In the age of the internet - it’s a surprise that many small businesses still do not implement SEO. Many of them don’t even have a proper functional site.
In this post, we look at why SEO for small businesses makes sense. We also look at the best practices for them.
What Are SEO Best-Practices for Small Businesses?
- Keyword Research
This is the part where you figure out what kind of queries related to your business people are looking for in Google. Once you figure out the most popular search terms, you can craft trending and useful topics around those keywords. By incorporating the right kind of search terms into your blog and website content, small businesses can easily rank higher in SERPs.
- Copywriting
If your website fails to supply adequate information about who you are, what you sell, and why others should do business with you, they will quickly bounce from the site. Copywriting aims to supply that information. Bear in mind that your content should be high-quality so that users feel like sticking around for longer.
- Content marketing
Content marketing essentially involves writing weekly or biweekly blogs which are typically published in a separate section on your site. These blogs can then further be promoted and shared on other sites.
It’s essential to look for the kind of topics that people are actively searching for as well as trending topics. You can use a bunch of tools for coming up with topics such as SEMrush.
- Link-building
It’s the practice of getting high-quality websites to link back to you. Search engines take under consideration how many websites are pointing towards a site in the form of links.
The more high-quality links it notices, the better rankings it will assign to that particular site. Links are like digital currency. The more you have them, the higher authority you appear to be.
- Usability and UX
This part of SEO focuses on creating fast-loading, easy-to-navigate websites. In the absence of all that, users will quickly leave your site.
Key Benefits of SEO:
Cost-effective
Conventional forms of marketing come with huge costs. For instance, getting an ad published in a newspaper or setting up billboards will require huge expenditure. SEO on the other hand is relatively cheap to get started with.
Even with a small budget, you can get into it. This is particularly good for small businesses as they don’t have a ton of money to spend on marketing.
Better Outreach
There’s no limit to how big you want to go in terms of outreach when you talk about SEO. You can remain as localized or go as big as you wish to. Not only do you target customers from all around the globe, but having a site also creates an outlet for people who are also actively searching for your business.
Better Awareness
When it comes to greater brand awareness, small companies always have an edge over big ones. That’s because, unlike big brands, small businesses cannot shell out millions of dollars. Even for a small budget, they can create just as appealing and hard-hitting online campaigns as any other marketing giant.
By having channels across social media and a well-designed website, you can get started with the promotional work rather easily.
SEO yields long term benefits
B2B SEO is probably the only form of marketing that continues to yield results year after year. It’s a one-time investment. Although the results can be slow-to-produce, once the output starts pouring in; you will see that the benefits will keep coming for years.
Better branding
Branding is the kind of image a company ends up creating. You can think of it as the ethos of a brand. With the help of search engine optimization, you can come up with any kind of branding strategy. You can create whatever kind of image fits you. And, the best part is - you can always tweak your branding efforts as you evolve with time.
Is SEO Right for Your Small Business?
SEO is particularly good for small businesses. For a small budget, businesses can create robust and user-friendly sites that load fast. In no time, they can start appearing against relevant searches. As a result of that, they can attract highly qualified leads that carry a greater likelihood of getting converted.
The process of search engine optimization is particularly good for local businesses. By targeting the local keywords, they can be seen by localites who are actively searching for their business.
Here are some reasons why SEO is a good option for your small business -
- It helps you find relevant customers
- Leads to better conversion
- It is highly cost-effective
- Business can create any kind of branding that it needs
- It leads to long-term and sustainable results
- Any business can do it
Bottom Line
As you can see - the benefits of SEO for small businesses are myriad. It can be utilized in a variety of ways. With so many benefits - there's no reason why you shouldn't get started with it.
