A good business strategy starts with a clear idea of who your target audience is and how your offering differs from that of your competitors.
Good search engine optimization (SEO) works no differently. Small businesses compete directly with larger competitors in the search results space. But by knowing your niche and using resources effectively, small businesses can still attract the attention of people looking for information about their business.
What is SEO?
SEO, or search engine optimization , is the practice of designing your business’s online content to be more easily found in search engines. The goal of SEO is to get your website to appear on the search engine results page (SERP) when people search for terms related to your business. Google handles the majority of all online searches, taiwan email list so most SEO practices aim to optimize for Google. Other search engines, such as Bing and Yandex, follow similar principles to Google.
The success of SEO is typically measured by the number of clicks to your website from search engines. These clicks are often divided into brand-related clicks (e.g., a search for “Nike shoes”) and non-brand-related clicks (e.g., a search for product tutorials: how to demonstrate your assets to the public “basketball shoes”). Both are important, but many companies place more emphasis on non-brand-related clicks because these searches are more likely to come from potential new customers. These clicks are also known as organic traffic, as opposed to paid traffic , which comes from links that companies pay for in order to rank highly in search results.
How SEO can help small businesses
- Increased visibility
- Cost-effective, switzerland leads targeted marketing
- Increased credibility
- competitive advantage
SEO may seem intimidating at first. But SEO offers several benefits:
Increased visibility
When small businesses appear in search engines for terms related to their business, they increase their visibility to new customers. Shoemakers with an e-commerce store can attract new customers through referrals or social media.
Cost-effective, targeted marketing
Advertising campaigns on social media, in newspapers or on billboards require a constant flow of money. Often, you spend a lot of money showing ads to people who may never become customers. Only a small percentage of the people who see the ad at any given time are ultimately interested in your product.
SEO works differently. It may take longer to take effect, as it can take weeks or months for search results to change due to a change to your website. But if your business ranks well in search results, it won’t cost you any money. Your content will also primarily reach people searching for specific keywords related to your business, making them much more likely to become suitable customers.