Let’s say you’re a small business owner. Let’s say you’re a smart, dedicated, and passionate business coach or management consultant. Maybe you’ve just gotten certified. You have a small group of clients, and they love you.

So… what’s the problem?

The problem is, you want more clients! You want to help more people to become the best versions of themselves. But your would-be clients don’t know about you because they can’t find you!

And a lot of these prospects are searching online. And when they go online to look for “business coaches in Washington DC,” you and your business are on the ninth page of Google search results. In other words, probably no one searching online is going to find you. And you know you need your website to “work” better.

What is SEO, anyway?

SEO, or search engine optimization, is the way that Google or Bing knows how to position a given webpage based on someone’s search. And Google really wants searchers to find what they are looking for. The foundation of any good SEO is to optimize each of your webpages to make sure that Google understands what service you are selling, so they can send the right people to your website.

Further, the more links to your website about business coaching, the higher you will position in a search. But not just more links—they also have to be good links—from Entrepreneur, for instance, or from the Huffington Post, and not from the start-up business blog next door. Google and other search engines can recognize the difference.

So, if you want your website to get seen more often, first assess your current SEO. How well does your website currently position in Google for the keyword phrase that people are likely typing in to find you?

Once you understand how well the site is doing, you can make certain changes. Here are some tips:

1. Add page-to-page links. Google likes websites to include “internal” links, ones that visitors can use to move from page to page on your website. This shows Google that your site has content that relates.
2. Add external links. Link to pages on other websites. These could be informational sites (like Wikipedia), news sites, other blogs, YouTube, you name it. This shows Google that you are helping your web visitors by providing good information.
3. Get inbound links. Even better is if you can get other websites to link to your site, but this is obviously a little more difficult. Consider guest-blogging on related websites (everyone is looking for quality content). Here too, your efforts will pay off if you target bigger, more established websites with lots of traffic.
4. Boost your presence on social media. Being active on social media can provide more traffic to your website, and this leads to better visibility. It tells Google more about what your expertise is. Google is always trying to verify who you are. Google really does want searchers to find what they are looking for.
5. Provide useful content on your website. Amazing but true: Google can differentiate between a content-rich website and one that’s just trying to sell. Do you have a blog and do you keep updating it? Do you have enough content on each page to provide real (educational) value to the visitor? Look for ways to create richer, more helpful content and Google will reward you.
6. Be patient. Recognize that you won’t see an improvement in SEO in a week or two. An ongoing and consistent effort and smart strategy will, however, pay off. Keeping writing and posting your ideas and be helpful to those you want to serve.
7. Keep tabs on your SEO rankings and make changes as necessary. Your SEO won’t improve overnight—here too Google has a preference, and it looks for continuity and consistency. Use Google analytics to keep an eye on trends and traffic, and Yoast to tweak your pages and optimize for specific keyword phrases.

Finally, the longer your website is up and active, the more “authority” it has. So if you have a brand new website, make sure Google knows who you are now, and who you were before, especially if you’ve changed your web address (URL). Tie together your brands so Google can keep track of your business and send you the right kind of traffic, so your business will grow.

What are the keyword phrases you would like to be found for? Where are you showing up?  Send me a note and let me know. And if we can help, give us a ring at (301) 933-4062.