From social media marketing to link building and SEO, digital marketing should be an important part of every small business' marketing plan.

With the internet now playing a truly integral part of everyday life, getting your brand seen online is more important than ever. For many small businesses, much of their success is built from their digital marketing efforts, so it's vital to know just how to go about claiming this success for yourself.

This article will give you some top tips for how to succeed with your small business' digital marketing.

Tip #01: Use social media effectively

Undoubtedly, one of the most important aspects of digital marketing is using social media correctly. This means not just having a presence on all the popular platforms, but also using them in the right way. For example, you should be sharing relevant and engaging content on your Facebook page, tweeting about topics that your followers will find interesting, and using Instagram to showcase your products or services in an appealing way.

Make sure that you're also using social media for customer service. This can be a great way to build trust and loyalty with your customers. Responding to queries and complaints quickly and politely can make all the difference, and could even lead to you gaining new customers through word of mouth!

Tip #02: Make effort with local SEO

Local search engine optimisation (SEO) is an important part of digital marketing that many small businesses don't utilise as much as they should. By including your city or location in any content on your website, you can improve the chances of people finding you when searching for a related business in their area.

For example, if you're a catering company based in Leeds, make sure all your webpage titles and other content include this information. This will help bring up any searches about caterers in Leeds higher up results pages than those without it.

Make sure to also create online profiles for yourself across several platforms, such as Google My Business, Yelp, and Bing. This will help your business to show up in local searches!

Tip #03: Utilise digital advertising

Digital advertising is an effective way of getting yourself seen by those who wouldn't otherwise have found you online. Many small businesses rely on word of mouth marketing to bring them new customers, but this isn't always enough - especially if you're a brand new business which hasn't been around long enough for people to talk about it yet!

Digital ads are the perfect solution. There are many different kinds out there that you can utilise depending on what style works best with your audience. For example, Instagram and Facebook have excellent options for video content such as short ads, while Google Adwords offer simple text link ads.

Tip #04: Invest in link building

Link building is a fantastic way of getting people to your site, but it's also important for SEO purposes too!

Search engines such as Google generally rank sites higher up results pages if they have plenty of high quality backlinks pointing to them from other websites and content elsewhere on the internet. This shows them that your website has authority, which means that you're more likely to be seen by those searching online.

In turn, this can lead to an increase in traffic and conversions - so don't forget about this crucial aspect of digital marketing when planning out your campaign!

There are lots of places where you can build links for free through social media posts or blog comments (just make sure these aren't spammy!), but you can also invest in paid services if you want to see better results.

Tip #05: Fully optimise your site

Having a well-optimised website is essential for any small business that wants to make the most of their digital marketing efforts. This means ensuring that all your webpages are correctly coded and have the correct keywords, titles, and descriptions so that they show up in search engine results pages (SERPs). You should also use Schema markup on your site wherever possible to help Google understand your content better.

It's also important to make sure that your website is mobile-friendly. With more people now using their smartphones and tablets to access the internet, it's vital that your website looks good and functions correctly on these devices. If it doesn't, you could be losing out on a lot of potential customers!

Digital marketing should never be overlooked when it comes to the marketing efforts of your small business. If it seems a little too time consuming or complicated, it’s always better to hire a digital marketing agency to do the work for you instead.

GUEST BLOGGER AUTHOR:

DANDY MARKETING