Over the last seven years, I’ve spoken with over 2000 small businesses. If I were to count the number of these companies that had the proper SEO strategy in place, I would only have to use one hand. It isn’t that businesses don’t see it as important.
I think most now grasp the concept of “showing up” in Google. But maybe, don’t fully understand what they are missing out on, by not “showing up”. So today, I want to break down 12 reasons why you need to seriously be considering SEO for your small business.
#1: It Gives You More Visibility
Each and every day, your competitors are eating a piece of your pie. What do I mean by that? Well, if you aren’t doing anything to help push your website on the search engines, there is a high likelihood others are.
By even doing the basic fundamental things, you can become more relevant for what it is you offer, you can show up for things that pertain to your business, and cast a much wider net of potentially interested customers.
If you want to learn the fundamental SEO elements, check out our free Local SEO Guide!
#2: It Drives More Organic Traffic
Traffic to your website can come from many sources. Many use Social Media as the main source, usually via direct advertising, or through building up their tribe online. But think about this for a minute. You are in need of something, it doesn’t matter if you are trying to find a plumber to fix a broken pipe, or maybe a new pizza place.
Each day, people are searching for things that you might be able to offer. There is a direct intention of that potential customer to find a solution to their problem or need. So, by utilizing SEO in your marketing plan, you can start driving more of these individuals to your website.
#3: SEO Traffic is Highly Relevant
I touched upon this in the previous point. SEO traffic has “intent” behind it. Someone needs something so they are searching it out! That means that this group of people has a higher likelihood of purchasing from a business like yours. When you run ads, usually you will capture leads, but only a fraction will truly want to buy what it is you’re trying to sell.
The intent isn’t there. That isn’t to say ads don’t work, obviously, they do, but they never started out by searching out that ad. The ad usually strikes some kind of emotional response that makes them think….hmmm….ya I could really go for a donair pizza.
#4: It Enhances User Experience
User experience will be one of the most important elements when it comes to your business website over the next year. You can read more about this in our other blog “The Google Experience”.
This is a huge signal for Google, and a great experience will the journey of your customer, that much more enjoyable. Think about trips you’ve gone on in your life. Ever stay at a hotel with stains all over the bed? Did you ever book back with that hotel? Probably not, and I assume a good portion of you reading this, would like to get the hell out of there ASAP. I know I would.
Think about your website and how it could signal the same response. Your visitors are making up their mind in under three seconds to whether they trust you, and want to dive deeper into what it is you’re trying to express on your site.
Setting your website up with SEO in mind, will help structure this experience in a way that not only helps solve problems, but makes it more likely they want to contact you and see if you can sell them on what it is they need help with.
#5: It Improves Your Engagement Rate
Just as I mentioned in the experience of the user, the better the overall you do in that regard, the better your engagement rate will be. If they can get from point A to point B, without issue, while also informing them enough on the questions they might have, you greatly increase the odds of that individual wanting to call you, send a form submission, or initiate a chat. All of which can have a major impact on your business’s bottom line.
#6: It Yields a Higher Click-Through Rate
Lets set an example for a minute of some titles on a home page. Tell me which one is likely to get people more interested in checking out the website.
Title #1
Home Page
Title #2
#1 Trusted Plumber in City | Free Quotes | Awesome Plumbing Co.
This is a no-brainer, #2 is likely going to have a much higher Click-through rate to their website than the first one. Why? Well, the first one doesn’t tell us a damn thing. Doesn’t really evoke any sense of solving my issue. It doesn’t explain what it is they even do.
So the first option is likely to get fewer clicks, which = less potential clients. This is one of the key components of SEO, establishing what it is you do, where you do it, and who you are.
#7: It Generates Quality Leads
Back to search intent again, the leads that come through via the search engines, are much more likely to be quality leads. That intent of the user is what is critical. They aren’t going on Instagram and searching through hundreds of businesses to find one that fits their needs. That would take hours. The same with Facebook.
Both of those platforms are what I like to call “Social Proof” foundations. So, the leads who are hunting down your services or products, are likely more in the “Buy now” mode. Which means they are starting to open their wallets just a little, and it is up to you to then to finish it off.
#8: It Helps You Drive More Sales
More traffic = More potential sales, it is as simple as that. The more people who can come to your website, the higher probability you have of making more sales. If you’re running an SEO campaign, the higher you can push yourself up the search engines for the keywords related to your business, the bigger piece of pie you capture. Mo Pie = Mo Money!
#9: Organic Results Get More clicks than PPC
The rule of them when it comes to Google Ads, is they typically only get 20-30% of the clicks. Which means the rest all goes towards Google Maps, and the organic search results. People have come to hate ads. There is a lack of trust when it comes to them.
It has to be really compelling for them to build that trust (that is why I like Facebook/Youtube better than PPC). Simply because when it comes to ads, that visual component can be a huge factor in building said trust, whereas a plain text strip across the search engine, doesn’t necessarily build that same kind of connection.
#10: It Helps You Decrease Your Cost per Acquisition
Facebook ad costs are skyrocketing (even for experienced marketers), so how do you think that will affect someone who has little to no experience? Probably not the best. It is not cheap to acquire new customers from ads anymore.
The cost of acquisition on these platforms can run you anywhere from $10-200 per customer, depending on what it is you’re offering. The more competition, and higher the value of what it is you are trying to sell, the likely hood it’s going to be on the higher end of that scale. With SEO, you aren’t paying for each customer that finds you.
They are finding you because of the work that has been put in. That work for the most part can be done for $0 if you are doing it 100% by yourself. Even when hiring a professional SEO company, the costs each month will still likely be much less than what you would need for a Facebook ads specialist. Not only that, but by going the SEO route, what is being built is tangible to your business.
If they are creating content for you, that is going to live on your blogs for good. If they are optimizing your Google my business profile, that is yours, it won’t go away if you ever fire them. What happens when you stop running ads? Well….you have nothing. There is no tangibility there.
#11: SEO Yields Long-Term Results
SEO is a marathon and not a sprint. I hope you’ve heard this expression before because I am about to hammer it home one more time. The odds of you getting instant results with SEO are slim, especially if you are in a competitive area or you have a competitive offering. But, the rewards at the end of the day can be monumental for your business.
By grabbing a stranglehold on Google Maps, and through organic search, you will likely maintain that strong position continuously over time. We have had clients remain at the top for years, and grow their businesses to unbelievable heights because of the presence they had online.
#12: It Helps You Keep Up with the Competition
If you don’t have a bit of a competitive edge in you, then you might want to think about your position as a business leader. If the idea of your competition passing you and taking and essentially taking money out of your pocket doesn’t bug you, then why are you still here reading this article?
You need to always be aware of what your competition is doing. You should be looking at them once a month and see if there is anything you can do to one-up them. That is the game of SEO, do better than your competitors, eat more pie!
Conclusion
So there ya have it, I could probably add in dozens of more reasons but I hope you get the drift here. SEO can be a major component to your business growth. In marketing, this is where you’re planting your seeds for success. That little sapling might start off small, but after some time, you have a full-blown “money tree”.
Take care of it properly, nurture it and your SEO efforts will help you build an amazing online presence. Now, is all of this easy-peasy? It is not. I wish it was because that would make my life that much easier. I’ve been doing SEO now for over seven years, and even still, I learn new things every single day.
So if you’re a business owner that would love to start this, but might not have the seven years of available time to cram in all of this for your brand, give our team of Local SEO specialists a try, and let us help you get that PIE!
