Why SEO is important for Businesses – 10 Reasons

95% of web traffic goes to websites on page 1. That sounds like a lot right! Just like anyone who runs a website, the goal is for your content to appear at the top above the rest. And this is why SEO is important for businesses. So, in this SEO guide, we will cover the 10 key reasons why you need SEO. And we will show you exactly how SEO can impact or benefit businesses and websites of any type.

SEO is a commonly used business marketing term these days. The reason being it’s one of the most effective ways of digital marketing for many small businesses today. Search engine optimisation (SEO) is important for businesses of all types and sizes. The best part is that it’s cost-effective and gets you desired results. 

However, you must exercise patience as it doesn’t work immediately. You have to establish the right SEO strategy to benefit from your SEO effort. But in the end, it’s all worth it. So, before we dive into the importance of SEO for businesses, let’s start off by understanding what SEO is:

What is SEO for business?

Search engine optimisation (SEO) is the process of refining your website’s content to increase organic traffic on search engines. In other words, SEO is how you improve your site’s visibility on search engines. That is, helping your business to remain important to its audience.

Search engine optimisation is the link between a website’s content and traffic. And so, it aims to deliver a great experience for internet users by providing relevant and useful information.

Search engines use unique algorithms to find good content, which matches a given search query, and then refer it to web visitors. Thus, if a website has good SEO, Google will display it in the top search results for the users. This implies that such a website is producing information that answers people’s search queries. 

With a good SEO strategy, a website has the chance to stand out as a trusted source of information. This way, it can boost the flow of traffic and in turn conversions. So, now you briefly know why SEO is important for your small businesses and websites. But that is not all. Here are the types of SEO small businesses will benefit from.

What are the Types of SEO for businesses?

1. On-page SEO

This is a branch of SEO that involves optimising webpage elements. Such elements are those within your control and hence adjustable. Some of these elements include; Content, keywords, heading tags, page speed, mobile-friendliness etc.

On-page SEO is important for small businesses like yours because it helps web visitors understand your content. As a result, they can find the answer to their search queries within your content. Hence, this makes your SEO content helpful. Aside from web visitors, search engines like Google can also interpret your content structure. In the end, they will rank your business website.

2. Off-page SEO

Off-page SEO refers to tactics done off the website to increase the site’s ranking. Usually, these actions are out of your control. One of the most common off-page SEO factors is link building. With time, more factors have been taken into consideration. These include; guest blogging, social media marketing, citations for local SEO etc.

With these tactics, websites can establish themselves as an authority/expert in their fields. This is a good signal to search engines that the site is credible and helpful hence ranking it highly. In addition, Off-page SEO creates exposure for your website, which is important to keep your business in front of the right customers.

3. Technical SEO

This is the branch of SEO that involves improving the technical aspects of a website to boost its rankings. These technical aspects can include the site’s structure, URL, page speed etc. 

Technical SEO makes it easy for search engines to better crawl and index your site. Technical SEO is quite important for small businesses because a business website can’t rank without it. Despite creating good content, if search engines cannot find the content, your site will not rank.

Some technical SEO tactics include; 

• Fast page-loading time
• Mobile-friendliness
• Good site structure
• Avoiding duplicate content etc.

Why SEO is important for businesses.

It is almost difficult to talk about marketing on the internet today without considering search engine optimisation. This has become a widely marketable strategy because it works without a doubt. Take a look at some of the benefits of SEO to understand why it is crucial.

We also shared an SEO guide for business (Courier companies) you may want to look at.

1. Reach the right customers

A major part of SEO is keyword research. This allows you to directly address your customer’s needs by creating content about a specific topic they find helpful. This is important for businesses like yours since it helps them reach the right customers by targeting the SEO keywords they use to find information online.

Through keyword research tools like SEMrush and Google Ads, you can find out what your customers are searching for.

You can then go ahead to create content that addresses your customers’ queries based on this research. This way, you can find your site skyrocketing to the top of the SERP. 

2. Increase web traffic

The reward for answering your customers’ search queries is high web traffic. When people find your blog posts relevant, they are likely to visit you more often. Search engine optimisation does not only increase traffic through new customers, it also makes them stay on your site longer.

As a result, it will reduce your bounce rate and in turn increase your chances of ranking higher. The most important thing is that, with SEO, small businesses don’t have to pay for traffic to their websites. It all happens automatically if you implement a good business SEO marketing strategy.

3. Improves visibility and ranking

All businesses would want to rank to the first page on Google because its important, but few have good SEO. Anyone running a business aims at getting more customers. The goal is to expand your reach and get noticed by more people. This is exactly why SEO is important for businesses and why you need to implement it.

You can draw more people to your website by producing SEO-friendly content that is helpful and relevant. I know this has been repeated several times but it is the truth. Aside from great business content, ensuring your website is user-friendly is also quite important to boost your SEO website performance.

All these aspects comprise what SEO is all about. Remember that the definition of SEO is those processes that are done to improve your website’s visibility online.

4. Cost-effective 

Search engine optimisation can bite a huge chunk into your marketing budget at the start. But, this is because it usually requires more effort to see your site in the top search engine results at the start.

This might require you to enlist the help of an SEO specialist or digital marketing agency. You might frown at first but it is worth it in the long run. As your website starts to rank, it gains credibility. 

Search engines pick this up as a signal that it is trustworthy and useful. Hence, higher rankings, At this point, you don’t need to invest in other marketing strategies like display ads which allows you to make a saving. Isn’t that an important aspect SEO can drift into your small business?

5. Increase trust and credibility

It is a known fact that the first-page search engine results get the most views. Very few people tend to check the second page. And the number reduces the further you go down the Search Engine Result Pages (SERP).

This is as a result of the element of trust. So, now you know that it is important for your business website to rank on the first page of Google. And the only way you can gain this is by having an SEO-friendly business website.

By ranking your content on the first page, search engines are telling people on the internet that this is the content that answers their search queries. This leads people to trust your website and look at it as a credible source of information.

6. Stay ahead of competitors

Anyone that is not implementing SEO is doing themselves and their business a disservice. Besides ranking highly, you can monitor your SEO performance through several SEO tools. Some of these include SEMrush, WordStream, etc.

This way, you can identify what is working and what isn’t. You can also observe your competitors’ efforts. And take a look at what is working for them. This allows you to plan better and improve your strategy.

7. Local SEO increases local engagement

Local SEO refers to optimising your website to increase your business’s visibility in local search results in your region. This is an important branch of SEO, which best suits small businesses that have a physical location.

Gone are the days when brick-and-mortar businesses completely relied on traditional marketing to get customers. With digital marketing, they can use strategies like local SEO. By setting your business up online, it becomes easier for potential customers to find you. For instance, you could list your business on online directories like Google My Business.

The number of people who use the internet to find local businesses is increasing every day. With the help of local SEO, a business can be found by people in need of the business’ services. This increases the number of potential customers.

8. Better user experience 

Mobile-friendliness and fast page loading time are important and known aspects of SEO for business websites. By implementing these, you are also improving the website’s usability.

It makes it easier for customers to navigate boosting their user experience. A good user experience means happy customers. Which in turn means they’ll stay on your website longer.

9. SEO impacts the buying cycle

The buying cycle/process refers to the steps that a person makes while buying a product. Just like any digital marketing strategy, SEO plays a big role in the buying cycle of many small businesses.

If a customer is looking to buy a product, they are likely to carry out research first. However, they’ll only be able to find your business website if you have implemented a good SEO strategy.

That is through keyword usage, mobile-friendly websites etc. This will drive people to your website and further convince them to buy the product they need. Simply because they read your blog articles that they found useful. And your site was easy to use making them stay on it for a long time.

10. Builds brand awareness

Just like other important digital marketing strategies, like Social media marketing, email marketing, and Content marketing, SEO can boost businesses by improving their customer reach.

Ranking in the top search results increases your visibility. This way, more people are aware of your presence online. They will then visit your website more often.

Final Thoughts

Implementing search engine optimisation sounds pretty sweet right. Well, it is one of the most cost-effective ways to promote our business online.

We hope this business SEO guide has answered your most burning questions. Now, you understand why SEO is an important aspect for small businesses.

It might seem like a lot of work at first, but it produces amazing results in the end. To get started, ensure that you have a good business SEO marketing strategy. Take the burden off your hands by enlisting the help of an SEO specialist or digital marketing agency.