When it comes to small businesses, in the past the advice was to avoid SEO and keyword tools. The power for small business growth came from the power of referrals and local advertising. Today this is something that’s changed. Small businesses can benefit from Search Engine Optimization tactics and keyword campaigns; the process just needs to be approached from a different perspective.

Instead of competing with large businesses with large marketing budgets, small business owners must learn to carve their own niche space in the ever-crowded SEO world while targeting their local markets—which is where the majority of their business is likely to come from in the first place.

Use the Right Keywords

As with large businesses, successful SEO strategy starts with using the right keywords. These keywords are the ones that are searched and relevant to your business. Having the right keywords can bring in the kind of customers that are right for your business.

This is probably even more important to small businesses than Fortune 500 companies. Because the keyword marketing budget is much smaller (as low as $1 a day) for smaller businesses, they must make sure that their keywords will bring in the right customers.

To make sure you’re heading in the right direction, use a free keyword tool like the one found by searching for “Google Analytics Keyword Tool.” Check for search traffic and average daily budgets to make sure the keywords you choose will lead to results.

Keep Your Content Current

Many businesses forget about the importance of current content and how it relates to SEO strategy. Search engines look for pages that are turning out regular content. If you’re not sure how to accomplish this, think about starting a blog.

By providing relevant, current content (on a regular basis) you’re not only engaging your regular customers and visitors, you’re also increasing the potential that you’ll be able to reach out to new members of your target demographic.

Keep it current, relevant, useful and regular.

Target Your Locale

In the same way that choosing the right keywords is critical for SEO success for small businesses, targeting the right locale is just as important. According to the Google Adwords Keyword Tool, the term “injury attorney” has 673,000 monthly searches. That’s impressive…it also means that large law firms are probably hitting it pretty hard…with astronomical budgets.

But for a smaller firm targeting a local market, the term “Lancaster injury attorney” has only 720 monthly searches. While this is still a large market (and could mean a lot of business for the firm in question), it cuts out the competition from the large, national firms and gives a better shot for success.

If you’re a small business that’s looking to get started with a solid SEO strategy, congratulations, you’re on the right path. Follow the advice above and give it a try today. You should see results in no time.