Why SEO Is Important For Small Business

28 Oct Why SEO Is Important For Small Business

Many clients think that creating interesting content is the most important part of writing articles for their business website. But there is another, crucial component. Even if your content is the best on the web, it will not matter if your clients or customers cannot find it. Learning SEO – Search Engine Optimization – will help customers and clients find your message.

SEO – A Brief Overview

People use search engines like Google and Bing to look for products and services. Search engines do not throw 1,000,000 results at the search all at once. Instead, they rank them in order of popularity. The most popular searches are on the first page of the Google or Bing results, and less popular results are on the following pages.

Though the fact that search engines rank webpages seems obviously, how they go about that ranking is anything but. Search engines use many factors to determine which pages should rise to the top of the rankings. The search engines examine technical aspects like the keywords and links included in blog posts. Search engines also evaluate the quantity and quality of your website’s content. Your website’s reputation – as judged by its age, the content it links to, and how many other sites link to its content – also matters. These and other factors help search engines decide which pages to push and which pages to bury.

Why SEO Matters for Small Businesses

The importance of SEO is best explained in an old joke. The joke asks, “What’s the best way to hide a secret?” The answer? “Hide it on the second page of search results.”

Though the joke is lighthearted, SEO statistics are no laughing matter. Research shows that 75 percent of people click on the first-page results. This means that the only way your business will have a fighting chance to be seen is to rank on the first page of the search results page.

How You Can Improve Your SEO

While this article is not a comprehensive SEO guide, there are some things your small business can do today to improve its SEO rankings.

• Have an SEO Strategy. – Now that you know a bit about how search engines operate, you should craft an SEO plan. Look at where your page ranks now and be honest about why it ranks there. Make a list of things you can do to improve. (See below.)
• Research Keywords.– To ensure that your customers can find your content, figure out what terms your customers are using when they search. These phrases, known as “keywords,” are crucial to your SEO strategy. Once you know the keywords, incorporate them into all of your content.
• Highlight cities, and service areas. In addition to keywords, consider where your audience is located and whether they are searching for local businesses to hire/retain. For example, if you provide a service to local customers/clients you will want to ensure you include your service area in your articles as your potential customers will add them to their search queries. This means a family law lawyer based in Atlanta would want to include the words, “Atlanta, Georgia, Fulton, Cobb,” etc. throughout their articles to ensure any potential clients searching “Atlanta family law lawyer” finds their articles.
• Use internal links in your posts. – Because search engines consider how you use links, think carefully about which links you will include on your page. Include links to established, credible websites to help raise your ranking and profile.
• Optimize your content manager. – Most content management systems (i.e, WordPress) have SEO plugins. These plugins will evaluate your use of keywords, links, and SEO factors. Using a plug-in can demystify the SEO process for beginners.
• Stay up to date on SEO practices. SEO practices are not static. Because technological advances happen rapidly, what’s true about SEO today may not be true tomorrow. Keep up with SEO trends and adjust when necessary.

Need help with SEO or writing articles?

SEO may seem intimidating, but with the right tools and the right approach, your business can create a winning SEO strategy to increase your website traffic. If writing articles or SEO simply isn’t a task that your business is able to take on at this time, the social media team at Social Channel Marketing Group is here to help. We offer SEO training, one-one-blog coaching for small businesses, and we excel at writing searchable content for our clients across multiple industries. We offer free, 30-minute social media consultations to discuss what digital and social media strategies work best for your business.