Are you tired of marketing your music biz only on social media? Consider how business SEO could help you get more traffic and leads.
When done right, SEO can be super powerful. So read on to learn how SEO works and what to avoid.
But first, this post contains affiliate links. Read my full disclosure policy to learn more.
What Is Search Engine Optimization?
Search engine optimization (SEO) is where you write your website content with the goal of it ranking in search results. You can use SEO when writing blog posts or pages for your website.
When you write, you choose a keyword or phrase to optimize the content for. If you choose the right keywords, your content can start to show up on the first page of results for your chosen keywords.
Business SEO Techniques
When using SEO for your business, you need to consider the different elements of SEO. That way, you can increase the chances of your website showing up on google.
URL Structure
Your URL structure is the “template” that you use to write the link to each individual page or post. It includes your domain (for example, mine is hannahbflute.com).
After that, the rest of the page or post may contain a date or not. It also includes a string of letters, numbers, or words. If you want to optimize your content, you should include the keyword in your URL.
Title Tag
When titling a blog post or page, you can also include the keyword. The title tag can be the same as the display title or something different.
Making it different means you can optimize the SEO title for search engines. But you can make the display title more engaging to encourage clicks from people already on your website.
Meta Description
The meta description is a short paragraph of 160 characters or less. If you add a meta description to a post or page, it will show up under the SEO title when the article appears in search results.
You can include the keyword and make a compelling description to get more clicks. If you don’t add a description, Google will pull a relevant part of the text based on what each user is searching for.
Content Optimization
When writing the content for your site, a big part of business SEO is using keywords in the article or page. Add your main keyword in the body of your blog post.
You can also include it in one or more of the headings. However, you shouldn’t overstuff the keyword. That used to work, but Google has caught on, and stuffing keywords where they don’t naturally fit can do more harm than good.
Image Optimization
A good blog post or web page will have some visual elements. If you add a graphic or photo to your content, be sure to use alt text. Of course, it’s a great way to make your website accessible by describing the image.
However, using your keyword in your alt text can help with business SEO. The photo can appear in image search results, which may increase your website traffic.
Backlinks
A backlink is any link from a third-party website to your own site. You can wait for other relevant websites to include a link. But that can take a while, and there’s no guarantee it will happen.
Another option is to pitch guest posts to blogs in your niche. If you’re a flute player, you could pitch publications like The Flute View or The Flute Examiner. Many website will give you a backlink either in your article or your author bio.
Backlinks can not only help you get more traffic, but links from reputable sites can help build Google’s trust of your own site. Then, you could appear in more search results.
Mobile Responsiveness
Business SEO involves more than just writing good content. You should make sure your website looks good and works well on a mobile device. Over half of all website traffic comes from smartphones and similar devices.
If your site is impossible to navigate, people will click out of it. And when they go back to Google right away, that tells Google your site isn’t good. So you could lose your rankings and thus lose traffic.
Local SEO
If your music business is in-person, such as a music academy or chamber performance group, you should use local SEO. You can optimize your content specifically for people searching in your city or metro area.
That way, you can attract more of your ideal customers. And you can avoid getting clicks from people who would never work with you.
Website Speed
Another important aspect of business SEO is making your website run fast. Like a mobile responsive site, a fast site can keep people engaged. I don’t know about you, but I don’t have a ton of patience.
So if a website doesn’t load in a couple of seconds, I click out. If your website takes too long, you’ll lose tons of potential leads. And of course, all of those lost visitors are a sign to Google that your website isn’t worth showing in search results.
Website Security
You should also make your website secure with a secure sockets layer (SSL) certificate. This will encrypt your data and the data of your website visitors, and it’s essential if you take payments on your site.
Having a secure website can also help you rank higher on Google. Search engines trust websites with security certificates. Luckily, most website hosts let you set up an SSL for free, so it just takes a few seconds.
Business SEO Mistakes to Avoid
As you start implementing SEO on your website, you need to avoid making some common mistakes. These things could make or break your results and keep you from getting the traffic you deserve.
Keyword Stuffing
Years ago, keyword stuffing was a popular way to manipulate Google and get to the top of search results. As the name suggests, this is where you place keywords in your text without making them sound natural.
However, search engines have learned, and keyword stuffing could punish your website. It’s better to include them where they fit and to write as if you’re talking directly to your readers.
Wrong Search Intent
When choosing keywords, you shouldn’t just use any keywords that sound good. You have to think of the search intent behind those keywords. That way, you can show up in search results to get in front of your ideal clients.
Put yourself in the shoes of your target audience. Then, you can choose keywords that will attract more potential students or customers.
Duplicate Content
Another thing that can hurt you is copying and pasting content from another website. If you want to copy content, you need to set up a canonical link to tell Google which page is the original.
Otherwise, Google will assume you plagiarized the content. But it can’t tell which is the original, so it will punish both web pages with the same article. It’s not worth copying and pasting, so be sure all of your content is original.
How to Improve Your Business SEO
If you want to make sure your business SEO is the best it can be, consider a few of my best tips.
Use Google Search Console
Google Search Console tells you what blog posts and pages are performing the best in Google. It’s a lot easier to improve the ranking of existing content than to write and rank new content.
The tool is free, and you can connect it to your WordPress website with the Google Site Kit plugin. Then, you can easily check on what content is doing well, and you can adjust your strategy accordingly.
Make It Local
If you have a local music business, be sure to include location keywords. So instead of optimizing your website for “flute lessons,” you might optimize for “flute lessons in New York.”
Then, you can make sure you attract students looking to learn in your city or state. Of course, you don’t have to do this if you offer lessons or gigs online.
Switch Website Hosts
An easy way to speed up your website is to switch to a new host. I use SiteGround, and it’s a great option for a fast website.
Some hosts, like Bluehost, are notorious for slow websites. And they don’t have the best customer service to resolve your issues. If you’ve tried speeding up your website to no avail, it may be time to upgrade to a better host.
Add a Blog
If you don’t have a blog, you should add one to your website. Every blog post gives you one more chance to rank in search results. Adding just 10 blog posts could do wonders for your SEO, and adding more blog posts can help you get even more traffic.
For example, 9 out of the top 10 pages on my website are blog posts. They’re all optimized for SEO, so they show up high in search results.
Final Thoughts
Business SEO is an excellent digital marketing strategy. It may not provide huge results right away, but it can compound over time.
Eventually, you won’t have to worry as much about promoting your business. Your efforts can start to bring in traffic and leads without you having to do anything.
If you want to make a blog part of your SEO strategy, hire me as a content creator.
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