SEO refers to a portfolio of skills and practices that make your website more visible to search engine users and, especially, more “discoverable” to members of your target audience. SEO alone may not be enough to create a digital presence, but it’s an important addition to any media mix, along with paid advertising, social media, and more.
The problem is that SEO can be incredibly technical, and its rules are constantly changing and evolving, so it can be difficult for any small business or LLC owner to keep up. While it’s helpful to hire a professional, there are also some simple steps that can get you in the right direction.
SEO for LLCs: Best Practices and Basics
Consider a few SEO best practices that can work well for any small business or LLC. Note: An LLC is a small business designation that includes one or more members, is registered with the state exit telephone number data and has a Registered Agent assigned to handle business and tax documents. (Related question: Do I need my own Registered Agent for an LLC ?) Therefore, LLCs have the same SEO needs as any small business, including:
1) Set the right goals.
When you’re creating a regular SEO practice, you’ll want to continually measure and evaluate your progress. Therefore, you’ll need to define a set of specific, measurable goals. There are a number of goals you can set for your SEO efforts, with clearly defined metrics for each. For example:
You can set a goal to increase visibility as measured by search rankings for a particular keyword.
You can set a goal to increase traffic by a certain amount.
You can aim to increase sales as measured by conversion rate.
Before you do anything else, consider how you will define SEO success. Your SEO goals should always be tied to increasing your revenue.
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2) Configure your analytics tools.
In order to measure progress toward your goals, you need to connect your website to specific data, analytics, and reporting tools. There are a couple of good tools that every LLC should use: Google Analytics (more specifically, Google Analytics 4 or GA4) and Google Search Console. Both are free, both are easy to use, and both provide useful data points that you can use to fine-tune your SEO efforts. You can also integrate these analytics tools with our own Accuranker keyword ranking tracker .
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3) Claim your Google Business Profile.
Speaking of free tools from Google, if you run a local business, be sure to claim your Google Business Profile. This will ensure that when someone searches for your business, they’ll be presented with clear contact information, business hours, and other important details. Google also gives you plenty of control to highlight special promotions, manage online reviews, and upload relevant images… all of which will increase your SEO visibility.
4) Do keyword research.
Keywords are crucial for SEO. They represent the terms and phrases that consumers use when searching for information about your products and services, and they also help search algorithms classify your content correctly.
There are many types of keywords to consider, such as:
Branded keywords are those that are tied to your business name or a specific product you offer—think Pizza Hut, Verizon, or Big Mac.
Short-tail keywords are usually just one or two words long and represent broad areas of research. “LLC” or “small business” are two keywords an aspiring entrepreneur might use.
Long-tail keywords represent more specific queries that are typically asked via voice search and take the form of a question. Examples: “How to start a small business?”, “Best Registered Agents in Nevada.”
There are many places to brainstorm keywords, including your own Google Analytics reporting, existing website content, Google Autocomplete, and competitor websites . The Google Keyword Search tool is also very valuable.
Create a keyword bank that you can use to structure your content, add to your Google Business Profile, and more.
5) Make a list of your competitors.
Remember that SEO doesn’t happen in a vacuum. You want your site to rank well, which means you want it to rank higher than competing sites. After all, a higher ranking on Google’s Search Engine Results Page (SERP) likely provides more opportunities to attract and convert customers.
To that end, it’s wise to keep a list of your top competitors and check their content regularly. Analyze what keywords they seem to be using, what kind of content they’re creating, and what’s working and not working on their site. All of this can be great fodder for your own SEO efforts.
6) Review your site architecture.
Your website architecture refers to the basic hierarchy or classification of pages. A clean, elegant, and intuitive architecture makes it easier for users to find the information they want. It also makes it easier for search algorithms to crawl and index your content.
As a general rule, simple architectures are better. It should never take more than three clicks total for a user to find the content they need. Review your architecture and if it’s too complex, take some time to review it with your site developer.
7) Make sure you have metadata.
When we talk about metadata, we are talking about the SEO title and meta description assigned to each page. Metadata is important for communicating what your site is about to users and search algorithms. The SEO title plays a major role in ranking criteria. While the meta description does not affect ranking, it does help increase click-through rate.
Make sure you have metadata for each page:
It's accurate and relevant to what the content is really about.
Enriched with keywords (where possible).
Original (i.e. not copied from page to page).
8) Optimize your on-page elements.
There are many things you can do to improve the content on each page and ensure it is optimized for the best possible search engine visibility. Here are some specific tips:
Make your content easier to read by breaking it down into headings and subheadings.
Include keywords in your headlines, subheadings, and body content whenever you can in a natural and unforced manner.
Make sure each page has relevant, readable content designed to address a specific user query, need, or pain point.
9) Double-check your site performance
User experience and SEO are closely linked. When users find a site easy to access, navigate, and use, it tends to help your rankings.
There are a few specific points to consider here:
Site speed matters! If your site takes longer than three or four seconds to load, you’re likely losing visitors. Test your site on multiple browsers and devices to make sure it’s working as it should.
It’s also important to ensure a mobile-friendly design. Again, check the site across multiple browsers and device types to make sure it looks good and is easy to navigate.
10) Provide regular content updates.
Search algorithms tend to reward websites that regularly provide users with fresh, relevant content. Starting a blog for your business or LLC that provides specific answers to frequently asked questions or user issues is a great way to do this. It can also be helpful to schedule an annual content audit, taking the time to review your entire site and revise content as needed.
11) Look for backlinks.
SEO is about what you do on your site, but it’s also about activity on other sites. Specifically, you need others to link to you to signal to the algorithms that you offer valuable content. Here are some ways to look for backlinks:
Subscribe to listings in local or industry-specific directories.
Develop good business relationships with other businesses in your city, or even include referral links in your own content.
Write blog posts that are good enough that others will want to promote them.
Use a free service like HARO that will get you citations in top publications.
Beware: Services that allow you to buy large amounts of backlinks never work in the long run, as Google will eventually find out and penalize you. Avoid these too-good-to-be-true offers when you see them.
