Steal This Digital Visibility Strategy Today

Want to make your business stand out online? Digital visibility is no longer optional; it’s essential for attracting customers and growing your brand. Many businesses struggle to get seen amidst the noise of the internet, but what if you could implement a straightforward strategy today that starts yielding results tomorrow?

Step 1: Claim and Optimize Your Google Business Profile

Your Google Business Profile (GBP) is your digital storefront for local search. Think of it as your virtual welcome mat. Neglecting it is like leaving your brick-and-mortar store without signage. The best part? It’s free.

Sub-step 1: Claim or Create Your Profile

Head over to Google Business Profile. If you’ve never created a profile, click “Manage Now” and follow the prompts. If you think you might already have a profile (perhaps created by Google or a previous employee), search for your business name. If it appears, click “Claim this business.” You’ll need to verify your association with the business, typically via postcard, phone, or email.

Pro Tip: Use the same business name, address, and phone number (NAP) consistently across all online platforms. Inconsistencies can confuse search engines and hurt your rankings. I had a client last year who struggled with this. They had two slightly different business names listed on various directories, and it took weeks to clean up and consolidate the listings.

Sub-step 2: Optimize Your Profile Details

Once you’ve claimed your profile, it’s time to optimize it. Here’s what to focus on:

1. Business Name: Use your exact legal business name.
2. Address: Enter your physical address. If you operate from home, you can hide the address and only show your service area.
3. Phone Number: Use a local phone number if possible.
4. Category: Choose the most relevant primary category for your business. Then, add additional relevant categories. Don’t stuff keywords here; be accurate.
5. Description: Write a compelling description of your business, highlighting your unique selling points. Include relevant keywords, but avoid keyword stuffing. Think about what makes your business different from others in Midtown Atlanta.
6. Hours: Set your accurate business hours. Update them for holidays and special events.
7. Website: Link to your website. Make sure the link is working!
8. Photos: Add high-quality photos of your business, products, and team. Customers love to see what you offer.

Expected Outcome: A well-optimized GBP will improve your visibility in local search results, leading to more phone calls, website visits, and foot traffic.

Common Mistake: Forgetting to respond to reviews. Actively managing your reviews shows that you value customer feedback. Even negative reviews are an opportunity to demonstrate your commitment to customer service.

Step 2: Conduct a Technical SEO Audit with Semrush

Your website’s technical health is the foundation of your digital visibility. If your site has technical issues, it will be harder for search engines to crawl and index your content. Semrush is a powerful SEO tool that can help you identify and fix these issues. While it’s a paid tool, the insights it provides are invaluable.

Sub-step 1: Set Up a Project in Semrush

Log in to Semrush and click “Projects” in the left-hand menu. Click “Create project” and enter your website’s domain name. Give your project a name (e.g., “My Business Website Audit”).

Sub-step 2: Run a Site Audit

Within your project dashboard, find the “Site Audit” tool. Click “Set up” or “Run site audit.” Configure the audit settings. I recommend these settings to start:

• Crawl Source: Website
• Pages to Crawl: All website pages
• Crawl Limit: 20,000 pages (adjust based on your website size)
• User-Agent: Semrush Bot
• Schedule: Weekly (to monitor ongoing technical health)

Click “Start Site Audit.” The audit may take some time, depending on the size of your website. Grab a coffee and let Semrush do its thing.

Sub-step 3: Analyze the Audit Results

Once the audit is complete, Semrush will present you with a report of your website’s technical health. Pay attention to these key metrics:

• Site Health Score: A percentage representing the overall health of your website. Aim for a score of 80% or higher.
• Errors: Critical issues that need immediate attention (e.g., broken links, crawl errors, duplicate content).
• Warnings: Potential issues that could impact your SEO (e.g., slow page speed, missing alt text, missing meta descriptions).
• Notices: Suggestions for improvement (e.g., improve internal linking, add schema markup).

Click on each issue to see detailed information and recommendations for fixing it. Semrush provides helpful explanations and links to relevant resources.

Expected Outcome: Identifying and fixing technical SEO issues will improve your website’s crawlability, indexability, and overall search engine ranking.

Common Mistake: Ignoring the warnings and notices. While they may not be as critical as errors, they can still impact your SEO performance. Addressing these issues can give you a competitive edge.

Step 3: Develop a Content Marketing Strategy with Semrush’s Content Marketing Platform

Creating valuable, engaging content is crucial for attracting and retaining customers. Semrush’s Content Marketing Platform helps you plan, create, and optimize your content for maximum digital visibility.

Sub-step 1: Use the SEO Content Template

Navigate to the Content Marketing Platform within Semrush. Select “SEO Content Template.” Input your target keyword (e.g., “personal injury lawyer Atlanta”). Select your target location (e.g., “Atlanta, GA”).

The SEO Content Template analyzes the top-ranking content for your target keyword and provides recommendations for:

• Semantically Related Keywords: Keywords to include in your content to improve its relevance.
• Readability Score: Target readability score to make your content easy to understand.
• Text Length: Recommended word count for your content.
• Backlinks: Potential websites to target for backlinks.

Use these recommendations as a guide for creating your content. Don’t just blindly follow them, but use them as a starting point for crafting high-quality, informative content.

Sub-step 2: Create Content Clusters

A content cluster is a group of related content pieces that are linked together. This helps search engines understand the topic of your website and improves your overall SEO.

Identify a core topic for your business (e.g., “digital marketing”). Then, create several related content pieces that address different aspects of that topic (e.g., “social media marketing,” “email marketing,” “SEO,” “content marketing”). Link these content pieces together using internal links.

For example, if you’re a bakery in Decatur, GA, your core topic might be “bakery in Decatur.” Your content cluster could include articles like:

• “The Best Cakes for Birthdays in Decatur”
• “Decatur’s Best Cookies: A Sweet Guide”
• “Custom Cake Design in Decatur: Make Your Celebration Special”
• “Gluten-Free Bakery Options in Decatur”

Internal links between these articles would strengthen your website’s authority on the topic of “bakery in Decatur.”

Sub-step 3: Distribute and Promote Your Content

Creating great content is only half the battle. You also need to distribute and promote it to reach your target audience.

Share your content on social media, email newsletters, and other relevant channels. Consider guest blogging on other websites in your industry to reach a wider audience. Engage with your audience in the comments section and on social media.

Expected Outcome: A well-executed content marketing strategy will attract more visitors to your website, build your brand authority, and generate leads and sales.

Common Mistake: Creating content without a clear strategy. Before you start writing, define your target audience, your goals, and your key performance indicators (KPIs). What do you want to achieve with your content?

Pro Tip: Don’t forget about video! According to a Nielsen report, video accounts for a growing percentage of media consumption. Creating short, engaging videos can be a great way to reach a wider audience. We saw a 30% increase in website traffic after incorporating video into our content strategy for a local real estate client.

Step 4: Monitor and Analyze Your Results

Digital visibility isn’t a set-it-and-forget-it kind of thing. It’s an ongoing process that requires continuous monitoring and analysis. Use Google Analytics, Semrush, and other tools to track your progress and identify areas for improvement.

Pay attention to these key metrics:

• Website Traffic: How many visitors are coming to your website?
• Search Engine Rankings: Where are your keywords ranking in search results?
• Conversion Rates: How many visitors are converting into leads or sales?
• Social Media Engagement: How are people interacting with your content on social media?

Use this data to adjust your strategy as needed. What’s working? What’s not working? Don’t be afraid to experiment and try new things. The digital world is constantly changing, so you need to be adaptable.

Here’s what nobody tells you: patience is key. Building digital visibility takes time and effort. Don’t get discouraged if you don’t see results overnight. Keep creating great content, optimizing your website, and engaging with your audience, and you will eventually see your business thrive.

To succeed, content optimization is crucial to ensuring that your content is discoverable. Also, remember that search evolution is constant, so staying informed is vital.

Ready to boost your digital visibility? Start with a Google Business Profile and a free Semrush account. Run a basic site audit to identify critical errors, and then commit to creating one high-quality piece of content each week. That’s a realistic, achievable starting point. Now, go get visible!