# Boosting Business Online Using SEO November 6, 2023 If you want to succeed in the online business race, **SEO or search engine optimisation** is one the best ways to do that. No doubt, SEO helps in **boosting business online** by making your website appear on the top **SERP (search engine result page)** for the users. Besides, **Google dominates** within the overall search engine market. That means your optimising efforts should target Google as the primary search engine. Now, SEO is also famous for bringing **organic traffic** to your website. What does that mean? ### SEO Tips & Tricks for **Boosting Business Online** Technically, **SEO is free**. Yeah, you read that right. You don’t have to spend money if you want to optimise your website using SEO. All you need to invest is **time and energy** in making long-term SEO strategies. However, if you hire an SEO [specialist](/content/services/creative-technology-consultancy/index.html), that will cost you good money, but what the SEO specialist earns per year to improve your online business can be measured by your improvements in **traffic, leads and sales**. Now, **boosting business online** requires expertise and knowledge. Since SEO has become an integral branch of [digital marketing](/content/blog/digital-marketing-tips-for-small-businesses/index.html), you can’t rank on top SERP without following the **latest SEO requirements**. Therefore, we’ll see the biggest difference makers in **boosting business online** using SEO. ### Mobile Friendliness Do you know that **80% of the top-ranked websites** are mobile-friendly? Also, Google might penalise you if your website doesn’t perform well on mobile. It’s because people are shifting to **smart devices**. A vast majority of them will not be using desktop computers or bigger devices for browsing online. So, the first step of **boosting business online** is to make your website **mobile-friendly**. #### What’s Included in Mobile Friendliness? To check what does mobile-friendliness ask you have and how your website performs on a mobile, you can use the following tools: - [Google Developer Mobile-Friendly Test Tool](https://search.google.com/test/mobile-friendly) - [Bing Mobile Friendliness Test Tool](https://www.bing.com/webmaster/tools/mobile-friendliness) - [W3C Mobile Checker](https://dev.w3.org/2008/mobileok-webui/) You simply have to submit your website’s URL in any of these tools. After that, you will get a report of your website’s overall performance on mobile. You can share that mobile-friendliness report with your web development team. They will then make necessary changes. ### Load Speed You don’t want your visitors to be waiting while your website opens up, do you? A website’s **load speed and bounce rate** have a direct relation. That means, if your website takes time to load, the [bounce rate](https://cxl.com/guides/bounce-rate/seo-impact/#:~:text=Bounce%20rate%20is%20the%20percentage,that%20in%20a%20previous%20chapter). of your website will increase, and vice versa. Moreover, a **high bounce rate** determines that users have no interest in your website. They click on a link that redirects them to your website. But since it’s taking longer than [3 seconds](https://www.websitebuilderexpert.com/building-websites/website-load-time-statistics/), your visitors will instantly close that tab and might never return. Google recommends that your website should load in under [two seconds](https://www.bluecorona.com/blog/how-fast-should-website-be/#:~:text=If%20you%20want%20a%20quick,it%20comes%20to%20customer%20service.) to hold a customer. Otherwise, Google might not list your website on SERP. Therefore, **boosting business online** also depends on how fast your website is loading. #### How to Reduce Load Speed? You can try [Pingdom](https://www.pingdom.com/) to check the [performance of your website](/content/blog/how-to-improve-google-pagespeed-insights-score-of-your-website/index.html), including load speed. This tool grades your website and suggests improvements. However, the result might be a bit technical for you. So it’s better to have a web developer with you while analysing the report. After that, you can make necessary changes and reduce the load speed of your website. ### Directory Listing As you already probably know that every area has its own **business directories**. A pharmacist will have their directory in a pharmaceutical category, a mechanic will have one in the automobile category, and so on. Just like that, you have to list your online business in the [relevant directories](https://www.searchenginejournal.com/web-directories-list/287799/). But how does that help your business to boost online? Google or any other search engine wants you to be a real business. Therefore, you will be labeled as a **legitimate online business** if you are there in the local business directories. Sounds simple, right? Once you register yourself in the relevant business directory, Google can verify you by: - Name - Address - Phone Number Another advantage of getting listed in the business directories is you will get a **backlink** from almost all of them. **Backlinking** is an important ranking factor in **boosting business online**. #### How to Find Directory Listing Opportunity? You can check out the following platforms for free business directory listing: - [Brightlocal](https://www.brightlocal.com/resources/ultimate-usa-free-business-directory-list/) - [United States Business Directory](https://usa.businessdirectory.cc/) - [Popart Studio](https://www.popwebdesign.net/usa-business-directories.html) You can filter out the business directories either by city or niche. ### Social & Review Profiles It’s easier to be ranked on Google if you are a **brand** or getting endorsements from a brand. Therefore, you have to own and optimise **social and review profiles**. Some of the famous social media platforms are (with global monthly users in 2021): - Facebook ( [2.89 billion](https://www.searchenginejournal.com/top-social-media-statistics/418826/#close)) - YouTube ( [2.2 billion](https://www.searchenginejournal.com/top-social-media-statistics/418826/#close)) - Instagram ( [1.39 billion](https://www.searchenginejournal.com/top-social-media-statistics/418826/#close)) Moreover, you have to list your online business on **review sites** as well. There are numerous review platforms available for specific niches. Therefore, make sure that you register in the relevant category for **boosting business online**. #### How to Optimise Social & Review Profiles? First of all, you have to fill out **every possible detail** of your profile. Plus, you have to add your website link to each profile. A study showed that [more than 44% of the users](https://www.hootsuite.com/resources/digital-trends) use social media to look for brands. Therefore, if users find your social and review profile optimised, they might visit your website. That will eventually increase **organic traffic** for your online business. That’s how you can boost your online business using SEO without spending a single penny. ## Conclusion **Boosting business online** using SEO is a **long-term process**. You have to consistently work on your website optimisation for weeks, even months. Moreover, Google ranks your online business if the users are **satisfied with visiting your website**. Therefore, the crux of SEO is to make your website **informative and as relevant as possible** for the users. That also means that the **SEO trends constantly change** over time. So you have to keep checking for the [latest SEO updates](https://searchengineland.com/library/google/google-algorithm-updates#:~:text=The%202020%20Core%20Update%20was,and%20SEO%20across%20all%20languages.) in order to rank in the the top SERP rankings.