Over the last few decades, the way that businesses attract new customers, maintain a positive reputation and advertise their services has changed, evolved and expanded. The internet, and (more specifically) the ever-presence of search engines in our online ecosystems, has opened up a whole new realm of possibilities for marketing and advertising – Search Engine Optimization.
As in the past with advertising and marketing, large companies can always afford to spend more on their Search Engine Optimization (SEO) than smaller businesses – meaning that their results appear higher in a search, their websites have more authority, and their ads are ever present.
Despite this, SEO undoubtedly has a huge range of potential benefits for smaller businesses too – and dedicating time to nailing your business’s SEO strategy will almost certainly lead to positive outcomes, whatever the objectives your business wants to target.
Read on to find out more about how smaller, local businesses can use SEO to take their operations to the next level.
Promote your strongest assets
One of the most powerful ways you can benefit your local business with a strong SEO campaign is to promote your strongest assets.
By identifying not only your Unique Selling Points (USPs) but also your main services, target audience and industry trends, you can ensure that your website ranks highly in search engines when people search for related topics.
This means that your business should target specific Keywords, as these keywords are part of what tells Google that your site is definitely selling ‘Lenovo 17 Inch Laptops’ or ‘Freshly baked produce’. By including these keywords within the on-Page SEO of your website you will be directing more searchers to your site and products.
Geolocation is invaluable
Another hugely beneficial strategy to use when optimizing your business for SEO is Geolocation. In the modern day, geolocation services help to increase awareness of your business’s brick-and-mortar presence by showcasing your business when people make local searches.
In terms of foot traffic, people who are out and about tend to use certain keywords in their searches. For example, if you run a Barber Shop in your local town, you could gain a customer from your competitors by having a strong geolocational presence online – if a customer searches ‘Barber Shops near me’ and you haven’t used geolocation, it’s highly likely they’ll try a competitor who has.
You can also target trade coming from out of town, by ensuring that your site is optimized for locations where you believe that trade could come from.
Reduce paid ad costs
If you imagine SEO as internal promotion – using posters in the windows, signs in the storefront and strong physical branding to attract customers – then Paid Ads are equivalent to billboards, sponsorships and general external branding.
Of course, with these paid methods you are investing in your marketing and expect a return – but with a rock-solid SEO strategy, you can boost organic traffic to your site and cut out these extra costs, without losing your desired level of custom.
Small businesses often have a fraction of the resources to spend on advertising and marketing compared to large corporations, so using SEO effectively is a great way to cut back on costs.