If you own a small business, staying competitive in the ever-evolving online marketplace can be challenging. Investing in SEO can be an effective way to ensure your business stands out from the competition and maintains visibility online. SEO stands for Search Engine Optimization and is the practice of optimizing your website for higher rankings in search engine results. SEO can help your business attract more qualified leads, increase website traffic, and grow its online presence. Read on to discover the top three reasons why you need SEO for your small business.
What is SEO?
SEO stands for Search Engine Optimization. When people interact with Google or other search engines to find information, they are essentially conducting a conversation with a computer. The computer responds to these search queries by producing a list of results, or an “organic” page one result might be your website. SEO is the process of optimizing your website so it ranks higher among these search engine results.
Benefits of SEO for Small Businesses
If your small business website is well-optimized, it can appear high in search results and generate more leads. This can help you achieve two goals with one marketing effort: increase leads and reduce marketing costs. Here are just a few ways that SEO can benefit your small business. - Increased Website Traffic - The more people who visit your website, the more likely they are to make a purchase. By increasing your website traffic, you can boost sales and improve your brand’s reputation. - Improved Conversion Rates - The goal of every small business is to turn website visitors into customers. With a highly optimized website, you can boost conversion rates by up to 80%. - Higher Brand Visibility - When people are looking for the products or services that your business offers, it’s critical that they find you. SEO can help you stand out from your competitors by increasing your brand visibility. Let’s explore a bit more deeply.
Reduce Marketing Costs
Buying ads on Google and Facebook are costly. We’ve seen brands spend hundreds of thousands of dollars a month on ads and unless you start building great word of mouth or more organic pathways into leads and customers those costs are only going to go up..even if you have the most talented performance marketing agency.
Buying into SEO now builds customers starting in as little as six months. The content you create today can bring in leads for years and allow you to reduce your ad spend as you mature. So many companies wait for SEO only to regret it later. Your business is young and even if you can’t spend all your marketing on SEO, it’s best to put a few dollars every month toward optimizing your pages and creating new pages that will perform well on Google.
It Builds A Relationship
Stop thinking of SEO as some four-letter word. That’s shortsighted. SEO is most often an opportunity to answer the questions your audience is asking. They are seeking help, information, counsel, whatever you’d like to call it. The content you create allows you the opportunity to start a conversation with them.
Imagine you’re looking to get into running after years of not doing enough exercise. You google “how much running should a beginner start with?” And you come across an article that is all about running for beginners. Aside from the normal disclaimer of talking to your doctor first (which you should) they create an incredibly helpful picture of what you should do. They have charts and a sample 2 week training plan. They teach you about heart rate training and cadence as you’re running. They help you with ideas for the best running shoes for your body.
Is that someone you might come back to the next time you have a question about running? Probably. That blog just turned you from a passive searcher into a friend. Now they can keep providing value.
ITS MORE RELIABLE THAN ORGANIC SOCIAL
Ads are the most reliable way to meet a customer. If you have the money, Google, Facebook, Instagram and TikTok will find someone to look at your ad. But we know that on social engagement can be wildly inaccurate. You see accounts get “shadowbanned” and you see accounts get reported and suspended over tiny infractions (some deserve to be flagged but others were more or less a victim). One day you’re up and the next day you’re down.
SEO has those swings but usually they aren’t as wild and when Google finds you to be a quality results for the queries related to your business it’s likely they are going to keep you near the top of the search results. So many companies that get “dinged” by Google have some issues in there past they are paying for now. Companies that do it right in the first place can see big wins that last for a long time.
As a small business you have a lot to consider but don’t let SEO fall by the wayside while you figure out your social media strategy. Do both and keep SEO as a priority and it’s going to pay dividends down the road.
Our comprehensive SEO services are tailored to meet the specific needs of small businesses, helping them increase online visibility, attract more qualified leads, and achieve sustainable growth in the digital marketplace.
No Comments.