5 SEO Tips for Small - Midsize Businesses	1.0/5.0 (1 votes total) Rate: Select 1 - Terrible 2 - Poor 3 - Average 4 - Good 5 - Outstanding
Todd Bailey July 17, 2012

Todd Bailey

Todd Bailey is Vice President of Digital Strategy at WebiMax, a leading SEO company with 500+ clients and 150+ employees as well as Lead Contributor at SEOservices.com

Todd Bailey has written 21 articles for WebKnowHow.

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A recent article on the "Technology for Small & Midsize Business" page of InformationWeek.com explores whether SEO is the holy grail of marketing or fool's gold. The piece focuses on small business owners who all have one thing in common: they all ditched their search engine optimization efforts. Why? According to them, they were promised too-good-to-be-true results from SEO experts who were full of empty promises. The truth is, SEO the right way can drive traffic to small businesses which is extremely valuable to companies that exist entirely online and/or have small advertising budgets.

Rather than quit SEO and miss an opportunity to drive powerful traffic to your website, here are 5 tips for small businesses to keep in mind as they work to achieve higher rankings:

1. Set realistic expectations. Will your small business appear as the top spot in Google after a month of SEO? Not likely. But, that doesn’t mean you shouldn't abandon all hopes of increased online exposure via SEO tactics. Whether you implement the techniques yourself or hire an outside company, make sure you set realistic expectations from the very beginning.
   
   
2. Be creative/open to new ideas and tactics. There are always new approaches to search engine optimization, from using social media platforms to using new ideas for building high-quality backlinks and more. As the industry continues to evolve and change, so will various SEO strategies. Make sure you remain open to new ideas and tactics because you'll need to be prepared to switch strategies as they emerge. If you are working together with an experienced SEO company, give them the flexibility and the freedom to try new things - after all, they're the experts.
   
   
3. Do your homework. In an ever-changing industry, it's important to stay up-to-date on the latest news and information so you can maximize your chances of success. Read blogs, keep in touch with your SEO team, understand the changes they're making to your website…the more knowledge you have, the more prepared you'll be to capitalize on opportunities that come your way.
   
   
4. Communication is key. Are there trending topics in your industry that your SEO efforts should reflect? Do you have interesting or engaging information about your company that you can share on various social media platforms? When it comes to producing content for SEO purposes, communication is the key to success. Make sure you share this type of material with your audience - or with your search engine optimization company, if you're working with one.
   
   
5. Don't sweat the minor downgrades. Experiencing ups and downs in rankings is normal. If your website takes a nosedive then of course you have a reason to be concerned. If, on the other hand, you experience minor downgrades throughout the process, don't sweat it - there are natural ebbs and flows in search engine optimization. Chances are, over time, you'll bounce back from any small dips and end up higher than where you started. Another piece of advice: don't check your rankings every day; the search engines don't, so why should you? Instead, check back periodically to get a better idea of how your pages are performing - and to keep yourself from going crazy.