For a local business in Bangkok to achieve success, it is absolutely key to stay ahead of current marketing trends and strategies. The potentials of online marketing are limitless and every single local business in Bangkok should be using the world wide web to their advantage. SEO, or search engine optimisation, is a key part of this and it is well worth investing money and time in.
Put simply, SEO is any steps taken to promote a website’s search engine rankings on Google™. The higher the ranking, the more people are going to be able to find your website, and the more traffic and customers you get.
In search results Google™ displays links to pages it considers relevant and authoritative. Google’s™ job is to show content that people are looking for and are ordered and ranked accordingly. Your business’s job is to provide content in a way that it becomes ranked and gets a good ranking, with that ranking always looking to be improved. That may seem complex and technical, but there are some simple tips to improve your SEO score and ensure your local business in Bangkok gets the good ranking on Google™ that it deserves.
1. Maintain the right keyword density.
Keyword density is the percentage of times a keyword or phrase appears on a web page compared to the total number of words on the page. Keyword density will be used to determine how relevant a website is to a specified keyword or phrase. For example, if your business sells handbags, you would expect your website to feature the words ‘handbags’ or ‘bags’ frequently. The keyword density will be worked out based on the frequency of these words.
However, it is not enough to just use keywords; you need to use the right keywords. A key part of this is knowing your target audience, and what words or phrases they will be searching for that will direct them to your services.
It is also possible to employ a professional SEO company to generate the keywords for you. In addition, these services can tell you the percentage of people who go search those keywords, and how those keywords rank.
2. Advertise in Local Business Directories
The way that people search for a business has changed a lot over the past 30 years. Gone are the days when you could pick up the yellow pages, or a version of some hard copy directory, and find a local business’s name and address.
Directories are not gone though, they have just moved online.
There are hundreds of different directories out there, and which ones you advertise in depends on what services you offer and where you are located. Try and get your name in every one that is relevant to your business, and every one that advertises businesses in your local area.
For example, if you run a restaurant you would want to make sure that you are listing in any food directories, or anything to do with leisure or entertainment.
It is also very important to list accurate and up to date information. For example, if you do not update a phone number and a customer calls this number, it is highly likely they are going to report this problem to the directory or even google. This is going to make it look like your content is not current or relevant and will affect your SEO ranking.
See here for a list of 50 of the online directories your business needs to be listed on.
3. Create links to Authority Websites.
Having good quality external and internal links within your website is one of the top SEO tips for local businesses out there. Internal links will provide your readers a chance to explore more of your website and read more of your content.
External links to credible and reputable websites, also known as ‘authority’ websites, shows Google and your audience that your website is a high quality website with good information on it. Authority websites are ones that are extremely high quality, with high revenue streams and excellent links both within their website and to other high quality websites.
Providing links to these impressive websites shows Google that your content is valuable and valid, qualities that improve your website’s ranking level.
Note you can’t just link post links from random content. Select links that are relevant to your business content and provide supplementary information to both yours and their Web page.
Would the reader learn additional information if they decide to click on the link you provided? If the answer is yes, go ahead, link to that blog post or article. If the answer is no, you’re better off removing the link and replacing it with a more relevant link.
Having as many relevant internal and external links as possible on your website is absolutely crucial to attaining a good SEO ranking, and should not be overlooked.
4. Get reviews on Google+ and Google Places.
Nowadays, an increasing number of people will check out user reviews before they will buy a new product or visit a new attraction or hotel. Equally, it is so easy to go online and leave reviews that it is becoming increasingly commonplace for people to leave reviews after almost every customer experience they have.
Getting negative feedback can be very upsetting, but unfortunately it is going to happen at some point. What is more important is how you respond to this comment, they are great opportunities for customers to see how good your customer care is.
You should be asking every customer you have to leave you feedback, the higher the quantity of reviews the better, and this too will increase your SEO ranking.
Lots of business use offers or prizes to motivate (bribe?) their customers into leaving a review.
For more information on how to use Google+ to your advantage, please see this article.
5. Add multimedia content on your website.
According to studies, the human attention span is getting shorter. To keep up with this, websites are scrambling to come up with ways to keep their visitor’s attention and on their website longer.
Here is where multimedia content is key. People are much more likely to stay focused on a page they are reading if there are relevant and professional looking photos to attract them. Equally, they may be more likely to want to watch a 30 second video that give them the information they need rather than read a long article. One prime example of this is where hotels use interactive videos to show off their rooms or spaces. This allows the customer to view all the excellent amenities that a hotel has, and allows them to picture themselves there. For more tips specific to gaining more hotel bookings read this.
Hire a professional layout artist for optimum content; this is one of the effective SEO tips for local businesses that people most often neglect. They think they can do it for themselves, but this is a risk not worth taking. Go the extra mile, and hire a professional to work on your content and layout for you.
6. Build a strong social media presence.
If your business is not on social media already then you have already lost out on customers. Every business should be on at least one social media platform, if not all of them. The importance of social media for brand awareness and reaching new customers cannot and should not be underestimated.
A strong social media presence contributes to your search engine rankings. With social media you should be posting at least once a day with content that is fun and relevant and shows off the best parts of your business. You can also advertise your services for free. Another option is to do promotions and competitions based on people who follow you. For example, a requisite of the competition could be that they have to follow you and tag a friend to enter. Everyone loves to win prizes and they will then be made aware of your brand as well as advertising you to their own friends.
7. Ensure your website loads fast.
SEO isn’t just about quality content and links. You might surprised to know it includes a site’s loading speed too.
SEO tips for local businesses don’t usually mention this. Yet it’s vital for your site to load as fast as possible. Remember that people nowadays have a shorter attention span? If your site takes forever to load, the user gets impatient and logs out faster than you can say, “Hey come back!”
Also, Google takes note of the amount of time a user stays on your page. Once it notices a high log-out rate from your site, it thinks something’s up. This results in lower rankings and lower visibility.
Talk with your business website’s Webmaster regarding loading speed. Request for regular updates, and fix glitches as soon as they’re spotted.
8. Set up a Blog
Everyone who uses the internet knows what a blog is, but very few businesses understand the amazing potential that a blog can have to promote their business.
Putting up a blog on your website not only increases your chances of acquiring new customers, but they can even generate a large amount of sales. In fact, 61% of US consumers purchase a product after they read about it on a blog post.
Current research into online trends shows that blogging is fast become the number one way to attract new customers . It is clear then that every business should be utilising this. Equally, over three quarters of people online read blogs. To get your brand known there really isn’t anything else that exists with such potential.
To create blogs is free for most websites, but thought and research should be put into them. If they are not good quality then people aren’t going to read them.
Equally, many websites now use professional blog writers to create content for their websites. While this is an added expense, the potential customers and revenue it will bring are well worth this small investment.
9. Build a Positive Online Brand
In this age of online reviews and ratings, a client can find your customer service ranking at the click of a button. Having a company help you improve your SEO will also improve your online presence in a positive way. However the battle does not end with a higher search engine ranking. It is key to continue that positive online presence with excellent customer care. When a customer thinks of your name, you want them to associate with a positive feeling, making them much more likely to use your business.
10. Build brand awareness.
It’s not enough to follow to the letter all SEO tips for local businesses. You need to work on establishing brand awareness as well.
Network throughout Bangkok. Build relationships with local events and social activities and make your presence known there. People flock to these events. Aside from promoting awareness for your brand, these gatherings let you interact with potential clients.
You can also hold your own event. Come up with a concept that’s tied closely to your brand, one that makes people think of your business when they see it. Set up a meet-and-greet affair. Hold an exclusive party for that new product you are about to launch. Host an online event through a social media platform, be it through Twitter or Facebook.
An active web presence, as frequently mentioned in most SEO tips for local businesses, is also a fine tool to have to advertise your brand. When people see you all over the World Wide Web, chances are higher they will get curious of your product and want to know more about you.
There is no one tip in how to promote brand awareness. But if you follow all the tips above you will be well on your way.
For more information on how SEO can help build your business, read this article here.