Running a small business is rewarding but also insanely time-consuming. There are always so many tasks to solve that it’s sometimes impossible to find the time to keep up to date with the latest on digital marketing.

So, if you need to play catch up, here are 14 of the best search engine optimisation (SEO) and social media resources from 2019 that we’d recommend reading before the year is over.

Hopefully, you’ll find lots of great tips and advice that you can use to help more prospects find, trust and engage with your business on social media and in the search engine results pages.

Search engine optimisation

Whether you’re just getting started with optimising your website or looking into additional ways to increase its visibility in the search results and attract more prospects to your online place of business, these resources might come in handy.

Make SEO a priority. If you want potential customers to easily find your small business at the top of the search engine results pages, you can’t achieve that without SEO. Here are some key reasons why SEO matters and why your business can’t succeed if you neglect this “low cost, high reward business strategy”.

Choose WordPress for your new website. WordPress is the most non-techie, easy-to-use website and blog creation tool around, as well as the most popular content management system (CMS). But did you know one of the key reasons it’s so widely used is because of the SEO best practices that are built into it? Combine these with a great SEO plugin like Yoast SEO and you’ll have an easier time boosting your site’s visibility on Google and other search engines. Learn about the reasons that make WordPress a great choice for your new website.

Boost your website’s visibility in the search engine results. If you’re new to the complex world of SEO, you might be tempted to go through Google’s ranking factors one by one and create a list of things you need to do to optimise your site. Save that precious time by reading this post where we walk you through the key things you should do as a SEO beginner to convince search engines like Google that your website deserves one of the top spots.

Make your blog easier to discover with proper keyword research. If you’re blogging for business and want to attract more readers and potential customers to your blog, then you need to make it easy to find in the search results. The most effective way to do that is to use keyword research in your content strategy. This beginner’s guide to keyword research for bloggers walks you through everything you need to know from where and how to find the right keywords to how to properly use them in your blog posts.

Get more brand mentions. The internet is changing. Link building isn’t just about links anymore but also about brand mentions or “implied links”. Find out more about these linkless brand mentions, why they’re important and how you can boost mentions by enticing more people to talk about your business online.

Avoid making these common SEO mistakes. When you’re dealing with an endless list of tasks you need to solve, it’s easy to make SEO mistakes that can hurt your website rankings. Don’t give your competitors a chance to outrank you. Fix these common SEO mistakes quickly.

The SEO vs. PPC dilemma. If you want to increase your site’s visibility in the search results and get people’s attention, should you invest more time and resources in search engine optimisation or in Pay-Per-Click (PPC) advertising? Read this post to determine if it’s SEO or PPC that makes more sense for your business.

Social media

Your prospects and customers are hanging out on social media. If you want to get their attention, your small business needs to be there too.

But where exactly? And what posts, hashtags, visuals or stories should you share to entice your target audience to pay attention and engage with your brand on social media? The following resources will provide you with some useful advice and ideas you can use right away.

Getting started with a YouTube business account. YouTube is the second most-visited site on the web. If you’re looking to give it a try and promote your small business on this booming platform, check out this step-by-step guide to learn how to create a YouTube business account.

Pinterest vs. Instagram. Wondering how these two popular social media channels are different and which one could give your small business the biggest boost? Read this post as we take a closer look at Pinterest and Instagram to help you decide which one’s worth putting in the time and resources to enhance your small business.

Instagram hashtag tools, tips and tricks. If you’re just getting started with Instagram or want to learn how to make your content easier to discover by your audience, don’t underestimate the power of hashtags. In this post, you’ll find some great advice on how to find, create and use Instagram hashtags properly to get more eyes on your content and grow engagement.

Build your audience with Instagram Stories. More than half a billion people use Instagram Stories every day, and a third of the most-viewed stories are posted by businesses. So if you’re using Instagram for your small business, make sure you give Instagram Stories a try, if you haven’t already. This guide explains how to use Instagram Stories as well as what you can do to make them stand out from the crowd.

Create engaging visual content on social media. You’ve likely seen lots of statistics and reports revealing that social media posts that include visual content get more likes, comments and engagement. Check out these 12 tips to learn how to create great visual content on your social media channels, whether you’re active on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram.

Understand Facebook group insights. If you’re a Facebook group admin or manager and want to find out more about your members and how they engage with your content, this article about Facebook groups insights is a must-read. It will help you to better understand the audience you’re attracting, the content they like, when they’re most active in the group, and the top contributors.

Provide fantastic social media customer service. With more and more customers using social media to get helpful and friendly support, ignoring support messages will not only hurt your reputation but also your bottom line. Check out these six best practices for a wow social media customer service to learn how to get it right.

There you have it – 14 useful links from 2019 with lots of advice and information on how to use SEO and social media to boost your site’s visibility in the search results and better market your small business to your target audience.