As a small business owner (or the person responsible for marketing), your job is to figure out which strategy will attract customers. But not just any customer — you want to reach the ideal customer. The ideal customer who’s searching for the product or service you offer.
Think about the last time you searched for something online. Odds are, you looked at the first page of search results, found what you were looking for, and didn’t go any further. Guess what? Your customers do the same thing.
Only 8% of search results make the first page, which means if your business doesn’t appear on the first page of your ideal customer’s search results, you’ve just lost a potential customer and thus, revenue. So how do you get the exposure you need to reach your ideal customers when and where they’re searching so you can generate solid leads to grow your business?
The best and most reliable way is through a comprehensive SEO strategy. Here are seven amazing reasons your small business needs SEO services:
1. It’s an investment in your business that will pay dividends
Before making any kind of investment, you want to know the return, or ROI, right? You want to make an investment that will pay dividends, otherwise you’re just throwing your money away. Investing in SEO services will enhance your brand, get your business noticed, generate solid leads, and stretch your marketing/advertising dollars so you get a high return for a minimal investment.
As a small business owner, you’ve already invested time, money, and talent in your business product or service. But just setting up shop — either as a brick and mortar or as an online business — is no longer enough. To earn customers, you have to reach them where they are. An investment in a firm that specializes in SEO services will set up your business for success and help drive ideal customers to your website.
2. Your competitors are already doing it
Think of one or two of your biggest competitors. Now, do a search for the product or service you both offer. Whose business appears first? Where does your business appear compared to your competitors? If your business doesn’t even appear on the first page, or if your competitors appear ahead of you, you need SEO help.
There main thing that distinguishes you from your competitors actually has nothing to do with the actual product or service you offer. What is it? Visibility.
In order to make your business stand out from your competitors, increase your web traffic, and boost qualified leads, investing in SEO services is no longer something that might be nice do; it’s a MUST DO.
3)You don’t need to pay for ads
Of course you can buy ads to get in front of your customers – but you don’t need to. Why? Because if you invest in SEO and your site is optimized properly (without keyword stuffing, or spam content) then your business will rank in search. Which means your ideal customers will be able to find you.
Generally speaking, ads aren’t a bad idea. But for a small business, they’re not always the most practical tactic. Especially when you have a limited marketing budget. The difference between investing in ads versus investing in SEO services is in the results or ROI. Paid advertisement may guarantee placement at the top of the search results but it doesn’t guarantee qualified leads.
With a solid SEO plan in place, your site will rank higher and get you similar visibility as an ad without the expense. The best way to get your business seen is with a comprehensive SEO service.
4)SEO gets more traffic than PPC
Unlike PPC (pay-per-click), SEO is more of a long-term strategy. The reason? Your conversion rates are higher with SEO. Also, with ads if you stop them, they disappear and you have nothing to show for them. With SEO, the efforts compound and show results for years.
How many times have you searched for something and automatically clicked on the first result, only to be disappointed to see it was an ad that may or may not have the product or service you were looking for?
People mis-click on ads all the time. Often, it feels like a trick. But SEO is organic. It’s a natural result of the keywords put into the search. The objective is to best match what the (potential) consumer is searching for. SEO can achieve this result.
5) Brand recognition and awareness
When it comes to customer retention and loyalty, trust is the name of the game. The bottom line is, people want to buy from brands they trust. And when your small business appears at the top of a search page (and especially if there are optimized sub-pages listed below), it gives your business credibility. This credibility leads to trust, which increases the likelihood of a consumer clicking on your site and becoming a qualified lead.
An SEO strategy will help brand and position your content (website, interior pages, product descriptions, etc.) with the information potential customers value most.
Customers don’t have time to search endlessly through pages and pages of results. They want high-quality, fast results that give them a sense of trust that your business, product or service is exactly what they’ve been looking for. Investing in an SEO service is a great way to boost your brand recognition and awareness of the products or services you offer in a way that’s valuable and meaningful to your customers.
6) Grow your website traffic
SEO — done right — will result in more clicks to your website. And it will increase the likelihood that those clicks will convert to qualified leads and eventually, sales/revenue. This is the sales funnel, and good search results thanks to SEO is an integral part of the equation.
Google and other search engines have algorithms to determine which sites are considered credible, valuable, and a “good match” for the keywords the consumer is using to search. SEO experts can help optimize your site and your specific content so search engines recognize it as valuable. And, as we mentioned above, this helps increase trust and the likelihood of the consumer clicking through to your website and becoming a qualified lead.
7)You’ll convert more of your visitors to leads and customers
The best SEO service organizations employ tools that ensure you don’t just get better search results, but that those potential customers click on your website and (most importantly) convert to leads and customers. How? They conduct research and testing. And, they assess, evaluate, and adjust when necessary. Because good SEO isn’t a one-off. It’s not something you just “do” and then forget about it. It requires an expertise and attention to detail that allows for flexibility and continuous customization so you can reach your ideal customer.
An SEO service will not only enhance your ability to tell your customers how your product or service fills their need. It will also give you the power to create responsive content that sets you apart from others in your industry.
Still not sure if investing in an SEO service is right for your business? That’s ok. As a business owner, you need to be a good steward of your finances.
But know this. Search and the need to optimize content isn’t going away. As the internet continues to explode with more and more options for consumers, it will become increasingly challenging to make your small business stand out. There is tremendous value in working with an SEO service. You can throw caution to the wind and choose to ignore SEO but you do so at the expense of your profitability and long-term success. Because the reality is, your competitors have already embraced it.
If you are considering SEO for your business, you can contact us to discuss your options.
