Improving SEO and Removing Shadowbans to Allow Small Businesses to Reach a Larger Audience
What is SEO?
Search engine optimization (SEO) is the process of improving both the quality and quantity of online traffic that reaches your website. By improving SEO, you improve the visibility of your website relative to relevant searches on the internet. Implementing effective SEO strategies is vital to the success of your business because when a word related to your business is searched, SEO increases the likelihood of your business rising to the top of search results. If no one can find your website, no one will be able to purchase your product or service.
How to Improve Your Search Engine Optimization:
Search engine optimization is not a simple process. By utilizing several techniques, you increase your chances of improving your SEO and reaching more potential consumers. Here are some of the ways you can increase traffic to your website:
Keyword Utilization
When adding photos to your website, it is important to incorporate relevant keywords into image captions, headers, and titles. This will increase the likelihood of your website appearing in a multitude of search results on the internet.
Improve Your Website Loading Speed
Improving your website’s loading speed is imperative because Google can flag long loading times and lower your optimization. In addition to this, research shows that 40% of visitors will leave a website page if the loading time is longer than 3 seconds.
Add Photos
Photos increase the engagement of consumers on your website. However, using too large of images can hurt your website’s loading speed so it is important to resize images as you upload them. It has been found that the most ideal size for image optimization is 1500 or 2500 pixels.
Include Contact Information
Your contact information must be clearly displayed to signify the reliability and trustworthiness of your business. On the contact tab include your business address, email address, or phone number.
Update Your Content Regularly
Regular and updated content is crucial to effective SEO strategies. You should be consistently adding new content to your website so that there is new material for consumers to view when they visit your website to increase dwell-time. Dwell time is the length of time consumers remain on your website before exiting. A high dwell time is linked to a high SEO.
How Do You Know if You’re Shadowbanned on a Social Media Platform?
A shadowban occurs when a social media account’s content is blocked from an online community. If your account is shadowbanned on Instagram your posts won’t appear under hashtag feeds and your account will be hidden to those who search it. The most common causes of shadowbans stem from a user’s abuse of hashtags, frequent follower reports on the account, or the posting of inappropriate content. In simple terms, under a shadowban, only your current followers will be able to see your content which drastically hurts your account’s growth opportunity. Therefore, it is important to check to see if your business’s account has been shadowbanned so you can take steps to remove it.
Getting Rid of a Shadowban
Since there are numerous causes for shadowbans, there are also numerous approaches to removing the ban. There hasn’t been a single proven way that removes all bans, so it is suggested that you try a multitude of techniques to remove the ban and continue growing your company.
Contact Instagram
Through contacting Instagram and Facebook, you may be able to inquire directly about your shadowban. However, customers who do not hear back from Instagram must take steps individually to remove the ban.
Take a Break from Instagram
Refraining from sharing content for three days or more has been shown to lift bans.
Reduce Number of Posts
Since taking a break from Instagram can harm your communication with your customers, you can first try to reduce your number of daily posts before completely going silent on your page. This technique has also been shown to help lift bans.
Eliminate Repetition of Captions and Hashtags
Repeated words on each post can be flagged by Instagram as spam. Removing repeated words and phrases, may “unflag” your account.
Remove Hashtags from All Posts
Select hashtags have been blocked by Instagram, so deleting hashtags from all posts may remove the shadowban on its own.
Implementing new search engine optimization techniques and ensuring that your social media platforms are visible to customers can help you connect further with your market and extend your reach using the internet.
As a social impact initiative, Rem and Company also offers free consulting services and resources to small businesses and nonprofits impacted by COVID-19. Our pro-bono consulting teams provide small businesses with the opportunity to identify and prioritize issues facing their business, propose innovative strategies, and facilitate execution. If you are a small business or nonprofit in need of assistance, learn more about how we can help.