SEO Benefits for Small Businesses

Search engine optimisation: what is it?

SEO is about making your website as google-friendly as possible so that you appear higher up on search rankings when someone types something relevant into the search bar.

There are two main types of SEO that we can talk about here: organic SEO or paid SEO.

Organic SEO is about optimising your website so that Google considers you to be a good match to what your potential customers are searching for. It is predominantly related to the written content, keywords or phrases, and page load times. According to BrightEdge Research, 68% of all online experiences start with a search engine which is why organic SEO should be your first step in growing your online traffic.

Paid SEO is when you use paid ads to appear higher in the search results typically with Google ads. When you feature on a Google search as a paid ad, this is clearly marked as “sponsored”. This requires additional budget for ongoing ads and will still require you to have your website optimised for organic search results if you want to achieve success with your paid SEO.

SEO benefits for small businesses

No matter how small your business, there is always opportunity for you to improve on your SEO and reap the benefits it can bring. 

Here are a few of the main SEO benefits for small businesses:

SEO benefits for small businesses #1: Reach more people

When Google believes your website is a good match to the searches that people are entering, it will display your business higher up in the search rankings which means you are more likely to be the first link they click on. This is called organic search traffic. The exact words they use in that search can produce different results. For example, “Port Douglas Restaurant” may return different results than “Restaurant Port Douglas” or “Best Restaurant Port Douglas”.

For this reason, it’s important to do some research around the volume of searches for each phrase and the difficulty and competition in getting your website ranked for it. If you choose to engage the copywriter we recommend, she does that research for you and will make suggestions before working your chosen keywords and phrases into the copy she writes for you.

Obtaining organic search traffic means reaching more people on Google and other search engines and hopefully more sales as a result.

SEO benefits for small businesses #2: Improve credibility

When you take the time to ensure your website ranks well in terms of SEO, your site will typically be considered more trustworthy than those that don’t. Organic SEO in the form of blogs and well written website copy also allows you to establish yourself as an authority in your chosen field and to be found by more people using a wider range of keywords and phrases.

SEO benefits for small businesses #3: Drive local traffic

Just because you have a bricks and mortar business, it doesn’t mean that SEO isn’t for you. Studies suggest that 46% of google searches are with the intent to find a local business – they are essentially letting their fingers do the walking!

Having great SEO ensures that people can find your business and get their questions answered without having to interact with you until they turn up at your location as paying customers.

SEO benefits for small businesses #4: Increase leads and sales

SEO is all about reaching your target audience based on what they are searching for. It then stands to reason that if you are doing SEO well, that you will be generating qualified leads that are much more likely to convert into paying customers all without you having to do any of the leg work!

SEO benefits for small businesses #5: Brand Awareness

When someone does a search and your business is at the top of the rankings, even if they don’t click on the link to your website, they have still made a mental link between your business and the product or service you provide. In today’s modern world, the more positive touch points and connections you can have with a potential customer, the more likely they are to remember you.

SEO benefits for small businesses #6: Precise target marketing

Generic advertising requires a lot of money – when you try to target everyone, you end up not really appealing to anyone, so you have to keep spending money to get any results.

When you are selecting the keywords or phrases you are wanting to target, you can be very specific about what you choose. For example, rather than targeting a generic phrase such as “Hotel in Port Douglas” you might target “Boutique Hotel Port Douglas” instead. There is less competition and difficulty to rank for the latter option so you have more chance of featuring in the top 3 listings than you would by targeting the more generic phrase and you will be appealing to those who are specifically looking for your style of hotel.

If you back that up with a beautifully designed website that is created to target that audience, then your conversion rates are likely to be much higher than they would be with the generic phrase.

SEO benefits for small businesses #7: Stand out from the crowd

It baffles me how many small businesses still don’t have a website or have one that was made many years ago and is barely relevant to their business.

Having a beautiful, functional, targeted website that appears easily on Google searches is a fantastic way to stand out from the crowd and gain that competitive advantage over those competitors that haven’t bothered to do so.

SEO benefits for small businesses #8: Add value to potential customers

Google’s mission is to connect searchers with the information they are searching for. If you create website content that targets appropriate key words and phrases, you are helping Google with its mission, and they will reward you accordingly with higher search result rankings.

What’s even more important is that when those searchers find what they are looking for, you are adding value and creating positive impressions with them. If you add enough value, they may just reward you by becoming a paying customer.

To Sum it Up

SEO can be overwhelming and confusing when you don’t understand it. That’s ok because if you have a web designer and copywriter/blog writer you can trust to optimise your website, then you can let them do the heavy lifting while you sit back and reap the rewards.

If you’d like to chat further about a new or refreshed website that harnesses the SEO benefits for your small business, get in touch for a no obligation chat.