The Benefits of SEO for Small Businesses

Search engine optimization, more commonly known as “SEO,” is the practice of improving the visibility and ranking of a website on search engines like Google and Bing. Essentially, it’s a way to get more eyes on your website and generate leads and sales through higher web traffic.

Now you might be thinking, “My small business doesn’t need SEO. I mean, we’re not a national company. We don’t have the budget for that anyway.” But that couldn’t be further from the truth! In fact, SEO is absolutely essential for small businesses. Here are just a few reasons why:

1. The majority of people use search engines to find local businesses.

According to a study by BrightLocal, 96% of consumers use search engines to find local businesses, and 61% say they won’t consider businesses that don’t show up in search results. So if your small business isn’t ranking high on search engine results pages (SERPs), you’re missing out on a lot of potential customers!

2. Small businesses can easily compete with bigger brands with SEO.

Just because you’re a small business doesn’t mean you can’t compete with the big guys! In fact, with SEO, size doesn’t matter nearly as much as it does for other marketing channels like paid advertising or even public relations. As long as you’re producing high-quality content and optimizing your website correctly, you can easily outrank much larger brands in search engine results. And since 62% of consumers say they feel better about supporting small businesses after reading positive online reviews, there’s really no reason not to invest in SEO!

3. SEO provides an exceptional return on investment (ROI).

According to HubSpot’s 2016 State of Inbound Report, SEO has an average ROI of 122%, which means for every $1 invested in SEO, you can expect to see $1.22 back in return. That’s an incredible return on investment compared to other marketing channels like paid advertising, which has an average ROI of just 9%. Not to mention, unlike paid advertising which stops working as soon as you stop paying for it, the effects of SEO can last long after the initial campaign has ended—meaning you’ll continue to reap the benefits of your investment for months or even years down the road.

As you can see, there are plenty of reasons to invest in SEO for your small business! Not only is it an affordable way to market your business, but it’s also an incredibly effective way to reach new customers and generate leads and sales. So if you’re not already using SEO to promote your small business, what are you waiting for? Get started today and see the amazing results for yourself!