Why Small Business SEO Matters

It’s common for small businesses owners to ignore SEO because they never think their website will get a top spot in Google’s search engine results pages. Although this thinking is typical, it’s totally and completely wrong. It’s even more important for small businesses to practice SEO since it’s their best chance of generating leads online.

Why Small Business SEO Matters

Organic search vs paid search 

If you type something into Google, you’ll see a ton of links on the next page. Most of these are organic links, but the first few are paid ads.

The organic links represent websites that have a high-ranking because they have great domain authorities. These are the businesses that invest in SEO. On the flip side, some businesses buy ads on Google for an extra bump in site traffic.

It’s well-documented that the overwhelming majority of clicks come from the organic links. This is why SEO is so important. Paid ads might marginally increase your site traffic, but to generate leads, you need to increase your site ranking through SEO efforts.

Get a higher ranking site 

Through an SEO campaign, businesses can get the site ranking they need to attract users from Google. This is where things get more complex, as there are many SEO strategies and tactics.

A recent Small Business Trends article talks about a few of those strategies. It mentions that you shouldn’t have multiple pages compete for the same keywords, since this will just harm your SEO:

“Don’t let the scary name spook you; keyword cannibalisation isn’t that scary at all, but it can have disastrous results. Keyword cannibalisation occurs when two or more pages on your website are competing for the same keyword(s). This can occur when people don’t realise that they have duplicate content or duplicate titles, or even when inexperienced SEO “specialists” optimise multiple pages for the same keyword on purpose, thinking it will make the website as a whole more authoritative, but that is not the case.”

This is a common SEO mistake that businesses make. It also demonstrates the need for an experienced professional to run a campaign.

Give your content more visibility 

Another reason to invest in SEO is to get more users to see and read your content. This is critical since content can help you generate and convert leads online.

This recent Small Business Trends article explains how to enhance your SEO by allowing comments on your content:

“I always recommend allowing comments, because you want to stay connected to your readers. You also get an SEO benefit from the comment content being added to the page, because search engines like it when pages are updated and added to often. If you choose to allow comments, make sure you moderate often and have a comment spam solution in place.”

This is a simple, yet effective way to both engage your users and enhance your SEO at the same time. For more user engagement, share your content on social media and try to start a discussion.

Generate more leads 

With a high site ranking from a good SEO campaign, you can generate leads without ever having to buy ads. All you have to do is make a few landing pages for users coming from different platforms — social media, Google, your blog, etc. — and wait for them to sign up.

Without SEO, lead generation is almost impossible. You’d have to create amazing content and run an impeccable social media marketing campaign that targets the right users. This strategy requires way more luck than a typical SEO campaign.

Search engine optimisation can help small businesses generate leads, give their content more visibility, and move up in Google’s rankings. To talk more about small business SEO, or anything else, contact us today.