If you’re a small business owner looking for ways to gain an edge over your competition, search engine optimization (SEO) should be at the top of your list. It is an essential part of any successful digital marketing strategy as it helps businesses get their content seen by potential customers online.
But what exactly are the benefits that you can expect when investing in SEO? In this blog post, we dive into why SEO is critical for small businesses and the top 10 benefits you can enjoy from implementing it into your marketing efforts. So, if you want to learn more about how SEO could help propel your business forward – read on!
What Is SEO? Definition Of SEO
In today’s digital age, having a strong online presence is crucial for any business. One essential component of building that presence is Search Engine Optimization or SEO. So, what exactly is SEO? Simply put, it is the process of optimizing your website to rank higher on search engine results pages for specific keywords related to your business. By strategically incorporating these keywords into your website’s content and structure, you can attract more organic traffic and potential customers.
It’s important to remember that SEO isn’t a ‘one-time’ thing; rather, it should be built into your content creation process. Creating new and updating existing content with SEO in mind will help to ensure you get the best results possible.
Moreover, effective SEO can help you rank higher in Google’s search results, where over 95% of mobile searches occur. Generally, websites that appear among the first ten results receive more click-throughs, which is why optimizing your pages to get as high up as possible is important. This optimization process involves optimizing website speed, including proper photo captions, using links strategically, and engaging with other websites. Fortunately, plenty of digital marketing resources are available to help you navigate the process successfully.
8 Benefits Of SEO
The benefits of SEO are undeniable. When incorporated into your existing marketing strategy, SEO can help you drive more quality traffic to your website, boost sales and conversions, build brand awareness, enhance credibility, and gain a competitive edge in the marketplace. Here are eight key advantages of implementing an effective SEO approach, irrespective of business size and industry:
Optimizes Your Website for Mobile Users
For businesses, it is increasingly important to have a mobile-friendly website. By the end of Q2 2021, over 60% of all searches were conducted from a mobile device, which is expected to keep rising. Not only that, Google favors websites that are optimized for mobile usage, giving them higher rankings than sites that aren’t mobile-friendly.
So, how can you ensure a great user experience on a mobile device? Here are some tips: Format button sizes correctly – neither too small nor too large. Be concise with your content, as there is less space available on the screen. Avoid using pop-ups that can be distracting and make it harder to navigate through the page. Lastly, make sure your website uses a responsive template design, no matter the screen size.
By considering mobile optimization and making these changes on your site, you can ensure a more seamless user experience for those accessing it from their phone or tablet.
Generates Organic Traffic
Google is responsible for over 63,000 searches every second, so it’s important to ensure your website stands out among the competition in the eyes of search engine crawlers. Researching relevant keywords for your business and posts and properly incorporating them into content can increase your ranking for relevancy.
If you’re writing a post about accounting software for nonprofits, for example, consider how a user would search for that topic and include those keywords and phrases in your post. Also, by providing thorough answers to questions, Google will be more likely to award your page a higher ranking. And that’s how SEO can help you optimize your content for organic traffic.
Get More People To Your Physical Stores
SEO goes beyond online businesses – local stores and services benefit from it too. “Near me” searches are becoming more popular, with Google reporting that 88% of mobile users will visit the store within a week and 76% within a day. That’s why optimizing your business for location-based search is critical to gaining new customers!
Ensure your business can be found online, including the services you offer. That way, when people search for something in your area, your business will pop up and draw more traffic to your physical store.
Generate Leads
SEO is a highly effective inbound marketing strategy that allows you to reach out to people actively searching for products or services in your niche. With a staggering 93% of online activities beginning with a search engine and 70% of clicks being organic rather than paid, SEO is proven to increase your visibility to potential customers.
On top of that, SEO can provide a higher close rate of 14%, compared to just 1.7% for other outbound marketing techniques. It’s a long-term strategy with no expiration date, meaning it can continue to drive high-quality traffic to your site without additional costs.
As people find your pages through organic searches, you can direct them further down the funnel with targeted calls-to-action, lead magnets, and other tactics.
Boosts Other Marketing Strategies
Supplementing organic search with paid, inbound or outbound marketing may create even more opportunities to increase your rankings. For instance, with both organic SEO and paid search advertising, it’s possible to appear multiple times on the first page of search engine results.
Monitoring your SEO can also provide insights into industry trends and identify pain points. Leveraging this data will help you adjust and optimize your marketing efforts. Furthermore, tracking your SEO performance can help you determine which of your other marketing strategies works best. This way, you can focus more on the marketing efforts yielding the best results.
Increases Brand Awareness
As we said before, optimizing your content to include relevant keywords and phrases will help you appear on the first page of search results. This increased visibility helps raise awareness for your brand, as people become more likely to trust a website featured in the top positions.
However, when it comes to brand awareness, it’s not just about people recognizing your name. They should also connect with what your company stands for and your services. Content marketing is an effective way to achieve this goal by providing searchers with valuable information that is both engaging and trustworthy. By doing so, you can build a strong relationship with your audience, which in turn, can generate more leads and, eventually, sales.
Helps Build Trust and Credibility
Ultimately, Google wants to ensure people access the best content possible. EAT (Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness) is their way of doing so. As such, when optimizing your website for SEO, it’s important to focus on providing helpful resources for your audience instead of merely trying to use keywords for gaming the system. Doing so will help ensure that your website is seen as a source of valuable information, resulting in better Google rankings and improved trustworthiness.
In addition to helping your website rank better, SEO can also help build credibility and further establish your brand as an authority in its niche. By consistently providing helpful content that is properly optimized for search engines, you’re more likely to be seen as an expert by your audience. This will help you gain further recognition and provide a valuable connection with potential customers.
Helps You Stay Ahead Of The Curve
Finally, SEO helps you stay ahead of your competitors. With tools like Moz and SEMrush, you can get an insight into your competitors’ SEO strategies, including what keywords they’re targeting, how much content they have published, and even their linking strategy. Armed with this knowledge, you can identify where your competitors fall short in their SEO efforts and create a strategy to overtake them.
You can establish yourself as an industry leader by consistently monitoring the SEO landscape and staying one step ahead of the competition.
The Benefits Of SEO For Small Businesses- Wrapping Up
When it comes to the potential benefits of SEO for small businesses, there’s no denying its significance- even if you’re not attempting to appeal to a global audience. According to Social Media Today, 46% of searches performed are related to local information. This means that even though your target audience may be in close proximity, they are still searching for businesses online.
One of the best ways to be found via search and maps is by taking advantage of Google My Business- a free feature offered by Google. Your listing can include information such as your location, hours, customer reviews, and services that will appear in relevant search results.
Another benefit of SEO for small businesses is its cost-effectiveness. It doesn’t require costly online ads, bidding for keywords, or spending much money to outdo competitors. In fact, if done correctly, a smart SEO strategy can help business owners propel their small business to the first page of Google results with minimal monetary investment- making it an ideal solution for those on a tight budget.
