If you run a small business, you’ll agree there’s nothing better than getting a respectable amount of steady leads every month. The phone rings more often…you get emails from visitors enquiring about your services or products…and potential customers eagerly fill out your website contact form because they want what you’ve got.
When you apply search engine optimization (SEO) best practices to your site, this is what will naturally happen. Unfortunately, getting high search engine rankings is an afterthought for most small business owners when considering a new website design or website redesign. The truth is, that a well implemented SEO strategy can transform your small business and take it to the next level by simply showcasing your business on search engines in the best possible light.
Here, we collected some of the key benefits of search engine optimization.
1. Compete With The Big Boys in your industry
Even if you’re running a business from a spare bedroom or from your garage, the advances in the internet mean that you can take away customers from massive brands and take them as your own. It’s just a case of getting in front of your target market. If you have high ambitions, SEO is the tool you need to reach them.
2. Cost Effective Ways To Advertise
Over years, SEO has been proven to be one of the most cost effective forms of online marketing, delivering a higher return for every cent invested into it over time. Effective SEO can attract thousands, even millions of targeted prospects to your business website, and increase your conversion rates by delivering the exact solution to problems they are facing
3. Manage Your Online Reputation
Whether or not you’re aware of it, conversations are probably already happening online about your business. When you launch an SEO campaign, you’re ensuring that people find your official information when they search for you, and don’t just get lost in a sea of reviews.
4. Reach New Markets
You might be operating from Cape Town, but there’s no reason why you can’t sell to people in America. You just need to reach them. With SEO, this becomes a valid possibility. In many ways, online marketing is entirely transforming the world of business.
5. Improve Your Website’s Usability
Internet users are notoriously impatient, and if your website doesn’t offer them a high quality experience, they’ll be off to your competitors. When you’re working with a professional SEO practitioner, they’ll be able to advise you on how to make your site as accessible as possible.
6. SEO Build Trust and Credibility
SEO can make your brand stronger, better and well recognized. The eventual goal should be that, when people search for business critical and relevant keywords and phrases, they should find you at the top of search results. Then, psychology takes over and prospects will believe that you’re the best.
7. Increase Traffic To Your Website
Having a website is pretty pointless if you aren’t driving traffic to it. If people can’t see what you’re selling, they quite simply can’t buy it or even enquire about it. A good website is a wise investment, but only if you’re going to promote it. SEO is one of the most effective ways to do this.
8. Stop your Competitors Beating You
If your competitors aren’t already using SEO as part of their marketing mix, you can safely assume that they soon will be. And when they do, they’ll be taking customers from directly under your nose. Make sure that you get in there first and get the top search engine results for yourself!
9. Access To Customer Data
When you start an SEO campaign, you’ll have access to all kinds of wonderful data that can really drive your business forward. You’ll find out what your customers are searching for online, and this could be the inspiration for new product lines. This sort of data is invaluable to your business, and could give you the competitive edge you need.
10. SEO Is A Long-Term Strategy
When you use a traditional form of advertising such as space in newspapers, the results will only last for a short period of time. But when you use SEO, you’ll continue to appear in the search results for long after you’ve finished your campaign. Of course, it’s wise to make your campaigns an ongoing commitment if you want to keep seeing the best results possible, but you won’t lose your rankings overnight if you don’t.
As you can see, SEO holds unprecedented potential for small business owners. If you’re ready for your next level of growth, it’s one of the best decisions that you can make.
When you apply search engine optimization (SEO) best practices to your site, this is what will naturally happen. Unfortunately, getting high search engine rankings is an afterthought for most small business owners when considering a new website design or website redesign. The truth is, that a well implemented SEO strategy can transform your small business and take it to the next level by simply showcasing your business on search engines in the best possible light.
Here, we collected some of the key benefits of search engine optimization.
1. Compete With The Big Boys in your industry
Even if you’re running a business from a spare bedroom or from your garage, the advances in the internet mean that you can take away customers from massive brands and take them as your own. It’s just a case of getting in front of your target market. If you have high ambitions, SEO is the tool you need to reach them.
2. Cost Effective Ways To Advertise
Over years, SEO has been proven to be one of the most cost effective forms of online marketing, delivering a higher return for every cent invested into it over time. Effective SEO can attract thousands, even millions of targeted prospects to your business website, and increase your conversion rates by delivering the exact solution to problems they are facing
3. Manage Your Online Reputation
Whether or not you’re aware of it, conversations are probably already happening online about your business. When you launch an SEO campaign, you’re ensuring that people find your official information when they search for you, and don’t just get lost in a sea of reviews.
4. Reach New Markets
You might be operating from Cape Town, but there’s no reason why you can’t sell to people in America. You just need to reach them. With SEO, this becomes a valid possibility. In many ways, online marketing is entirely transforming the world of business.
5. Improve Your Website’s Usability
Internet users are notoriously impatient, and if your website doesn’t offer them a high quality experience, they’ll be off to your competitors. When you’re working with a professional SEO practitioner, they’ll be able to advise you on how to make your site as accessible as possible.
6. SEO Build Trust and Credibility
SEO can make your brand stronger, better and well recognized. The eventual goal should be that, when people search for business critical and relevant keywords and phrases, they should find you at the top of search results. Then, psychology takes over and prospects will believe that you’re the best.
7. Increase Traffic To Your Website
Having a website is pretty pointless if you aren’t driving traffic to it. If people can’t see what you’re selling, they quite simply can’t buy it or even enquire about it. A good website is a wise investment, but only if you’re going to promote it. SEO is one of the most effective ways to do this.
8. Stop your Competitors Beating You
If your competitors aren’t already using SEO as part of their marketing mix, you can safely assume that they soon will be. And when they do, they’ll be taking customers from directly under your nose. Make sure that you get in there first and get the top search engine results for yourself!
9. Access To Customer Data
When you start an SEO campaign, you’ll have access to all kinds of wonderful data that can really drive your business forward. You’ll find out what your customers are searching for online, and this could be the inspiration for new product lines. This sort of data is invaluable to your business, and could give you the competitive edge you need.
10. SEO Is A Long-Term Strategy
When you use a traditional form of advertising such as space in newspapers, the results will only last for a short period of time. But when you use SEO, you’ll continue to appear in the search results for long after you’ve finished your campaign. Of course, it’s wise to make your campaigns an ongoing commitment if you want to keep seeing the best results possible, but you won’t lose your rankings overnight if you don’t.
As you can see, SEO holds unprecedented potential for small business owners. If you’re ready for your next level of growth, it’s one of the best decisions that you can make.
