Search engine optimization isn’t fast and it isn’t easy, but it is totally worth the effort to win more customers for your small business! Learn how to generate leads and sales by improving your website’s visibility in Google search results.
No matter what business you’re in, there are potential customers searching for your products or services on their smartphones right now!
And it’s no secret: Search engine optimization (SEO) draws customers one step closer to making a purchase from your company (and not the competition). Still not convinced you should make SEO a priority? Here is everything you need to know about how SEO works, why it generates leads, and how to make search engine optimization pay off for your small business.
1. What is SEO?
SEO stands for Search Engine Optimization. Search engine optimization is one of the main digital marketing tactics companies use to attract customers on the internet.
Search engine optimization isn’t like buying an ad on TV. Instead of being a single expensive advertisement that may drive results in a short sales burst, SEO is a collection of digital marketing tactics that, over time, improves your company’s online presence. And when the right internet users can learn about your business, the more your sales will grow in the long run.
“SEO is the carrying out of any activity a search engine deems helpful in promoting relevant, quality websites and businesses to consumers based on their search terms and personal preferences,” explained Jordan Brannon, head of digital strategy for Coalition Technologies, a Los Angeles-based web design firm.
2. SEO Strategies for Small Business
Your goal is to use various SEO tactics to improve your business’ chances of ranking well for certain search terms in Google or Bing search results. This search engine visibility is important, because most customers research their purchases online before making buying decisions.
“SEO is about giving users what they want, and showing those signals to search engines so that you rank higher,” said Oleg Korneitchouk, director of marketing for SmartSites, a New Jersey-based online marketing firm.
When we talk about SEO for small business, we’re talking about a collection of techniques that work together as part of your digital marketing strategy. SEO is a combination of activities aimed at improving how high you show up on inorganic (not paid-for) search results, said Korneitchouk.
SEO tactics include:
- Website architecture and user experience
- Keyword research
- Content marketing
- Link building
- Publicity
- Social media promotion
- Analytics
“Ultimately, any marketing activity a business performs can and should have an element of SEO to it,” Korneitchouk advised.
Before diving deeper into these SEO tactics, let’s look at why SEO is important for small businesses, and what you can expect.
3. What SEO is Not
“SEO is visibility online,” said Ryan Bartlett, founder of search engine marketing firm SEO Direct. And the more visibility your company website has online, the more money you stand to make.
But, cautions Bartlett, “SEO is not cheap. SEO is not easy. SEO is not fast. SEO is not magic.”
You’ll need to invest time or money—or both—to get results from SEO. You have to know your business, you have to know your customers, and you have to find the best way to connect with them online.
Nor is SEO a “one-time thing you pay for,” explained Eric Brantner, founder of Scribblers, a company that advises businesses how to set up successful marketing blogs. “Effective SEO is ongoing and always adapting.”
If your company is doing it right, SEO will always be a work-in-progress. Search engine optimization is a marketing strategy that you’ll constantly improve upon as search technology, customer preferences and your business evolve.
4. Why SEO is Important for Business Websites
“Small businesses live and die by their marketing efforts. SEO is an important aspect of that,” said Bartlett of SEO Direct.
If your potential customers can’t find your website, they won’t become your customers, said Jeffrey Hensel, marketing director at North Coast Financial. Before taking over online marketing for North Coast, Hensel worked for six years as an SEO specialist for an ecommerce website.
“SEO is important for all small businesses,” said Hensel. SEO is how small business websites can show up online when potential customers use search engines to find for the products or services the business provides.
5. SEO for Small Business Owners
A simple way to understand SEO is to compare it to a tried-and-true small business marketing tactic: yellow pages listings.
“SEO is how you get listed in the modern phonebook—which is page one of Google and Bing,” said Eagan Heath, founder of Madison, Wisconsin-based digital marketing firm Get Found Madison.
Instead of being listed in alphabetical order like a phonebook, your website’s search engine rankings will depend on “whose website and web presence does the most things search engines like Google care about,” said Heath.
“SEO is a process that needs to be integrated into all your marketing, writing, publishing and customer-targeting activities,” he added. When you integrate your SEO efforts, you can make sure your website is as appealing as possible to search engines.
6. Do Small Companies Need SEO?
“Nowadays consumers rely on a number of marketing channels to find the products and services they need. But many buyers’ journeys begin with a simple online search,” said Dan Goldstein, president of Page 1 Solutions, a web marketing company based in Golden, Colorado. “To be successful, businesses need to be able to capture these users.”
To understand how SEO can help your company reach customers through their smartphones or computers, think of your own behavior, suggested Antonella Pisani. The former marketing executive owns and operates the retail discount website Official Coupon Code.
“When you go to a new store, restaurant or even doctor, you likely start on Google or another search engine, right?” Pisani said. Being found on search engines is critical for large, small, local and e-commerce businesses alike.
But SEO is especially important for small businesses. Small companies don’t have millions to spend on television, radio and print advertising. SEO is a low-cost way to drive web traffic—and foot traffic!
“All companies should focus on SEO, but it’s most critical for those who have limited advertising budgets and are in a competitive space,” Pisani said. “If a small business doesn’t have a strong brand name already, they will need to perform better on generic or broad keywords in order to be discovered.”
Outstanding post on small business marketing methods! I also think that along with Search Engine Optimization you should be using other marketing methods because they are fantastic opportunities. For now, I am thinking to hire sms automotive service. I am sure that the results will be good!
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