Why Is SEO Important for Small Businesses?

Small business owners are always on the lookout for effective digital strategies. They need to amplify the online presence of their business to attract potential customers. Chances are that if you are a small business owner, you have already encountered the term search engine optimization. SEO is the process of creating and improving your website in a way that helps Google and your visitors discover it.

If you follow SEO techniques, your website will rank higher in the search engine results page (SERP). Ranking higher means your business is more visible to your target audience and you get more website traffic.

In this guide, we describe the most important aspects of SEO for small business owners. We discuss the steps you need to take to help you with your SEO efforts and to help you outcompete your rivals online.

how to do seo for small business

Why Is SEO Important for Small Businesses?

In today’s world, you just can’t get around SEO: if you want to have online visibility for your business, you will need it.

Search engine optimization should be top priority for your business. Here’s why:

Online visibility for your business: You need to rank higher in Google search results. There are many similar businesses out there, offering the same products or services, competing for the same clients. You want to stand out from the crowd. Find your keywords, optimize your content, and stay on top of the search results.

Targeted Website Traffic

Visitors come to your website from everywhere. Some of them are not even humans, they are robots crawling your pages. Some of them accidentally end up browsing your website.

However, you want one kind of visitor: the one who found your website because they were looking for something similar (or maybe exactly that’s what they were looking for). This is targeted website traffic, and these visitors are the most likely to become your clients.

Cost-Effective Marketing

Putting up signs and billboards and paying for TV ads is something that people did in the past. Nowadays, people use Pay-per-click (PPC) and tools such as Google Ads. Paying for advertising offers you returns, but primarily only until you keep paying.

With a well-executed search engine optimization strategy, you prepare your website for long-term results. It does cost money (if you pay for an agency to help you with it), or time and effort (which again, translates into money you could spend on your business activities).

Competitive Advantage

There are competitors in your business niche who overlook this aspect of marketing. They do not prepare their website for long-term results. Your online presence, on the other hand, will continue to thrive, eventually outperforming the competitors who did not invest effort into SEO.

This gives your business an edge over theirs. Because your website keeps appearing in Google search results, it becomes a brand.

Improved User Experience

One of the first steps of an SEO project is to assess how well your website is performing. This technical assessment involves aspects such as page load speed, responsive design for mobile devices and user-friendly navigation features. This way, your SEO project not only improves your search engine rankings, but also makes it easier for your visitors to use your website.

SEO Basics for Small Business Owners

Now that you understand the importance of SEO for your small business, it’s time to dive into the fundamentals. Here are some essential SEO basics every small business owner should know:

Keyword Research

The first thing you want to do when you start your SEO project is to find the right keywords. You need to think about what your business offers to the market.

Do you provide a service? Do you manufacture or sell something? These are the initial keywords that your prospective clients might use to find you online. Do your research to find out which keywords are the most relevant to your clients and which are the ones that provide the highest volume of website traffic.

On-Page Optimization

The next question is whether you already have some content on your website. If you do, you should structure it according to your findings, and include the recently discovered keywords. You can make good use of these target keywords in several places: page titles, meta descriptions, headings and text body.

To learn more about this, read our blog post on on-page SEO techniques (coming soon).

Content Creation

The content you publish on your website is what Google crawls and indexes. When we say content, it’s everything you publish: from articles to blog posts to videos and images, everything is a factor in search engine rankings.

It is the basis for your search engine rankings. Create new content, enhance older ones and keep it high quality. Content quality is really important, as Google’s algorithms get smarter and better at detecting low-quality content.

Avoid plagiarism, and with an AI revolution ongoing, it is becoming more important than ever to write like a human. Most importantly, keep in mind what your prospective clients or customers are looking for. This is what drives traffic to your website.

Local SEO

For brick-and-mortar businesses, coffeeshops and the like, this is probably the most important type of SEO. It involves steps such as optimizing your listing on Google My Business, publishing your business name, address and phone number on Google Maps, and making sure you are found specifically for searches in your region.

Technical SEO

Some technical issues can prevent your website from being indexed by Google. They can hinder the effective use of your website. Technical SEO helps solve these issues, so your website becomes more appealing and user-friendly to visitors.

SEO Tips for Small Businesses

Now that you’ve grasped the basics, it’s time to dive into actionable tips to help you implement an effective SEO strategy for your small business:

Conduct Comprehensive Keyword Research

Start browsing and find the most relevant keywords for your business. Some techniques involve checking your competitors’ keywords, Google Autocomplete phrases and others. However, there are many tools out there that can help you: Google Keyword Planner, SEMrush, or Ahrefs.

To learn more about these tools, check out our blog post on the best keyword research tools (coming soon).

Categorize your keywords by search volume and keyword difficulty.

Optimize Your Website Structure

Once you already have identified your keywords, you should focus on rethinking your website structure. Do the page URLs reflect the content? Is your website easy to navigate and does it have a logical structure? Make sure to use internal links to help Google understand your website and your visitors get a better experience.

Produce High-Quality, Relevant Content

Keep in your mind what your target audience wants to hear about. Produce content that is informative and serves the needs of your target audience. You can produce a variety of content: product descriptions for the products your business sells, videos and educational blog posts.

Focus on On-Page Optimization

With a good content strategy and a well-structured website, your task is now to incorporate your keywords in certain places. You can put them into your titles, meta descriptions, image alt texts and page URLs. Some practices, though, can negatively affect your search engine rankings.

Prioritize User Experience

Above all, keep in mind that your website visitors want to find quality information quickly and safely. This is what you should think about when you optimize your website.

After all of the changes you have made, is your website content still loading fast enough? Are your images visually appealing on mobile devices? Can your users click on certain buttons?

You can have the best content, if your users cannot use your website due to technical issues. The visitor-to-client conversion won’t happen.

If you earn backlinks from relevant website with a good site authority score, it can positively impact your ranking and brand awareness on the internet.

Consider guest-blogging, getting listed in local directories and reach out to other website owners.

Use Local SEO Tactics

Do you own a convenience store or a restaurant? It is all the more important to include your business in Google My Business and on Google Maps. Local directories are also a good source of website traffic. Your goal is to make sure that your website ranks among the top search results for local searches.

Monitor and Analyze Performance

Regularly monitor your website’s search engine performance using tools like Google Search Console and Google Analytics. Analyze your traffic sources, bounce rates, and conversion rates to identify areas for improvement and refine your SEO strategy accordingly.

SEO Packages for Small Businesses

While implementing an effective SEO strategy can be a time-consuming and complex process, many small businesses may not have the resources or expertise to tackle it alone. In such cases, investing in professional SEO packages can be a wise decision.

SEO packages offered by reputable digital marketing agencies can provide a comprehensive solution tailored to your small business’s specific needs and goals. These packages typically include:

Keyword Research and Strategy Development

Experienced SEO professionals will conduct in-depth keyword research, analyze your competitors, and develop a customized SEO strategy aligned with your business objectives.

On-Page Optimization

The agency will optimize your website’s content, structure, and coding to ensure adherence to best practices and improve your search engine rankings.

Content Creation and Optimization

High-quality, SEO-optimized content creation services, including blog posts, product descriptions, and other forms of content, can help enhance your online presence and attract more organic traffic.

Professional SEO agencies can implement strategic link-building campaigns, using techniques like guest posting, directory submissions, and influencer outreach to improve your website’s authority and search engine rankings.

Local SEO Optimization

If your business operates within a specific geographic area, local SEO optimization services can help you improve your visibility in local search results, attracting more foot traffic and local customers.

Technical SEO Audits and Improvements

Experienced professionals will conduct comprehensive technical audits to identify and address any issues that may be hindering your website’s performance and search engine rankings.

Ongoing Monitoring and Reporting

As part of an SEO package, an agency will give you performance reports. This is how you can follow whether your SEO strategy is working or not. Monitoring and reporting are the cornerstones of the SEO business.

Deciding for SEO is an investment, but it pays off in the long-term. As a brick-and-mortar business owner, do you have rent a property? Did you have to buy it?

In today’s digital world, setting up a website and paying for SEO is a similar expense. You need to make the investment, but in the long term, the benefits will outweigh the initial costs.

Some Questions You Might Want to Consider

Is SEO worth it for small businesses?

SEO for small businesses is a very effective marketing tool. It can help you raise brand awareness and putting the word out there.

How to do local SEO for small businesses?

Local SEO for small businesses involves getting listed on Google Maps, in Google My Business and local directories.

How much does SEO cost for a small business?

It depends on your line of business and your goals. Typically, a monthly retainer cost of $500 is required as a minimum, however, the initial investment can be higher than this.

How much does SEO cost per month for a small business?

Figures can vary widely, ranging from $100 to several thousand dollars a month. Usually, though, $500 to $800 tends to be a figure that most SEO agencies charge their clients.

Is paying someone to do SEO worth it?

You don’t necessarily have to pay someone to do SEO. You can learn it and do it yourself, but consider this: don’t you want to spend that time on something else, like improving the quality of your services or products? Besides, since your project is not going to be the first one for an SEO professional, they can tap into their previous experience to help you do SEO more effectively.

Conclusion

In 2024, small businesses need SEO if they want to grow, thrive or even survive. With the correct SEO strategy, you can ensure that your website is visible online, you drive traffic to your site and eventually become a brand authority.

There are many ways to do SEO. If your organization is big enough, you can decide to hire an in-house SEO consultant, you can hire freelancers or you can let an SEO agency do this work for you. The key is to focus on your long-term strategy, monitor trends and the changing SEO landscape to stay on the top of your game.

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