New trend in SEO practices for small businesses:

Conversational keywords

Conversational queries are search queries phrased as natural language questions or sentences when people look for information, products or services online. These queries typically contain words such as “what”, “how”, “where”, “who”, “when”, and “why”. 

For example, one may search for the key phrase, “Where can I find the best latte near me?” Google will produce the most relevant results based on business rankings and customer reviews.  As soon as people learned about Google’s “near me” search capacity, a staggering 500% rise in this keyword was seen in the past year. 

Regarding finding campaign keywords for conversation queries, Neil Patel’s Answer The Public is very useful.  The results are instant, which shows the intent of searches based on conversational search. Answer The Public gives insightful data you can incorporate with your localised SEO strategy. 

“How does localised SEO differ from SEO?”

SEO and local SEO are strategies to increase a company’s visibility in search engine results pages (SERPs). While SEO generally can target any location, local SEO is hyper-targeted to specific areas. 

Local SEO is essential for businesses with a physical location, such as shops, bakeries, and cafes. However, local SEO strategies can significantly benefit service-based businesses, such as windshield repair services, garage installers, and tradespeople. 

Optimising their online presence for local search allows businesses to reach more potential customers in their area and drive more foot traffic to their physical location, leading to better business profitability. 

Top priority: List your business on GMB

Listing your business in Google My Business (GMB) should be the top priority when optimising for local search. The listing will show your business name, address, hours of operation, and customer reviews on SERPs. This information is crucial for potential customers to make informed purchase decisions when looking for a product or service. When listed, your business will have better visibility on Google search results and on Google Maps. 

A GMB listing also adds an instant good first impression. It perceives trustworthiness and reputation, knowing transparent information about your business is accessible to customers.  

For 2023, Google aims to deliver results that match the user’s search intent and not just keywords. For example, if a potential customer searches for a coffee shop near her, Google will likely show coffee shops that are open and are within the search vicinity. 

It will also give the user the option “filter” the search result base on relevance, distances, hours and ratings. For this, verify your location, keep all information up to date, especially the hours, and choose the correct categories and subcategories. 

Content is the King, and Video is The Queen. 

This year, it won’t just be about building as many backlinks as possible. Spamming the Web with your backlinks can lead to penalties.  

For years, the SEO game has been about providing unique, valuable content — it still is valid for 2023. As we know, search engines love fresh and quality content. Original content improves user engagement, creates authority and attracts quality backlinks, leading to a higher ranking. 

While video streaming is not new to us, using video for localised SEO is still in its early adaptation. Marketers are slowly optimising video campaigns for search, and this is because Google SERPs now display videos. Data analysis shows that people spend enormous amount of time on streaming platforms such as Youtube. And the future of video marketing is looking bright as statistics predict a continuing increase in video consumption in the upcoming years. 

Optimise for technical SEO

If you have an existing website, an SEO audit will help you improve your site for search. It is the first step towards developing an effective SEO strategy for your business.

• Ensure that your website’s structure is optimised correctly for users and search engines. 
• Check page hierarchy, URL structure, schema and sitemap. 
• Optimise speed, minify codes and compress files. 
• Make sure your images and graphics use SEO alt tags.
• Update your website to it user-friendly for all devices. 

Ultimately, an SEO audit can help you optimise your website for better search engine visibility, attract organic traffic, and generate more leads and revenue for your business. 

Requesting a free SEO audit from our team of experts is a great way to get started. Contact us today to schedule your free audit and take the first step towards improving your website’s online performance.

Blogging is still relevant in 2023

Blogging is still a powerful strategy to update your customers and distribute helpful content.  By providing relevant information to customers’ questions, you are building authority and optimising your website’s visibility on search. Ensure that you’re blogs are original and unique to avoid penalties. 

Stay on top of your localised SEO strategy

At Affordable Web Solutions, we help Aussie businesses optimise their brand visibility using proven and tested SEO techniques. We are a small digital marketing business based in Narellan, South West Sydney.  Reach out to us and see how we can work together to increase your brand authority on SERPs.