SEO (or search engine optimisation) is a complex combination of digital marketing activities which ensure that your website is technically sound, user friendly and is fully optimised for the search terms which your target customers are using when looking for products or services just like yours.
If you run a small business and you have come across information on SEO you may well have thought to yourself ‘I’m only a small business. I don’t need to invest in SEO’
Unfortunately, this statement couldn’t be further from the truth. In fact, SEO is arguably even more detrimental in the success of small businesses where every sale counts.
Here are just 5 ways that SEO will help your business succeed:
1. Increases brand awareness
By improving the SEO of your website and therefore ranking higher in the search engines, your website will be seen by a larger number of people. These people are all searching for a product or service which you provide and therefore you are overcoming the first hurdle – becoming known. Even if a potential customer doesn’t convert into a sale on first contact, there is a good chance that they may return to seal the deal at a later date.
2. Establishes trust
Studies show that people tend to have more trust in websites which rank higher in the search engines. This is because it is a well-known fact that search engines provide more visibility to higher quality websites with stringent security measures. By establishing this trust with potential customers, they are more likely to visit your website and certainly more likely to make a purchase or booking with you.
3. Increases website traffic
As you have probably gathered by now, the two factors above ensure an increase in traffic to your website. The percentage of people who see your website in the search results and then chose to click on your website is called ‘organic click through rate’. For an SEO optimised website not only will your visibility be higher but your click through rate will be higher too as your meta data (the information displayed by the search engines) will be well written, structured and optimised for the most relevant keywords.
4. Better Usability
One of the many actions an SEO expert will take is reviewing and amending the structure, layout and content of your website. This is partly so that different pages can be optimised for different keywords but also so that website visitors can navigate easily around your site and perform certain actions with ease (e.g. sending an enquiry or putting items in the basket) making for an all-round pleasant user experience.
5. Increased sales!
If we combine increased brand awareness and more website traffic with a high level of trust and a seamless website the result is of course – More sales!
Admittedly SEO is a long-term strategy when compared to things like pay per click and social media advertising, but once your website’s SEO is in order it becomes an extremely cost effective marketing method and therefore your profit margins will see the benefits too.
If you are interested in becoming SEO optimised and you would like more information or a no obligation quote then please feel free to visit our website - https://www.littleacorndigitalmarketing.com