The Importance of Search Engine Optimization to Your Business

Want to Learn Some Google Basics?

By Staff
Date Posted: 11/1/2017

You may view Google as very important to your pallet or lumber business, or you may see Google as irrelevant. Regardless of how you feel about Google, it probably has some kind of impact on your business – whether you realize it or not.

Google is the most dominant search engine and it maintains the largest business directory with “Google My Business” and “Maps Listings.” That means one way or another, Google touches the life of your pallet or sawmill business. These simple strategies can help you get the most out of Google for free. Optimizing your website and social media presence to attract search engine users is a good way to attract new customers. Many people use search engines when looking for new suppliers or seeking to solve business problems.

Here are two elements of Google that every business should understand.

1. Google My Business – The local or maps listings on Google that are free; all you have to do is claim your listing

2. Search Engine Optimization or SEO – This means your business is on the first page when someone searches for a pallet- or sawmill-related product or service. It is free because you pay nothing to Google directly, but there are costs either in time or money if you expect your website to be on the first page of Google’s organic search results.

Have you claimed your Google My Business listing? Virtually any business with a physical location and business phone number is probably already in the Google My Business directory. You can easily check by doing a search on Google for your business and going to the Maps tab on the search results. If your listing has never been claimed, you will see a button that says “Claim this Business.” When you claim your business listing, there will be a verification procedure done over your business phone line or through the mail. Once you have verified you own the business, you simply make sure all of the information in the listing is accurate and you can add more content like photos and your logo. It’s also a good idea to encourage customers to write reviews for your business.

How do you get to the top of the search results? Years ago you could game the system and trick the Google Search Algorithms into putting your website at the top of the search rankings. Those days are gone. Google Search Algorithms have been refined and if you expect to be highly ranked in the search results, you need to have a good website. In Google’s view, a good website has original highly engaging content that people want to read or watch. Google wants people using their search engine to have a good experience, and if your website doesn’t deliver a good experience, you won’t be on the first page.

Once you have quality content, the second hurdle is getting links from other relevant websites to your site. Link building has also become harder to do because Google now evaluates the quality of the websites your website is linked to. If you have a lot of links from poor quality websites, then Google will penalize you for those links. However, having links from a relevant, quality source, such as the www.PalletEnterprise.com for example, is a good idea.