The internet is a big place, with more websites being created every single minute. It is easy to feel that your small business’ website will be swallowed up and forgotten, which is why search engine optimization, or SEO, is crucial to boost your online visibility.
What exactly is search engine optimization? It is a grouping of digital marketing techniques with the goal of increasing your online visibility by bringing high quality and willing to convert potential customers to your website.
Suppose you own a small HVAC business in Charlotte, North Carolina. While you may be writing and talking about general HVAC services on your website, you really only are interested whether people in your geographical location read what you write, because they are the ones most likely to convert into customers. The way Google works is that it has different algorithms to ensure this happens, but they aren’t always perfect. So this is where SEO comes in.
No matter your business size, budget, or marketing acumen, you need to invest in a scalable SEO strategy. Here are four ways how SEO can effectively help your business.
1. SEO brings in quality traffic.
SEO helps to bring quality traffic to your website without unnecessary and expensive advertisements. This is because people who are searching for you through Google actually are interested in what you have to offer and are ready to buy. With this in mind, you don’t have to try to persuade them to buy what you are selling, because they know what they are looking for already. All you have to do is create a website that is user-friendly, informative, and straight to the point, and once the customer clicks onto it, everything else will fall into place.
2. SEO is cost-effective.
Compared to other marketing channels, SEO is relatively cheap. Besides paying for a website domain, you do not have to shell out a lot of money to keep your strategy up-to-date. The bare bones of good SEO include quality content (which you can write), great HTML (which your tech team can handle), other websites to link to you (easily done through networking), and clear images (again, something you can do). Think of your SEO strategy as something similar to the stock market; you get out of it what you put into it.
3. SEO boosts brand awareness.
Some brands in this world are recognizable within a split second, such as Apple, Nike, and Coca-Cola. Sure, these brands have decades of experience with creating brand relevancy and awareness, but there is nothing saying your business can’t do the same. When you rank for competitive keywords in your niche, have other websites link to you, and appear on the first page of the Google results, your customers are more likely to think of you as an authoritative member in your industry’s space. And as a result, your brand will grow, word-of-mouth will spread, and soon your business’s name will be everywhere.
4. SEO shows your business is modern and can adapt.
Everyone does everything on the Internet nowadays, so why shouldn’t you? Gone are the days of phone books, mailer advertisements, and exclusively brick-and-mortar stores. In are the days of contacting companies through their social media and ordering online. Having a website with good SEO shows customers that your business is in with the times and can change depending on what is thrown your way. Clients such as modern, up-to-date businesses, and SEO will help that happen for you.
Search engine optimization is crucial for any business, but sometimes can be hard to understand for the beginner. If you are considering a jump into the world of SEO, contact a company such as Link Graph to help you.
