In a world where the vast majority of the population turn to major search engines to answer their every question – including where to source the products and services they’re looking for – small businesses need a robust digital marketing strategy in order to survive in the market place.
Most small business owners recognise how important it is to be discoverable in the digital era, yet many do not pay enough attention to increasing their exposure online. To rise above all the noise and the competition, small business owners need to be embedding SEO tactics within the heart of their digital marketing strategy.
Here are just a few reasons why you should be making SEO a priority rather than an afterthought for your business.
Increased Exposure In Search Results
Appearing on page 1 – and particularly in the top 3 results – of the Google results pages for relevant keywords is the Holy Grail for any business. The majority of internet users will not look any further than page 1 when searching, so you need to be on it! If your competitors appear there and you do not, then they will get the business every time.
Another reason your business needs to be at the top of the rankings for its niche and location is that people tend to place more trust in the search engine results that appear at the top of the page. This may seem unfair, but actually those top 3 coveted spots are reached organically and are almost always filled by the businesses who have earned their place by consistently providing great content.
A search engine’s main priority is to deliver the fastest, most relevant and trustworthy results, to give people the best possible user-friendly experience. A thorough, customised SEO campaign will massively improve your chances here.
Improved Brand Awareness
The more relevant keywords your business ranks highly for in the SERPs (Search Engine Results Pages), the more people will become aware of your brand over time. There are numerous SEO techniques for optimising keywords, which will help to boost your visibility in those all-important search rankings.
Another thing to consider when it comes to branding is your online reputation. Customer reviews can be brutally honest, which is why these also play a part in your search engine rankings, and why your business should always be focused on providing the best possible service to every customer.
Ranking highly makes potential new customers more likely to trust your business over the competition, and creates a knock-on word-of-mouth effect whereby people are more likely to share and see your links on social media sites, etc.
More Authority In Your Niche
To become an authority in any niche, you will also need to gain people’s respect as well as their trust, and become knowledgeable about many issues to do with your line of business. These are vitally important factors for the continued success of any business.
Blogging is a perfect SEO method to assist small businesses with this. When a business blogs regularly and knowledgeably about specific aspects of their product or service – providing excellent and informative content for the reader, whilst also delivering on their promises in the real world – then trust, respect and subsequent authority can gradually be built over time.
Businesses can also use blogging to appeal to people’s social conscience – for example, if you run a packaging company, you might write a blog post about recycling to demonstrate that you know how the packaging you produce can be disposed of in ways that are not harmful to the environment.
Or a business might create a blog post to arouse people’s curiosity about something in their local area – for example, you might run a trivia piece that will be of particular interest to local people.
Once people start sharing the post, it will attract others onto your website who otherwise may not have visited. They will then be more familiar with your brand, and the next time they are looking for the product or service you provide locally, your business is likely to be first and foremost in their mind.
More Accurate Customer Research
Any small business that does not take advantage of Google Analytics is missing out on potential new custom. GA can track valuable information about the people who visit your site, which can then be analysed to help you hone your offer and your marketing campaigns.
This analysis means that your digital marketing strategy will be founded on pure facts rather than guesswork, making it easier to discover your target market.
Information that can be gleaned about your site’s visitors through analytics includes the key words they use, their geographical location, how long they spend on each page, what times of day they are most active, and much, much more.
Once you know who your customers are and are able to understand how they behave online, you will be able to tailor your product or service offer to what people actually want more effectively.
A Faster, Cleaner Website
A properly optimised website will attract people who are already looking for your product or service when it appears at the top of the search engine rankings, but how do you ensure that they will remain engaged on your site once you have them there?
The more sophisticated the internet becomes, the higher expectations people have, and it is vital that small businesses consider user experience when designing and adding content to their website.
These days, SEO is about much more than optimising for search engines. It is just as much about improving user experience too. After all, as we have already seen, a good user experience will naturally and organically lead to higher rankings anyway.
Your website needs to be fast, clean, well-structured and uncluttered to entice a casual visitor to stay for longer. SEO optimised websites load faster, are easy to read, a breeze to navigate, and display correctly on all devices – all of which leads to increased page views, lower bounce rates and more conversions.
Wrapping Up
Small businesses that want to perform competitively, experience growth, and see good returns on investment should consider SEO an essential part of their digital marketing armoury.
Of course, we all know that “content is king” and consistently good, useful content should always be the primary consideration – after all, there is no point investing in SEO if your content lets you down.
However, when used in combination with great content and other digital marketing tools, SEO can increase traffic to your site, improve the credibility and visibility of your business, and help you to gain valuable insight into your customers – all of which will increase your chances of gaining more sales.