Search engine optimization is one of the most vital tools small businesses need to survive in today’s highly digital environment. Small business owners need help to ensure their enterprise not only survives but thrives. According to the U.S. Small Business Administration, the country is home to more than 30.7 million small businesses, but most of them will never expand.
However, a lot of small businesses are still not able to use the tools that would allow them to grow, one of which is search engine optimization (SEO). Despite the hardships encountered by small businesses in 2020, only 30 percent of these small enterprises use SEO.
Search engine optimization is the key to overcoming barriers that prevent your small business from growing.
Below are some methods for effective SEO strategies that push your small business to success, from outmaneuvering competitors to securing more traffic for your website.
- Attract New Customers
The Problem: The most common reason small businesses don’t succeed is lack of cash flow. Approximately 82 percent of small business fold because they can’t establish new sources of cash or attract enough customers to get new income.
A cash flow issue is also detrimental to your efforts to expand your business. Growing your small business, whether expanding it to a new location or simply improving your current services, will require lots of capital. Without a healthy cash flow and new customers to support these expenses, you’ll have a problems initiating your business expansion, much less maintaining them long enough to generate more revenue.
The Solution: Search engine optimization can help your small business establish new sources of revenue by attracting more customers.
According to one study, as many as 97 percent of people use search engines to learn more about local businesses. This means climbing to the top of search engine rankings is essential if you want to increase your business’s odds of attracting new customers. For example, SEO for plumbers can help increase awareness of your business by ranking at the top of keywords people look for when they have a burst pipe or a flooded basement.
- More Engaging Website
The Problem: The problems that occurred in 2020 have made it abundantly clear to business owners that expanding operations into the digital world is not an option. Because many small businesses had to shutter their physical locations, many dedicated entrepreneurs had to turn to opening websites. This is a serious change of pace from expert findings in 2019, when a survey discovered that as many as 40 percent of small business didn’t even have a website.
The problem is that businesses aren’t creating engaging websites that can convert casual viewers and searchers into paying customers. Without an engaging website, your small business will have issues retaining customers or converting leads into cash flow.
The Solution: Search engine optimization strategies include making your business website not only more accessible to users but also more attractive to search engine bots and readers alike.
So many small businesses create websites that only serve as a digital storefront for their company and forget to make full use of the possibilities their website can offer. Effective SEO for plastic surgeons, for example, won’t just make their websites appear at the top of search engine results, they’ll also ensure that it has engaging articles that increase its authority. SEO would also make the website look more visually appealing, as well as making it more accessible to mobile users. All these factors are essential in ensuring your business website not only acts as a place to purchase products but also helps more people appreciate your business.
- Get Local Clients
The Problem: Unless your small business has the manufacturing capability, you’re probably not cut out for national or international growth. And that’s a good thing because it allows your company to focus. However, too many small business owners neglect the importance of cultivating a healthy local clientele, opting to go for national scope immediately. This is folly because 46 percent of searches on Google are looking for information on local businesses.
If you don’t take advantage of this interest, your competitors can snatch up these local customers. Local clients are essential in ensuring your small business thrives because they’re the ones most likely to have your products deliver or, even better, drive to your physical location and make their purchases on-site.
The Solution: Local search engine optimization makes your business appear at the top of searches for certain keywords in your area. This means people who are looking for “hair stylists near me” can see your business at the top of the list, making it more likely that they’ll click on your website link.
Search engine optimization strategies designed to increase your local clients are focused on making your store easier to find, improving your business reviews on sites like Yelp, and increasing your ties to the local community through good keyword placement.
- Beat Your Competitors
The Problem: With more than 30 million small businesses in the entire country, competition is fierce and everywhere. Even on the internet, your small business won’t just be competing with companies in similar fields in your area, you’ll also have to beat businesses that use the same keyword that is situated in other locations.
Unless your business already has a large customer base, you’ll find that your competitors will deprive you of much-needed new customers and revenue. These setbacks will undoubtedly prevent you from expanding your business or even maintain your current company as it is. Appearing at the top of search engine results pages is crucial in securing new customers and staying ahead of your competitors.
The Solution: According to SEO experts, only 8 percent of people choose businesses that appear beyond the first page of search results. The remaining 92 percent of searchers stick to the ones that appear only on the first page.
Search engine optimization strategies help push your small business to these coveted positions. By creating a network of backlinks, improving your website, and ensuring you’re using the right keywords, you can slowly edge out your competitors from these prime slots, allowing you to reap more of the customers and the profits. This can fuel your business’s growth and ensure you beat the competition.
- Make Social Media More Effective
The Problem: Social media platforms, like Facebook, Instagram and Twitter, have undoubtedly revolutionized the way people interact with the world. But they’ve also changed the way businesses operate. Experts estimate that there are more than 90 million businesses on Facebook alone and that 85 percent of businesses in the United States have been using it as a marketing platform since 2016. However, the sheer number of businesses on these sites means that you have to try harder to outmatch them.
The business also has to understand that making their social media pages more optimized still matters because most people will find them through search engines. Posting a photo and a poorly worded caption will not help your business. You’ll need a good strategy and efficient coordination to make your social media posts not only more visible but effective.
The Solution: SEO has many facets, which include making your social media pages more streamlined for search engines and users alike.
Using the right hashtags, not to mention the right number of hashtags, is equally important to these efforts. Photo captions should be concise and involve keywords that’ll help your business rise to the top of results pages. A successful SEO strategy incorporates these into your marketing plans and makes it easier to grow your online influence.
Your small business will face a lot of hurdles on the path to success, and search engine optimization can be the key to removing them. The effective use of SEO is key to expanding your small business and ensuring it grows in these uncertain times. So make the smart choice and find the right business to provide you with search engine optimization strategies as soon as possible.