6 Compelling Benefits of SEO for Small Businesses

In the age of online searches such as Google, simply having a website is not enough.

Just because you have a stunning website, doesn’t mean people will automatically find it. To make your website effective and worthwhile, a strong SEO strategy is a necessity.

The digital landscape has changed dramatically over the past few years, but SEO remains an effective and important marketing strategy. (Check out our SEO Resource Guide for everything SEO)

Wait! Do You Know What SEO is???

For starters, SEO stands for search engine optimization. It’s the process of improving a website in ways that help it rank in search results when users search for specific words and phrases.

Perhaps you’re wondering what role SEO plays in digital marketing and why you need it as a marketer or as an owner of a small business. Read on to find out why SEO is becoming increasingly more important.

Well, think about this…

When you’re out of town and looking for a restaurant to eat, or searching for the best home maintenance services for your home… If you’re like most people, you’d reach for your smartphone or sit down at your computer and type a simple phrase into Google.

Then, you’d scroll through the results and click the one(s) that seemed best suited to your needs. The results you found are based on what Google thinks will be the most helpful information to you, based on the keywords you entered.

But in many cases, the sites you see ranking on the first page didn’t get there by accident. They used SEO strategies and tactics to help Google understand what their content is about!

And that, my friend, is how SEO matters in marketing your small business. If you want your target audience to find your site, you need to do the same.

To appreciate more of its aweSEOmness, we have outlined a few key benefits that deliver long-term results for your business. Let’s get started!

1. Online Presence and Popularity

SEO is a set of techniques that help your website become more visible online. It’s a way of structuring your website and tailoring its content to show search engines (like Google) that you are a better resource than others.

Since top position rankings result in significant impressions, having your website in these top positions on the result pages translates to more exposure for your website.

Plus, being on the first page for your targeted keywords not only helps users to associate your brand with those keywords; but it instills trust since companies on the first page are generally perceived to be more trustworthy.

The more your pages and content rank in high positions on search engines, the more chances you have for users to see your content and associate with your brand.

Here is a fun fact: 93% of all online activities start at a search engine. Results-wise, 66% of distinct search queries lead to 1 or more clicks. When your website appears higher in search results due to SEO, this gives your business increased opportunities to connect with potential customers. (source)

Amazing, isn’t? Read on, there’s more…

2. Improve Site Efficiency

One of the main reasons you have a website is to increase and differentiate your customer base, is that right?

Well, as SEO will help you gain better rankings in search engine result pages, this translates to more targeted visits and to more customers. Hence, it improves the efficiency of your website.

It does so by taking care of every aspect which is hampering its services and making sure that your website is able to perform at its peak even when it is handing a large number of online visitors.

Technical SEO consists of rearranging the site’s architecture and links to make pages within the website easier to find and navigate. This not only makes it easier for search engines to crawl your site and find pages but also makes it easier for users to find information on your website as well.

Your SEO strategy will go a long way for you and your business with the proper maintenance. Not only will you have your current customer base, but you can passively accrue traffic to your website.

Customers will be able to find you and your business easily when looking up relevant information that pertains to your business.

3. Increased Quality Traffic

It is no secret that ranking highly for organic search results is a key advantage.

When your website is right up there, the chances of visitors clicking on it will increase. SEO helps you by promoting your website to the top positions in the search results. This will improve the number of clicks of your website and increase customer traffic to the website.

By optimizing your website with technical tweaks and high-quality keywords that actually matter to your customer base, you are doing it right. More traffic means more leads. More leads mean the potential for more sales!

In fact, 61% of marketers say improving SEO and growing their organic presence is their top inbound marketing priority. (source)

So start serving your customers well with optimized content. This will improve your own chances on the playing field.

4. Cost-Effectiveness

Google’s organic rankings are based entirely on what its algorithm determines to be the best results for any given query. It means that you don’t need to pay for ads in SEO!

SEO is one of the most cost-effective marketing strategies because it targets users who are actively looking for your products and services online. SEO’s inbound nature helps businesses save money as opposed to outbound strategies like cold-calling or paid advertisements.

While traditional marketing can still be an effective strategy, the leads generated cost 61% more than leads generated by an inbound strategy like SEO.

And since SEO also targets users who are actively searching for products and services like yours, the traffic resulting from SEO is more qualified than many other marketing strategies, resulting in cost-savings for companies.

Furthermore, once a properly implemented marketing strategy is in place, results will last a long time (I’m talking about potentially years!), giving you the peace of mind that once you’re up in the rankings, your website is delivering customers to you, day in and day out, without having to continue paying advertising cost.

5. SEO Yields a High ROI

The ROI (Return On Investment) from SEO tends to have higher returns than those achieved by traditional methods of marketing.

If the steps and processes are followed correctly, local SEO will help businesses make more profit along with the much needed online exposure. Again, relevant results are listed by search engines where potential customers are seeking information.

As a result, potential customers pursue the information and move forward to the sales process. The website’s rank in the search engine increases traffic to your website, and revenue you gain from it help in measuring the ROI.

This means that once you’ve created a page that the search engine deems worthy of directing their users to, it can continue to attract traffic to your site for years after you publish it.

But also take note that researching and writing high-quality content requires an investment. That investment will either be in the form of time, if you choose to create it yourself; or money, if you choose to hire a digital marketing agency to create it for you.

Here’s a fun fact: According to a recent study, 78% of local mobile searches and 61% of local laptop searches resulted in purchases offline. In the U.S. alone, there are 7 billion unique local searches monthly. Prompt visibility for your business is due in large proportion to local SEO. (source)

Just make sure you’re providing the right content to the right people to drive their online searches to your business.

6. Chance to Compete with Larger Businesses

At this point, you must be well aware that most of your competitors are doing it and there’s no reason for you to stay in the dark!

SEO is a rising field and it is gaining ground. More and more people are starting to realize that the benefits of SEO are extremely high– it helps you keep up with the competition.

In your industry, your competitors are likely using a combination of tools to get their message out there. Improving your SEO is an important way to keep up or gain a crucial edge. This makes SEO a powerful tool for the small business owners who have recently started their enterprises.

In fact, 82% of marketers report that SEO effectiveness is on the rise. More than half of all marketers also state that growing their organic presence through SEO is their top inbound marketing priority. (source)  

These statistics mean that if your business isn’t looking to or already actively investing in this strategy, you belong to a shrinking minority.

---

Conclusion:

It’s undeniable that SEO is an essential part of any marketing strategy today.

So, to answer the question of, “What are the benefits of SEO in your small business?,” the simplest explanation is that it’s the best way to improve your online visibility and reach consumers as they’re actively searching for information. It also presents a wealth of benefits that no other digital marketing tactic can offer.

We can conclude that SEO is a highly cost-effective, long-term marketing strategy. This route can successfully elevate brand awareness, create leads, and drive conversions, all of which greatly benefits your business in the long run.

---

Bonus Takeaway:

I’m sure you have tons of SEO questions. Well, we’ve got the best answers covered…

To help you dig deeper and understand more about SEO, our SEO Resource Guide article is definitely worth your time! we are going to show you all the tools, resources for best practices, and point you to information resources for you to help you progress on your SEO journey.

Like what you read? For more information on how SEO could be beneficial to your small business, or for a free SEO consultation, please contact us or leave a comment below. We would be happy to help.