Picture this: you have just started your small business out of your home. Up until this point, you have been making and selling your product through social media (Instagram and Facebook). You figured out how to use those sites pretty well, but the majority of your sales are still coming from family and friends. You want to expand and truly reach your target audience. For this, you look to the world wide web. The problem is…you view search engine optimization as a luxury, not something your small business can afford. This is a fatal mistake.
The way people search as well as the way websites are indexed is constantly changing. There is no “quick fix” in SEO that sets your site up for eternity. It is true that the research can be time consuming, but if you really want to reach your target audience and get more sales, this research is necessary. Staying in the loop of SEO is easier than you may think, and the payoff is greater.
Below are some benefits of SEO for your small business (found in “Is SEO Worth it For Small Businesses? Here’s What You Need to Know.”)
1. Strong Brand Identity
Brand identity and trust is directly tied to where you fall on the search engine results page after a user makes a search. Most users do not go past the 1st page of results, meaning you’ll likely never be found unless you rank well. If you rank well, you are more likely to be trusted by searchers as a good, strong brand. Thus, your brand identity will be strengthened.
2. Long-Term Growth
A strong SEO base is the “solid ground” that other marketing strategies can be based on. It may take a while for SEO to kick in, but once it does, it smoothly opens the door for other opportunities. If you put in the work with it now, your efforts in the future will produce greater fruit.
3. Low-Cost Lead Generation
Compared to paid advertising and other methods of getting your name out there, SEO is rather cost-effective. It costs money upfront, but, if it is done well, can cost much less than the constant drain on your account by paid advertising.
Overall, SEO is a strong, long-term strategy. If done correctly, it can provide incredible benefits to companies that invest in it. Put in the work upfront and it will be much smoother sailing in the future.
4 Responses
Really love the part about the mistake of seeing SEO as a luxury. Good point on research being a necessity for all kinds of companies. As someone interested in sales, I appreciated the “low-cost lead generation”. Good to recognize the costs up front pay off in the long-run.
Thank you for sharing this Sydney! These three points are so valuable. SEO has evolved so much and it is so valuable to businesses.
This is a great post! I liked how you talked about SEO in the context of small businesses. I think so often we do view SEO as something that a small business could never do. But in reality, it is actually something that could take a small business to a big business if done in the right way.
This is very helpful post because my website is going to be for a small business. Small businesses often struggle the most because people simply don’t know about them. SEO can be a really useful tool for those businesses that have lots to offer to consumers as a way to “get their name out there” in terms of having it rank higher in a SERP.