What are the benefits of using SEO if you run a small business, and how can you use SEO to help your business grow?
Here are seven of the top reasons you should be using search engine optimisation for your SME.
Why does a small business need SEO services?
If you own a brick and mortar store, it’s important to have an appealing shop window. That way, when people walk past your store, they will see your shop window and potentially be enticed in to make a purchase.
SEO is a lot like having a good-looking shop window online. People who may have otherwise not thought of buying from you can see what products and services you provide, boosting your sales and amplifying your brand.
Unfortunately, many small businesses don’t see the benefits of SEO.
Half of all SMEs don’t invest in SEO, either because they don’t know how or they don’t think it’s worthwhile.
If you’re on the fence about search engine optimisation, here are seven benefits of SEO for small businesses and how you can use SEO for business growth.
Does SEO work for small businesses?
Let’s find out.
1. SEO provides an amazing return on investment (ROI)
When you have a small business, you need to make sure every penny you spend results in profit.
The good news is that SEO provides one of the best ROIs of all marketing channels you can use.
Why is SEO so great at providing a solid return on investment?
It’s a long-term strategy that can be used to focus on all your prospective customers, no matter where they are in the sales funnel. So, instead of targeting customers that are only ready to buy, you can target and build awareness to a much larger audience, increasing leads and sales and lowering your CPA.
2. SEO helps make your website more user-friendly
SEO and user experience often go hand-in-hand. A page that has been optimised for SEO is easier to navigate and as a result, more likely to lead to conversions.
For example, a mobile-friendly site is an SEO-ranking factor. This means a fast-loading and responsive mobile site is more likely to rank highly in the search engines.
Customers will also find a high-quality mobile site easier to use. 53% of mobile users will leave your site if it takes more than three seconds to load, so a better mobile experience will lead to additional visits and sales.
3. SEO brings you new customers
Acquiring new leads or sales is one of the trickiest parts of being in business. This is especially true for SMEs that may not have a large business development team in place.
SEO is great for business growth as it promotes your business to a wide range of customers, some of whom may not have heard of you before.
While outbound marketing can be great for bringing in new business, SEO can lead people directly to your website, helping you save time and resources and facilitating sales.
4. SEO boosts your brand
According to HubSpot, the average customer needs eight touchpoints before converting into a sale!
SEO is an easy way of making prospective customers aware of your presence.
With SEO, customers will see your brand name and website in the search engines time and time again, boosting your brand awareness and trust. The more website visitors that see you, the more likely they are to click on the link to your website and make that crucial purchase or enquiry.
5. SEO puts you ahead of the competition
Let’s say Company A and Company B sell the exact same product at the exact same price.
However, Company A has spent time researching keywords that customers use as well as optimising its website content to improve SEO.
Which business do you think will be the most successful?
Let’s say you rank on the first page of Google, and your competitor ranks on the second page. Only 0.8% of Google searchers click on the second page, meaning that with good SEO and being on the first page, you’re in a better position to make that all-important sale.
6. SEO can help your other marketing channels to grow
We’ve talked about how SEO can help improve your website. It can also have a knock-on effect on your social media marketing and paid advertising too.
For example, you can promote your social channels through your SEO optimised content, helping your business gain new followers.
Given that 78% of the UK population have at least one active social media account, this can be an easy way of boosting your social media presence and raising awareness.
You can also repurpose your most-successful SEO content on your social media channels and through paid advertising. This means you can post high-quality content that provides value to your customers, without having to spend lots of time creating new social media posts.
7. SEO brings long-term results
If you invest in pay per click advertising (for example Google Ads, Microsoft Advertising or Facebook Ads), you can push your way to the top of the search engine results. However, this will only last as long as your budget does. When your money runs out, your ad will stop being shown.
With SEO, the results are a lot more long-lasting. You can see returns for your web pages months and even years after optimising them!
Of course, like all things in marketing, you need to regularly monitor your SEO to make sure it is working for you and periodically refresh and update your content.
However, SEO is one of the best ways to ensure that your content brings you revenue, even while you are occupied with other aspects of your business.
In conclusion: Does SEO work for small businesses?
SEO can be an excellent tool for business growth if you’re an SME. Not only is it easy to implement with a CMS platform such as WordPress, but it has one of the best returns on investment around. One in two marketers advise that it has the highest ROI of all their marketing channels.
If you’re keen to use SEO to grow your business but aren’t sure of the next steps to take, Bubblegum Search is here to help.
Contact us today and see how we can optimise your SEO to benefit your small business, promote it to new audiences and help grow your revenue.