If you’re not the most tech-savvy business owner in the world, SEO can seem like a daunting and scary prospect. Nonetheless, a good Search Engine Optimization strategy could be the very thing that makes or breaks your business in the modern digital age.
You see, more people than ever before are finding a business on Google as opposed to via word-of-mouth or other sources. As a result, if your business’s website isn’t showing up in the first few Google rankings, you’re losing the business of people who would have otherwise come to you via a quick Google search.
However, although we know that SEO makes you rank highly on Google, how else does it affect your business?
It helps to build credibility
Assuming that your business’s website is responsive, modern, informative, and provides the user with a decent UX (user experience), then SEO’s main aim should be to direct potential leads to your well-designed site.
In addition to this, tech-savvy internet users (as well as those with common sense) will have a basic understanding of how SEO works and will know that your business is likely to be reputable and credible if it showing up in the first few Google results.
Although the guidelines are forever changing, sites that rank highly are assessed by Google as being optimized, possessing signs of authenticity, and showing records of positive user behavior. This helps to demonstrate your business’s credibility for those who are in the know regarding SEO.
It increases traffic, engagement, and conversions for local businesses
With 52% of all internet traffic now coming from mobile devices, mobile-based searches are now helping small and medium-sized businesses to succeed in their local areas.
For example, if you’re a hair salon operating in San Diego, aiming to push keywords such as “hair salon in San Diego” could be very beneficial to you going forward.
Mobile search also allows mobile users to perform location-based searches, for example, a user in San Diego may search for “hair salons near me” and also be directed to the business we just mentioned.
Local SEO is helping smaller businesses to ward off the competition of huge multinational brands, so it’s a good idea to brush up on your local SEO and take full advantage of the Google my business platform.
It’s cost-effective
Although decent SEO does cost money, it’s pretty cheap when compared to old-school (and arguably defunct) advertising methods such as print ads and radio ads.
You should certainly do some research into how SEO could affect your customer base first, taking demographics etc. into account. However, 9 times out of 10, SEO will be a cost-effective investment which puts your business on the (Google) map for years to come.
