Why SEO Keywords and Meta Titles Matter for Small Businesses

The guidelines for search engine optimization (SEO) keep evolving and practices change over time. However, one of the most constant practices in SEO is the use of keywords and meta tags in your content. Before we dig deeper, let’s have a quick look at the basics:

What is SEO? 

What is SEO? SEO is a popular digital marketing technique that consists of practices to improve a website’s online standing. The tactics of keyword optimization and building backlinks are part of SEO. These tactics provide several advantages, including:

• Better views 
• Increased reach 
• Better ranking on search engines such a Google

Why Is SEO Important For Small Businesses?

SEO plays a significant role in putting your small business on the map. Through the strategic use of keywords, backlinks, website optimization and mobile optimization SEO creates effective brand awareness. 

What Does it do for Your Website?

SEO increases the online ranking of your website so that it appears in the top search results on search engines. Nobody has the time to open the second or the third page of a search engine and users are more inclined to trust the websites that appear on the first page. As a small business, this is very useful because it helps you build a loyal clientele. 

Following SEO can benefit small businesses in various ways, including:

• SEO techniques make your website more user-friendly
• Attract more audience
• Improved conversion rate
• Easy tracking
• Brand awareness

Several practices in SEO involve the improvement of your website and its ranking. However, one of the most integral parts is the use of keywords and meta tags in your content. Multiple marketers follow a lot of SEO strategies and tactics while ignoring the importance of meta tags and keywords. 

Let’s have a look at why Meta tags and keywords are essential for your website’s ranking:

Keywords to Describe Your Business 

The keywords used in the description of your business must be clear and concise so people can immediately get an idea about what your business offers. An accurate description not only helps people to identify your business but helps search engines recognize and index your pages as well. For example, if your business is about coaxial cables, then you must use the keyword “commercial coaxial cable” in your description to rank for coaxial cables search results.

Some best keyword practices are:

• Narrow down your research to relevant keywords and those easy to rank for, as it is difficult to rank for generic keywords. For example, add your location by adding, “Best coaxial cables in California.”
• Ranking for words that are not relevant will be of no value to your business. For instance, if you sell clothes, but you are using fashion as a keyword, you won’t benefit too much! Be as specific as you can to receive more traffic. 

Meta Tags and How to Use Them 

Meta tags are snippets of text that describe the content of the webpage. They are essential in increasing the rank of your webpage on search engines. You can utilize meta tags in the following ways:

Title Tag of Your Page 

The first and foremost place for the meta tag is on each of your website’s pages. These tags appear in the short preview on search engine result pages (SERPs). Title Tags can help the audience identify what your page is about. For example, having a title tag of “Contact us” can help users identify this is the page from where they can contact your business.

Meta Descriptions 

The 160-character text that appears below your title in SERP is called the meta description. You can explain your page’s details in this text. A meta description is supposed to have more information than your title tag to help the audience. Adding clear call-to-action (CTA) in meta descriptions encourages the audience to take further steps.

Image Alt text 

Always add alt text to your images for better ranking. Optimizing the visuals of your website can help people reach your website quicker. These meta tags can help increase site views and user engagement. Image alt text should not exceed more than 55 characters. 

Canonical Tags 

A canonical tag is an HTML code that informs search engines about specific pages. They are also helpful for users to know they are on the right page. These tags also help to identify between different pages that might appear similar.

Header Tags

Header text is also a way to make the search engine results better and more accessible for the audience. Through header tags, the audience can easily track the relevant information and it provides them a better user experience while using your website. Header tags break down larger chunks into defined smaller pieces of information for the audience.

Meta Tags: Best Practices

Using meta tags is essential for better results. Some common practices when using meta tags are:

Keeping it Precise 

Keep your meta description short and precise. According to Moz, your Meta description should be no more than 160 characters. Do not add extra information in your meta descriptions for better ranking on Google. 

Keyword Integration 

You must include relevant keywords in your meta tags, which will let your audience know about your business.

Clear Communication 

While adding meta tags, always add your website URLs, logos and other branding-related visuals for clear communication to the audience as well as the web crawlers.

Use Unique Meta Tags 

Don’t replicate your meta tags. For every new page, a unique meta description must be added as crawlers and search engines penalize plagiarized and copied content. 

Add Modifiers 

Adding modifiers in your content can help you in content optimization. The description can become elaborate with modifiers such as purchase, buy, top, best, etc. 

What to Avoid in Meta Tags

A lot of people tend to over-do things or ignore certain practices that may cause them to lose their ranking on search engines. Here are some of the mistakes to avoid for better results:

• Do not keyword stuff 
• Use only relevant keywords 
• Never duplicate content, titles or descriptions 
• Use an appropriate length of descriptions 
• Provide relevant, to the point and useful information in your descriptions
• Structured and rich snippets should be the norm

If you have any questions about meta descriptions or other SEO-related topics, please leave a comment and we’ll do our best to answer your query.