By Clint Sanchez · Published · Updated · 3 min read

Quick answer
Five SEO tips for a Baton Rouge business: publish engaging onsite content, because search engines reward pages people read; choose relevant keywords with Google Keyword Planner instead of guessing; study competitors' keywords, ads, and landing pages; earn backlinks from high-authority sites; and place keywords naturally in the header, page title, image alt text, image name, and URL without stuffing.
Key takeaways
- Engaging onsite content draws visits, lowers bounce rates, and increases page views and session duration, which helps rankings.
- Google Keyword Planner is free with a Google Ads account and shows average search volumes, including local long-tail keywords.
- Studying a competitor's keywords, search ads, landing pages, and social posts shows you where to build better content.
- A backlink is a link from an external site to yours; links from high domain-authority sites tell search engines your content is authoritative.
- Repeating a keyword over and over is now treated as black-hat SEO and can get a site penalized or removed from search results.
- Keywords or their variations belong in the header, page title, image alt tag, image file name, URL, and internal links.
"Widget" is not the keyword for a Baton Rouge shop; "widget repair Denham Springs" or "widgets near Prairieville" is. Search behavior in the metro splits by parish and by which side of the Amite you are on, so the long-tail terms Keyword Planner shows for your own geography are where a small business can actually compete.
How to be successful in your SEO efforts:
As all Baton Rouge business owners know. SEO is highly competitive and exhausting. To help navigate local businesses through the intimidating process of search engine optimization, we’re offering these 5 SEO tips to help you get ahead of the competition.
#1 Content is King
If your business is in Baton Rouge, Denham Springs, or beyond, the truth about SEO is that, without compelling onsite content, you are doomed to fail.
Search engines want engaging content to provide to their users and a major part of search engine optimization is delivering great content to your visitors.
Engaging content not only draws visits to your website but can also lower bounce rates, increase user experience and page views. This drives session duration and catapults your site to the top of search results.
These tips work on their own. When you want the full program run for you, look at our SEO services for Baton Rouge businesses.
Want this handled for you? We build and market websites for Louisiana businesses, and we will tell you honestly if you do not need us.
#2 Select Relevant Keywords
Just because your company sells widgets doesn’t mean “widget” is necessarily a good keyword for you. Some SEO agencies will tell you to visit the Google keyword planner tool, however, there is a caveat. You should at least have a general knowledge of the free tool.
This awesome tool comes with a Google Ads account and is free to use.
Although it’s designed to use is for Google Ads and PPC advertising, the planner tools will provide you with great insights as to the average search volumes for specific keywords. With this tool, you are able to find long-tail keywords with better search frequencies in your local business geography that will help you convert visitors into buyers in no time.
#3 It’s on like Donkey Kong
Study your competitor’s keywords, search ads, and landing pages. Use social media to track every time your competitor posts on Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter. Read their content and develop better content to express your competitive advantage.
If you are lucky and you have no competition locally, research major national brands. This research will pay off and soon you’ll be climbing rank like the famous ape most of us grew up on.
#4 Get Backlinks
Backlinks are the cornerstone of any successful SEO campaign.
A “backlink” is created when an external website links to yours. This is why some people refer to them as “external backlinks” or “inbound links”.
Here’s how it works:

Basically, backlinks help you gain, “internet street cred.”
Search engines are all about helping the searcher find valuable content that answers their question, or query. Having links pointing to your page or content from high domain authority sites lets Google and other search engines know that your content is authoritative and relevant to the search.
#5 Keyword Placement
It’s not enough to find the perfect keywords. They have to be in the right places for search engines to find and consider them. Keep your content compelling, but do not load up your page with the same keyword over and over.
While that practice may have worked in times past, it’s now considered Black Hat SEO, and will actually get your site penalized, resulting in a rankings drop.
Your website could actually get removed from SERPs altogether.
Keep your writing and copy naturally.
If you’re writing about a topic that you are an expert in, keywords will appear naturally. Additionally, consider using synonyms and variants of your keywords.
You may see this sold as “LSI keywords.” Google has said it does not use latent semantic indexing; variants help simply because they read naturally and cover the different ways real people phrase the same topic.
Make sure that your keyword or a variation is in your header, page title, image alt-tag, image name, URL, and as a link to other parts of your website.
While SEO isn’t an exact science and changes daily, our SEO Experts are the most knowledgeable in Baton Rouge, and South Louisiana.
Don’t take our word for it, check out their certifications.
Also, make sure to get your free SEO audit for your website.
We hope that these 5 SEO Tips for Baton Rouge Businesses will definitely get you on the right track to boosting your search results. For more information about Baton Rouge SEO or to schedule a free SEO consultation, get in touch with us or call us.
Wondering if your SEO is actually getting traction, or where to focus next? Let’s diagnose it in a 15-minute Discovery Call.
About the author

Founder & Lead Developer · Denham Springs, LA
Clint has built and marketed websites for 26 years, since founding BlakSheep Creative in 2000. He is also a 29-year firefighter and a 23-year member of IAFF Local 557, which is where the bias toward plain answers over sales copy comes from.
- Veteran-owned
- Firefighter-owned
- IAFF Local 557
Common Questions About SEO for Baton Rouge Businesses
Short answers to the questions that come up most on this topic.
What is the most important SEO tip for a small business?
Is Google Keyword Planner free?
How do I research a competitor's SEO?
What is a backlink and why does it matter?
Can keyword stuffing get my site penalized?
Where should keywords go on a page?
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