5 Reasons SEO is Important for Small Businesses
Search Engine Optimization is not a flashy, exciting topic. It’s technical, detailed, and requires a lot of work before you will be able to see or measure true growth. Once you do start to improve your SEO, it is a continual work in progress to stay at the top of the game.
The truth is, a lot of small business owners and creative entrepreneurs do not prioritize SEO, and I can completely sympathize with that sentiment. For most people who have other areas of expertise, it may seem above their heads and not worth diving into when the short-term gains are usually minimal.
On the other hand, I have seen firsthand how powerful SEO can be for a small business. When I first started my photography business in an area that was new to me, I worked on this side of my website…and when the growth finally came, it took off in ways I never would have expected. If you’re on the fence and wondering why SEO is important for your small business, here are 5 compelling reasons I would invest in it all over again:
1) Your website is the face of your brand. And if the face of your brand is all over the internet, why wouldn't you want to get found? It may seem intimidating to even think that your website can rank highly on other search engines, but letting that fear keep you from even trying is the biggest mistake you can make.
2) Social media is constantly changing. I get it - I use Facebook and Instagram daily, TikTok is on the rise, and I have assuredly gotten new business from these and other social media sites. If you are a small business owner, you probably know that there are big changes constantly happening in the world of social media. It's crucial to not rely too heavily on one source for most of your web traffic because when the changes come, your business may lose big.
3) Word-of-mouth referrals are valuable...but they don't always come. I often got frustrated at the elusive word-of-mouth referral when I first started my business. Although they come on a regular basis now, getting started in a brand new city is hard - and you can't yet rely on other people to spread the word about you. This was my initial motivation to improve my SEO. Three years into my business I was able to quit my day job to work at this full time...so yes, I did see the results I wanted, even if they took awhile to come.
4) SEO is not as hard as you think. Trust me on this one! I have studied, researched, tested, and learned so much about SEO in the past eight years that I know it's more than possible to do it! It is a huge topic - and it is scary at first - but through resources such as Moz Blog, you can understand it with time.
5) You can always get help! Some people outsource their SEO - and that's great! I never have because as a start-up business, I chose to prioritize other areas. I currently offer search engine optimization services for small businesses of all kinds, and I have seen other business grow and improve significantly because of it! Two current examples are The Plush Flush and The Holistic Counseling Center, whose websites have seen big growth due to their investment in SEO.
If you see the value of improving your SEO but you’re not sure where to get started, contact me with any questions you have. I’m always happy to help!