SEO importance increases for small businesses

Small businesses are constantly looking for an edge to separate themselves from their competitors. With social networking sites becoming more popular among companies, some are increasing their business marketing focus, going the extra mile to explore SEO strategies.

Search engine optimization is the process of improving the ranking of a website in internet search results. Using SEO strategies could also push a website's ranking higher in organic search results, which are listed based on their relevance to the search language.

“SEO has become a critical component in a small business’ marketing plan," said Jessie Topper, Bop Design SEO director. "Most prospects now turn to a web search to find the right product or service so a business needs to focus on showing up for the right search terms. Unfortunately there is still much confusion among the small business community on how to rank prominently in a search.”

Consumers use Google, Bing and Yahoo as their primary search engines, and building an SEO strategy around these three popular entities could boost a business' popularity. Implementing keywords that are the best fit for the business is encouraged to create an action plan and improve rankings for each target keyword phrase.

“Think of your target keywords as your roadmap to success," Topper said. "Your target keywords should not only reflect the products or services your business offers, but they should be keywords that are actually searched on the web. If you choose words that are too niche with little to no traffic then your SEO efforts are in vain.”

According to recent tests performed in May on the impact of Google+ on organic search performance, websites with weak social profiles saw a 19.5 percent reduction in organic traffic and websites with a strong social profile saw a 42.6 percent increase in organic traffic.