Why SEO is Important for your Small Business Website

 

S.E.O – 3 little words that many business owners cringe at. And indeed, it is one of the most

misunderstood and misinterpreted terms in the world of marketing. What is it you ask?

Well SEO (otherwise known as Search Engine Optimisation) is a very viable marketing outlet
that can bring your business more qualified leads and customers. It generates valuable
traffic to your website and allows you to market to people when they are looking for
products and services that your business provides. When people search for your products
and services, you obviously want to appear as high in the search engine rankings as possible,
but the reasons for this are more than just because you want them to click through to your
website. A great deal of data and information can be gained from SEO.

 

So why should you invest time and money into improving your SEO?

 

SEO provides your business credibility.

 

Remember the good old days of the Yellow pages? If you were looking for a carpenter, did
you feel more confident in contacting the person on the 4th page of the listings – or did you
like majority of people start from the top and work your way through? Your customers may
not realise it – but high search rankings make you appear more credible through their eyes.
Having a website with good SEO enhances your ability to compete with other businesses
and services.

 

It still works!

 

As already stated SEO generates valuable traffic and Optimal Exposure for Brand Awareness.
If your website is properly optimized, it will increase your search engine visibility, usability,
and credibility, all of which increase traffic to your site. Now that you are enjoying higher
numbers of visitors, Google Analytics (which every website should have set up) can track
valuable information about your visitors. Find out what browser they use, what key words
they used to search, the technology they use, their geographical location, the days and
times they are most active, how much time they spent on a page…and so on. This
information will help you discover your target market, hone your advertising, and determine
strategies based on facts rather than just educated guesses. The better you know your
customers, the better you can improve your practises.

 

Content & Keywords are essential

 

If your website does not contain viable content, then no matter how much money or time
you spend on SEO, it is wasted. Content will always be king, (read our previous blog on
content here) and it's important to acknowledge this. However, when used in conjunction
with other important marketing tools, SEO will provide visibility, traffic, credibility, branding
and help you gain valuable insights into customer behaviour. It's not only about stuffing
your website with keywords either! Today, search engines' algorithms are much more
sophisticated, which means keyword stuffing and similar approaches no longer help to place
a site or page high in the results. In fact, if you overdo it with certain phrases, there is a
good chance that it will backfire!

 

It's cost effective

 

Compared to the costs associated with other forms of online marketing such as Pay Per Click
advertising, social media marketing, or purchasing leads for an email marketing, having an
impressive organic SEO is the staple of maintaining a visible online presence. Boosting your
SEO will bring qualified leads to your door. With improved SEO those people searching for
businesses similar to yours can come across your website…they already have a need or
interest in your products or services, so it enhances your visibility, branding and insight to
your customers.
Think about mobile bandwidth and local search optimization – The amount of traffic delivered to mobile devices is constantly growing and expected to exceed traditional desktop devices. With this dramatic explosion in mobile usage, a whole
new world of effective SEO techniques have opened up for companies, including local
search optimization. Its's important to ensure your website is able to address this.

 

Not having a healthy content profile is damaging

 

Not building a healthy content profile spread out months and years is potentially damaging
to your business, as it is one of the factors Google evaluates when looking at your site.

 

 

SEO is one of your most powerful tools for gaining attention, establishing rapport, and
ultimately earning credibility. Many business owners are surprised to learn just what goes
into the ranking of a website, a blog, or a page. In fact, search engines use at least a couple
hundred different criteria to determine where a page ranks in the search results. It's a tool
that constantly changes, so you must always take a fresh look at your online presence.
Working with a professional team who understands SEO will mean always being on the first
page of rankings, have a great reputation on social networks, and in general always be in a
position to capture the attention of more consumers. If you need help to improve your
website's SEO rankings contact our team on 02 4341 3313 and let Central Coast Web Design help improve your visibility.