What is Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and its benefits for your small business

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Isn't it frustrating when you search for something specific you know exists, but Google refuses to show it to you?

This might be your customer. And the reason they fail to find you is your poor SEO strategy.

Why is it so complicated?

3.5 billion searches. That's Google's daily search pool.

And your website is related to just a few of those.

But Google needs your help before sending them your way.

What is SEO?

SEO stands for Search Engine Optimization, and its purpose is to optimize your website to rank in the best position possible on Google's search engine results page (SERPS).

In other words, it's your signal sent to Google saying, "This search is for me!"

So, if your SEO strategy is robust, you pop first on the Google results page.  

If not, or if it's non-existent, you will follow on the next pages.

But do you ever click on "page 2" while Google-searching?  

Only 6-10% of users do.

Almost 90% of organic searches end on Google's first page. That's a lot of revenue.

However, SEO offers far more. Check it out below.

What are the benefits of SEO?

Free Marketing

SEO is a cost-effective way to drive traffic to your website.  

You do not have to pay for ads and bid to get a better place.  

Investing in SEO, you invest in your website's content, UX, and business visibility.

On the contrary, paid marketing requires more effort, high ad placement bids, and is much more volatile than SEO marketing.

SEO is a free way to get prospects on your website.

Credibility

It solidifies your credibility in the market.  

It does so, both on-page and off-page!  

On-page, your rich content proves it with your business cases and reviews.  

Off-page, your business shows its credibility by being Google's "chosen" to answer people's search queries. The higher you rank, the better you are.

If search engines promote your content, prospects see you as the expert.

Website Traffic, Leads & Revenue

SEO sets the ground for more business revenue.  

The strength of SEO is guiding prospects to your website. There, your content will hook their attention, make them learn more, and finally convert. So, it can also create leads and drive in more revenue!

But beware, while SEO can convert customers directly, it mainly focuses on increasing website traffic.

Better User Experience

"Optimization" in SEO does not stop in your written content.

Technical SEO ensures your website's user experience is good enough to make prospects stay longer. In turn, it checks website speed, mobile-friendliness, security, and so on.  

In short, it ensures that your website's foundations are robust enough to support your content.  

Long-term growth

SEO is a long-term investment in your business.  

It is a tool to make your business stay competitive over the years. SEO achieves this by analyzing coming trends through search results and adjusting content to "catch the ride" or by accumulating credibility over the years with relevant content and business cases.

It is a “free way” (compared to ads) that builds and sustains your business image over the years.  

Paid Ads Boost

While free, SEO also boosts your paid marketing.

This happens by increasing the number of times your website appears on the first Google page. If your SEO is strong, you will appear twice. Once for your organic results (SEO) and a second time for your paid ads.

In short, SEO can aid your paid marketing performance.

Data-driven Tool

SEO is a data-driven tool that offers you measurable results.

It accurately tracks traffic, conversion rates, bounce rates, keyword ranking, backlinks, and much more, offering you a complete and thorough analysis of your business image.

SEO is about data, not hunches.

What are the types of SEO?

On-Site SEO

It's optimizing everything about your website's content.

On-site SEO will focus on your content's keywords, title tags, headers, Meta Descriptions, and internal links. To improve it, you will have to adjust your content to:

1) match your keywords

2) answer the right questions to make it relevant to user searches

3) improve your value to prospects

Also, it includes customizations on your URL and URL structures in general.

All for one purpose: Make you ideal for Google's search engine.

Off-Site SEO

It's optimizing everything not on your website that influences its performance.

A few examples would be external links pointing to you like social media sharing, reviews, or backlinks. You cannot optimize these directly, yet they will drive traffic to your website. Imagine these elements as "votes of confidence" in your business. The more you have, the more credible you are.

Investing in your link-building process with Off-site SEO will skyrocket your credibility and ranking.

Technical SEO

It's optimizing your website's backend operations and structure.

Yes, optimizing your website's backend improves your ranking position. Such backend optimizations include your website's page speed, sitemaps, website indexability, mobile-friendliness, and more.

If your backend operations suffer, however good your content is, it will not benefit you.

Local SEO

This is your go-to tool to improve your local search results.

If you want to scale your business in your city, local SEO will optimize your business as if strapping it with neon lights for locals. Local SEO optimization includes local citations, a Google Business Profile, local keyword targeting, mobile-friendliness, and more.

If you want to be the talk of the city, Local SEO is what you'll need.

Voice search SEO

It is the future, and it is here!

Voice search SEO is a new, growing branch that leverages voice search results. It differs from traditional SEO because users do not write. They speak. And so, content needs to be optimized for long-tail keywords, slang usage, local dialects, and conversational tone of voice.

So, if you want to get a head start in the SEO race, Voice search SEO should be one of your first concerns right now.

A few things to be aware of

Search Engine Optimization is a powerful ally on your business journey. But before embarking on this journey, be sure to know these:

SEO is not a sprint. It is a marathon. Results will come, but the process needs time, refining, adjustments, and patience.

Focus on quality, not quantity. What makes you rank is unique, user-friendly, valuable content that solves pain points, educates, or entertains.

Measure everything. SEO platforms like SEMrush or Ahrefs offer intricate tools, reporting dashboards, and data for you to manage, analyze, and exploit. Your progress depends on your ability to document it.

Make user experience (UX) your priority. Matching user intent in each circumstance is what SEO is at its core. Better UX brings less bounce rate, more user attention, more leads, and more revenue.

And finally, never settle for "shady" ranking methods. It's called Black-Hat SEO, and while it can get you ahead of the competition in a shorter time, it will turn back on you either by getting exposed or by a vicious algorithm update that will throw your strategy off.

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