Simply having a website is only one part of the digital marketing equation. Businesses who want to generate sales and promote their brand online need to work with search engines to generate favorable search rankings based on the keyword searches that best represent the goods and services their clients are seeking.

The information outlined below provides you with five strategic steps towards better search engine rankings to help your business be found online.

1. First things first, check where you stand: Google.com is the largest search engine that, on average, accounts for more than 60% of all standard search traffic on the web.  Therefore, as search engine marketers we almost exclusively focus on Google.
   1. Do a simple search for yourself.  Is your website currently in Google’s index?
   2. If yes, examine your title and description of your website that appears in Google’s search. The title and description is information we can supply to Google, therefore it should be something that helps users identify what they can find on your website. Does it reflect what you want it to?

2. Audit your existing web profiles:  The fundamentals of search engine strategy is derived from high-quality links from other web properties. It is especially helpful to generate links from larger, high-quality websites such as social networks and established sites such as Chamber of Commerce directories and professional organizations.
   1. Review and add links from both your personal and your business profile pages on social media sites such as Facebook and LinkedIn. Don’t forget to include websites from organizations you both personally and professionally belong to.
   2. Add some content about your business and services to these profiles, if possible. Make it something that will entice people to want to click the link to read more.

3. Local Search profiles:  As smartphones and tablets continue in popularity, web searches coming from GPS enabled devices are on the rise.  When someone searches on a mobile device, they are typically looking for places that are within their immediate geolocation.  The best way to optimize local search is to create and manage your Google+ Local profile (formally Google Places).
   1. Setup a Google+ Local profile and add information about your business.
   2. Also check review sites such as Yelp.com, BBB.com and Urbanspoon.com for correct contact information.

4. Keyword Discovery:  Think about the types of searches users might be use to find your website on Google. Especially think of areas of your business that you would like to generate growth.
   1. What are some keywords that could help your business?
   2. What are some keywords that you might want to avoid?
   3. Are those search keywords represented terms in your website’s content?
      1. Do a simple audit your website to see if the content reflects the search terms you want to rank.  But be careful, don’t over do it with “keywords”,  write naturally.

       

5. Get strategic:  Not ranking on some of your business’ important keywords?  In the short term, think about utilizing Google AdWords for pay-per-click advertising. AdWords can be an effective way to build a presence on search results pages that you are not yet appearing on while still driving traffic to your website.