketing code to your blog. This will allow you to re-target customers who have already visited your site with adverts about your services.