The popularity of the internet has brought opportunities that entrepreneurs once only dreamed of. The idea that a small team of employees can compete against international corporations and make millions of dollars was almost unheard of a decade ago. Yet, every day a new story emerges about how a lean solopreneur is making 7 figures from the comfort of their computer. Owning your own online business can be extremely rewarding, but many who strive to be among the ranks of the new rich quickly back down. It's easy to become overwhelmed by the amount of people vying to achieve the same result. Everyone wants to show up on the top of Google, but it isn't easy to do so. At iBoost, we help companies across the country stand out of the crowd and grow their online influence. During that time, we've learned a lot about how small online businesses can use SEO techniques to boost their performance and grow their search engine rank. Whether you sell physical products on an eCommerce platform or run a lifestyle business that sells courses and ebooks, these tips can help you emerge from the sea of competitors.

Research the Best Long Tail Keywords and Monitor Your Results 

Unlike location dependent brick and mortar stores, your online business must appeal to a national or even international market. A bicycle shop in Portland may have healthy competition, but it's limited to a specific area. In contrast, selling mountain bikes online means you'll need to compete not only against the same Portland shops, but all bicycle stores in the world, both online and offline. That can be intimidating. The best way to combat the odds is to niche down to a target audience and use underutilized long tail keywords that your ideal customer might be using in the search bar. Rather than trying to rank for "mountain bikes" try "cross country hardtail mountain bikes". 

Don't Rely Solely on Pay Per Click Campaigns

Some people are misinformed or simply too eager to see fast results, and focus all their marketing efforts on pay per click. While advertising on popular search engines and social media channels is a great way to generate a lot of traffic, the benefits will disappear as soon as your budget runs dry. Your visibility will instantly be replaced by those you are directly competing against. If you really want lasting results from your digital marketing efforts, you'll need to work hard at improving your SEO. While it may take longer, the fruits of your labor are much more reliable and lasting. The best approach is to use PPC campaigns while you're working on improving your organic ranking, and then saving your ad dollars for specific sales or promotions, not as a tool for general lead generation. 

Avoid Copy and Paste Product Descriptions

Be careful if you own an eCommerce store that sells products widely available at other shops or dropshipped from a wholesale company. Many entrepreneurs have a lot of tasks to manage, and it can be tempting to save precious time by copying and pasting the product descriptions and spec data directly from the manufacturer. While it may shave off a few days of work at the beginning, you'll be swallowed by the competition and your SEO efforts will take a huge hit. It's better to be unique, and take a little extra time to formulate your own descriptions using the keywords you want your product to rank for. 

Be Strategic About Your Link's Anchor Text 

It can be a habit for web designers and online entrepreneurs to only use buttons to direct website users to new pages. While a good call to action is important, strategy is a must when creating anchor text for internal links. For example, if you sell men's accessories it may seem practical at the end of a blog post about watches to link to a sales page through a Buy Now button. While including this isn't a terrible idea, you may want to get creative and also link to your luxury watches page from a sentence inside the content like, "Wearing a luxury watch shows….". 

Ready to Dominate the Search Results in Your Industry? Contact the Experts at iBoost

Today's entrepreneurs often juggle a lot of responsibility. It can be difficult and overwhelming to run a business in today's completive marketplace while trying to keep track of the latest trends in digital marketing and SEO. When you hire an experienced company like iBoost, it's like having an entire team of employees dedicated to your success, with none of the overhead costs. If you're interested in learning more about how our services can grow your customer reach and increase revenue, contact our team of specialists today.