Search engine optimization (SEO) is a chance for small businesses to increase their visibility and attract new customers. It is a strategy that has been used for years and its benefits are evident.
A study found that nearly half of small businesses do not participate in SEO. Those ignoring SEO are doomed to lack an online presence and not harness the benefits of this practice.
In this article, we will go over SEO and why it is important for small businesses.
What is SEO?
Search engine optimization, or SEO, is the process of improving your website to increase its visibility on SERPs, or search engine result pages. This typically takes place on Google.
There are two main types of SEO: on-page and off-page. On-page SEO is focused on optimizing parts of your website that are under your control. On the other hand, off-page SEO focuses on promoting your website, such as getting backlinks.
What is local SEO?
Before we move on, let’s discuss local SEO.
Local SEO is aimed at improving your online presence to increase brand awareness and local visibility. It is more focused on physical businesses and their locations.
A common practice is to create a Google Business Profile. This acts as a listing for your business and is visible on Google Search, Google Maps, and Google Shopping. A Google Business Profile allows your business to be shared with online users and for them to interact with your business.
How to optimize for SEO
There are various ways to optimize for SEO. These include:
- Keyword research
- Publish relevant content
- Optimizing titles, meta descriptions, etc.
- Optimizing images
- Make your site mobile-friendly
This article does an excellent job of explaining the ways to improve your SEO strategy.
Why SEO is important for small businesses
Small businesses have a lot to gain from SEO. Here are 5 reasons why SEO is important for small business:
- Increases traffic
- Improving conversion rates
- Gains a competitive edge
- Cost-effective marketing strategy
- Long-term success
1. Increases traffic
A large part of SEO focuses on ranking higher in SERPs. With higher rankings, your website will enjoy increased traffic.
In particular, this practice brings in organic traffic, or viewers who find your site on search engines. This in turn will help your business reach a wider audience as well as your target audience. Additionally, it will result in increased brand awareness.
Google gets approximately 8.5 billion search requests each day. With proper SEO practices, small businesses have the chance to capture some of these users and generate new leads.
2. Improving conversion rates
A conversion rate is the percentage of users who make a purchase, or some other form of desired action, on your site.
What good is all of this traffic if no one actually buys your product? Thankfully, SEO helps to improve conversion rates as it targets potential customers who are more likely to convert.
By targeting specific keywords related to your niche, you attract potential customers searching for products that are similar to yours, resulting in more a engaged customerbase.
Additionally, by creating relevant content, you encourage users to stay on your site longer. This will result in more users converting.
3. Gains a competitive edge
Effective SEO strategies allow small businesses to gain a competitive edge.
This practice helps your business to become an authority in the online space. With high rankings, users perceive your website as both trustworthy and credible, even if they were not previously aware of your site.
SEO involves optimizing their site for mobile users, who account for 63% of searches. Small businesses that optimize for mobile users cater to a large majority of online users.
Optimizing your website allows you to stand out from the crowd and showcase what it is you have to offer potential customers.
4. It is a cost-effective marketing strategy
One of the best parts of SEO is that it is a cost-effective marketing strategy. It doesn’t have to cost anything to achieve results.
Compared to paid advertising, SEO can accomplish similar, or even higher numbers without investing amounts of money.
As we mentioned before, search engine optimization can generate organic traffic, or traffic gained without paid advertising. This means that small businesses won’t have to pay for each click on their site.
5. Long-term success
SEO is a long-term strategy that will benefit your business for many years. It is known as an “evergreen” strategy, or one that is continually relevant over time.
Not only does it build a strong online presence that appeals to both search engines and users, but it also establish credibility that comes with high rankings on SERPs.
SEO also encourages quality backlinks, which Google has stated to be a prominent factor in rankings. As a result, the website gains authority and relevance.
Small businesses can utilize SEO to spur business growth and achieve digital success.
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