Okay, quick question. How do you get Google to notice your website? The answer is actually not as intimidating as it sounds.
By the end of this video, my goal is for you to have a clear step-by-step list of things you can do to boost your website traffic. It’s super beginner-friendly, and by the end, you’ll know exactly what to do.
So grab a coffee, open up a doc or notebook to take some notes, and let’s do this together!
I want to start off by saying that it’s easy to be held up by all of the different information out there, especially as a small business owner. There’s a lot to take in and understand when it comes to SEO, and I’m going to do my best to break it down into the necessary steps and the ones that are doable for a busy business owner like yourself.
Let’s start with step number one, which is to conduct keyword research.
Step #1: Conduct Keyword Research for Your Business
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If you want people to find your site, you’ve got to target the right keywords. So the ones your audience is actually searching for.
Your audience may search for your business name if they’re aware of it, but it’s more likely they’re doing a broad search for something and then that’s really when SEO shines.
So, one of my favorite ways to conduct keyword research, at least at first, is to start brainstorming a list of terms related to your business.
Think about what you offer, where you’re located, and what makes your business stand out. For example, if you own a gluten-free bakery, you might jot down words like 'fresh gluten-free bread,' 'gluten-free desserts,' or 'gluten-free birthday cakes.'
Once you’ve got a list of those keywords, you then want to take it a step further and you want to localize them. Now there are hundreds of websites ranking for “gluten-free bread” and many of them are recipes and grocery store items, but as you scroll, you can see the “Places” section, and this is where you want to show up.
To show up here, you want to take it one step further and add your city or your neighborhood to your keyword. So “gluten-free bread in Vancouver” or “best gluten-free bread in Vancouver”.
These start to become what’s known as your long-tail keywords and are perfect for reaching the right audience.
I want you to think of what your target audience would search for. Think of short, easy words and then think of some phrases a.k.a. long-tail keywords.
If you’re not sure if you’re on the right track, you can also use free keyword research tools to support with this step. At this stage, I wouldn’t worry too much about ranking factors or anything like that. We’re going to focus on that a little bit later. So give this video a pause, write your list down, and we’ll be using them in the next step.
When you generate a website with Durable, we have built-in SEO tools that conduct your keyword research for you.
We take into account your location and your business type and make sure that your website copy is sprinkled with your relevant keywords.
So you don’t need to worry about brainstorming and adding keywords into your content. You can skip this whole step. We do it for you.
Step #2: Google Your Keywords and Narrow Down Your List
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I want you to take a look at the list you wrote down in step one and one by one, type them into the search bar and see what comes up.
This isn’t just to confirm that people are looking for them; you’re also going to analyze the search results. As you’re looking through and narrowing them down, ask yourself these questions?
- What types of content are ranking? Is it Blogs? Videos? Product pages? Places?
- What’s the search intent? Are people looking for information, local businesses, or to make a purchase?
- Are there any gaps in what’s ranking?
This will help you refine your list of keywords and target the ones that you can actually rank for. If you notice that none of the results answer a specific question your audience has, then maybe you've found your angle.
If you want to take it one step further, you can use tools like Ahrefs and Google Keyword Planner to look into rankings and data behind each of your intended keywords. But for now, let’s keep it simple.
Step #3: Add Your Keywords to Your Website for Maximum Impact
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Alright, now that you know the keywords that you want to rank for, it's time to add those keywords to your website.
I think this is where a lot of business owners get overwhelmed and almost take a full stop. Because as a baker, a massage therapist, or a car detailer, you are not a copywriting expert, and it’s overwhelming to think about now needing to write with these keywords in mind.
So I want to simplify this for you as much as possible.
Go to your website and pick two pages to focus on today. The first being your homepage, and the second being your services page.
I want you to look at your top three to four keywords, look over your page content, and see where you can add that keyword to your existing copy, so look at your page’s title, headings, and within the first 100 words of text in your description.
Now, go to your Services page, and if you don’t have one, now is a good time to add one, and this is where you can add in some of those long tail keywords you brainstormed. So if you’re a massage therapist and you have different types of massage, this is where you can say “reflexology massage in Vancouver” or “deep tissue massage Vancouver” in the descriptions of each service.
I want to back up though, just a little, because with Durable, like I mentioned, you actually don’t need to spend time doing this step.
We generate headlines, body copy, and your supporting pages with your keywords in mind.
You can either tell us the keywords you want us to use by typing them in, or you can let Durable recommend keywords for you.
Step #4: Set Up Your Google Business Profile for Local SEO
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Once you feel like your website copy is in a good place with your intended keywords sprinkled in, next on the list is short and sweet, and it’s setting up your Google Business Profile.
This is what pops up when someone Googles your business or looks it up on Google Maps, and it’s actually really important for local SEO.
So, if you don’t have one just yet, I recommend setting one up.
Once you’ve claimed and verified your profile, just make sure to keep your information accurate and up to date, add high-quality photos, encourage reviews, and post regular updates.
By doing this, you are making it easier for local customers to find and trust you!
Step #5: Improve Your Technical SEO to Boost Rankings
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Alright, now, this is the part where many beginners get intimidated — but trust me, we’re keeping it simple. All technical SEO is making sure your website is fast, secure, and user-friendly.
There are three main parts of technical SEO and that is page speed, mobile-friendliness, and HTTPS security. But it’s still good to know what these items are. So I’ll quickly walk through them here with you on screen.
- Page Speed: Your site should load in under three seconds. Use tools like PageSpeed Insights to check and fix any slow pages.
- Mobile-friendliness: Google prioritizes mobile-first indexing, so make sure your site looks great and functions well on mobile.
- HTTPS Security: If your site isn’t HTTPS by now, it’s a must for both SEO and user trust.
If you’re using Durable, you can skip this step. Our sites are already optimized for speed, mobile, and security.
Step #6: Elevate Your Website Design and User Experience
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Next up is to elevate your website design and experience.
The way your website looks and operates has a significant impact on how Google ranks your site. A cluttered, outdated design can hurt your rankings. But design that’s clean, modern, and easy to navigate? That’s the way to go.
When Durable generates a website for your business, it uses your specific industry and design best practices to generate the perfect website for your business.
Make sure your site has:
- A homepage
- An about us page
- A services page
- A contact page
- A blog
With Durable, you can generate all of these pages with seo-optimized copy and images at the click of a button.
Step #7: Create Helpful Content That Ranks on Google
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One of the pages I mentioned above is a blog. Now, I’ve spoken a lot about the short-form copy on your site, like headers and descriptions, but there is another aspect of SEO and that’s long-form comprehensive content.
Publishing consistent content on your website is massive for SEO. And having a blog is the best way to do this.
You can start by brainstorming topics that your audience is genuinely interested in and answer questions that they may have. If you go back to step 2, where we googled your keywords, have a look at the resources that come up. What long-form content could you create around those words? You can even use the FAQs that pop up to help inspire topics.
If writing isn’t your thing, Durable’s Blog Builder can do the work for you. Just tell it what you want, and it’ll write, optimize, and even auto-publish posts for you.
I think it’s really great and an awesome free resource within Durable for small businesses.
And speaking of content, it’s also important to remember that creating and sharing social media content, and reaching out to other similar businesses — or even news outlets — to cover your business is a benefit to SEO.
Using external content to drive traffic to your website is a big bonus for SEO.
Step #8: Continually Re-optimize Your Content for Better Results
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And finally, SEO isn’t a 'set it and forget it' situation. You want to revisit and optimize your content regularly. Check your analytics to see which pages are performing well and which ones aren’t.
If a blog post starts slipping down the rankings, refresh it. Update stats, add new sections, or improve your visuals. Google loves fresh content. Especially in 2025.
We actually have a video talking all about Google in 2025 and some SEO misconceptions.
And that’s it — your step-by-step SEO strategy for 2025! Of course, there is more we can get into, and we could go a lot deeper with SEO, but this is a great place to start.
I really hope you feel more confident about improving your site’s visibility and attracting the right audience. Just remember to take it one step at a time, and you will start seeing results.
If you found this video helpful, give it a thumbs up and subscribe for more beginner-friendly tips. And drop any questions you have in the comments — I’d love to help! And don’t forget, Durable’s Website Builder can take care of all the hard stuff for you.
Thanks for watching, and I’ll see you in the next video! 👋
