Search engine optimization has changed a lot in the past few years. Instead of just publishing text with the right keywords, small business marketers have to carefully engineer their sites so that they show up in search results. Here is a quick guide for SMB marketers looking to drive leads and encourage qualified traffic to visit their websites.

Write Engaging Copy

People can’t just read web copy – they need to engage with it. That means sharing, commenting or otherwise extending its reach. Google gives a lot more weight to content that gets any kind of engagement.

Create Clear Call-to-Action (CTA)

CTAs encourage engagement by offering related content, boosting email signups or reminding visitors to check out social profiles. They also boost click-through rates, one of the most important SEO indicators.

Optimize for Semantic Search

Semantic Search is mean search engine’s attempt to give detailed information using more data than just keywords. Example: explicitly answer questions users often search for.

Make it Mobile Friendly

60% of all online traffic comes from a mobile device, and small businesses that don’t optimize for smartphones and tablets will miss out when people who can’t browse a site immediately bounce away.

Use Schema Markup

Over 2/3 of all search results include sites with schema markup – but only 0.3% of sites have implemented the code. It gives Google more information about the who, what and when of your web content.

Include Location for Google+

More than half of all mobile searches have local intent. People spend a lot of time looking for businesses in a certain area. Registering a business on Google+ will help it show up in both Maps and standard search.

Source from The Website Marketing Group