If you are the owner of a business that is on the smaller side, then you know that it can be challenging to compete with larger companies that are in your niche. As an SEO company would likely tell you, you need to optimize your website and social media accounts so that you get recognized on a local level. Here are some more ways that you can get your small business noticed and start to improve your sales numbers.

Keywords

Trying to mangle the English language torturously doesn’t do you any favors, but that’s what it used to feel like when you had to insert a long tail keyword into the text of your article or blog. These days you can break up the keyword and still rank with Google, which is great news because now you can write in a way that seems more natural while still getting those crucial words in there.

Topicality

It’s never a bad idea to try and integrate current events into your blogs and social media posts. If you can tie something in the news to one of your services or products, don’t hesitate to do so. Look to your industry, and see what the most prominent headlines are. However, be careful not to stray into areas where you don’t have any expertise. You want to stay on target with your social media accounts; remember, you’re running a business.

Links On Your Page

If you can have internal hyperlinking within your website, that’s one way to guide your visitors to the products and services on which you’re trying to focus. Linking to content that requires customer engagement is ideal, like forms that enable them to sign up for newsletters, surveys, or contests that they can enter. It’s no secret that you’re trying to get their contact information, but if it’s in their interest to do so because you’re offering some special deal or coupon, they may still be willing to do it.

Sharing

Finally, you want to encourage people to share your content on social media networks like LinkedIn, Twitter, and Facebook. Include icons leading to these platforms next to your blog posts and articles. This generates inbound links to your website. Keep in mind, though, that people will only be willing to do this if your content is particularly interesting.

Not everyone has the gumption to run a successful small business, but every company started somewhere. Stick with your game plan, and try not to get discouraged by temporary setbacks.