A lot of small business owners and startups starting out are asking themselves whether or not SEO is worth it. Is it too much trouble? Is the return on investment worth it? Are the time and effort spent on this strategy really going to make a difference in my bottom line? These are all valid questions that need answers. This article will look into how important SEO is for small businesses so you can decide if you want to invest your time and money into implementing an SEO strategy.
The Low-Down On If SEO is Worth It for Small Businesses And Startups
SEO stands for Search Engine Optimization and is the process of getting traffic from organic search engine results. if your business shows up for relevant search queries, it can be lucrative for your brand.
So, the answer is yes, it is worth it to invest in SEO. Online leads for businesses are the fastest-growing segment of the buying community, and SEO is proven to generate more leads than any other marketing strategy. It’s also a good way to keep your company on top for search results when customers are looking up similar products or services in your industry.
If you are willing to put in the time and effort necessary to make your website more user-friendly for search engines. When implemented correctly, SEO is a great tool for increasing traffic coming from potential customers who have been searching online but not finding what they need because you were either too expensive or too hard to find.
Start by researching your keywords and developing a plan for how you will use them throughout the site, then work on building an SEO-friendly website that is easy to navigate and looks professional. After, do some on-page optimizations for your start-up or small business.
Next, spread the word about your new strategy with friends or online websites in order to get more people coming through your doors now.
Can You Find Your Business Online?
Let me ask you this. Can you locate your business’ products or services online?
Well, can you? If you can’t easily find your business at the top of the search engine results page, then chances are your customers can’t either.
If people don’t know about your business, then there’s no way they will buy your product or service. It’s as plain and simple as that.
And so, if you’re a small business owner struggling to be found online, it may just be time for some SEO help.
If you want to start investing in SEO for your small business or start-up, apply to work with me here.
The Alternative To SEO
In comparison to Pay-Per-Click (PPC) advertising, SEO is a much less expensive strategy. PPC ads require you to pay every time someone clicks on the ad whereas SEO doesn’t charge for anything until your website starts ranking higher in search engine results pages.
Sure, PPC can generate results immediately but you have to think long-term if you’re a small business or start-up.
Although SEO will take longer to see results, the cost is worth it in order to ensure your company will be around for years to come. Not to mention the cost of running ads is only getting more and more expensive.
Imagine leads coming into your business on autopilot every month for free. Instead of paying for every cost-per-click, you’re paying for web hosting (which is a one-time cost), quality content, and building public relations.
In short, organic search is almost always the preferable long-term alternative, given how much more effective it can be and how much less expensive it is to use in a marketing strategy.
Ranking Is Important but So Is Quality Content
It would be great if you could rank your website in the top position on Google just with the right keywords and no other effort put forth into SEO. Unfortunately, this isn’t how it works at all.
Great, helpful content that solves a visitor’s problem is what Google likes. It is getting harder and harder to rank websites without great content. I’d recommend you invest in high-quality content to get the best results. This takes time and some initial investment, but remember the end goal.
You want to avoid the mistake of just producing content for the sake of making it. The reason why is because it can have a negative impact on your brand as well as probably not rank high on the search engine results page.
Showing Up On Google Will Increase Your Brand’s Perceived Value
It’s no secret that people don’t like ads. Showing up in the organic search results, on the other hand, increases your brand’s perceived value.
When you show up in search results for your services or products, it means that potential customers see you as an expert and want to do business with someone they trust. You will get more leads from this method than if you were to spam the internet with ads for your business.
The reason why people trust organic search results over ads is that they have a lot of confidence in search engines to show the “best” results for a search query.
If people see your business everywhere online for related queries to your niche, they will naturally view you as the most authoritative resource for that topic.
This “trust signal” will increase conversions because they will trust your brand more. People are simply more inclined to do business with someone they feel share similar intentions as them.
The Best Time To Start Investing Into SEO Was Yesterday…
Listen, getting your site ranked high on Google is getting harder and harder every day.
Don’t wait to start investing in SEO growth 5 or 10 years down the line when it is going to be extremely difficult to build an online presence.
You won’t get a top position overnight, but your company will reap many rewards in the long run. So take my advice and start. If you are a small business or start-up looking to invest in growth through SEO for your business, drop me a line, and let’s chat. I do SEO for start-ups and all sorts of businesses. With the right keywords, a careful content production process, and an expert spearheading your organic efforts, you’ll see results in no time.
If you’re not already using SEO as part of your business strategy, let’s start.
