SEO Services
Make Every Day with Google By Getting Search Results
For any small or local business looking to stay afloat, search engine visibility is a must. Running paid ads is a great way to get immediate visibility and highly targeted traffic, but it’s crucial that you’re working on your long-term organic visibility as well.
The problem is, search engine optimization (SEO) is a complex marketing strategy that requires consistent effort over time.
And this is the conundrum. Local businesses aren’t making use of one of the most crucial and effective marketing strategies for local businesses because of the very fact that they are a local business. You don’t have time to do SEO, but you also don’t have the time to learn enough about it to be able to hire the right small business SEO services.
And that’s precisely why I’ve written this post. I’d like to change that for you so here’s what we’re going to cover:
- The basics of what SEO is and why it’s crucial for local businesses.
- The benefits of hiring small business SEO services.
- How to find affordable local SEO services.
- What to look for in an SEO service provider.
Search engines are is where your customers are, and it is there that you need to stand out to them and stand apart from competitors. So let’s get you equipped to do that.
What is small business SEO?
Before we get into the types of services an SEO agency provides, let’s first make sure you have a firm understanding of what SEO is. Many business owners see search engine optimization (SEO) as an enigma that only those with inside knowledge can solve. Yes, an SEO service company will have the inside knowledge that you don’t have, but knowing the basics is a must, and it can be broken down into simple concepts:
- Even though you are optimizing for search engines, search engines build their ranking algorithms around user behavior, as they aim to be the most trusted source of information out there. What this means is, at the end of the day, you are really just optimizing for search engine users—aka people just like you.
- SEO isn’t just one tactic, but a combination of efforts that work in tandem to help search engines like Google find your business website, identify it as trustworthy, organize the information you’re publishing on it, and present it to users searching for it.
One of the most common ways consumers find products, services, and businesses nearest to them is through a search engine (hence the term “local search“). They will enter a search term or question (also known as a keyword) into Google. Google will then return what it has identified as the most appropriate and useful results, showing local results whenever applicable.
In fact, in many cases, the local results take up the entire initial view. This is what I get when I type “camera repair shop” into Google, without even including my location in the query:
Why hire an SEO services company?
So I’ve just established that search is very much a localized entity, and it is for this reason that it is a worthwhile small business marketing strategy. But why hire an SEO service company?
SEO is complex
Even though I have just simplified it into its core components above, this does not make SEO any less complex. And small business SEO doesn’t make it any smaller than big business SEO. As mentioned above, SEO is a set of practices that work synnergistically to gain exposure on local search engine results pages. You may be able to do the bareSEO basics, but if you can’t do all of the tactics, your efforts may not move the needle and your time will end up being wasted.
SEO requires ongoing work
SEO is not a one-and-done marketing strategy. There are some one-time optimizations you can perform that require little to no maintenance, but real SEO is a constant work in progress. It involves:
- Publishing fresh, high-quality content regularly
- Updating existing pages constantly for accuracy
- Going back in to old pages and adding in links to new pages
- Promoting content through other channels like social media and email.
Content promotion is just one of many SEO strategies that work together for your site.
Many small business owners have enough on their plate with running their day-to-day activities. With the help of an SEO services company, your website can be generating traffic and leads for you in the background while you’re able to stay focused on your customers.
With the help of an SEO services company, your website can be generating traffic and leads for you in the background while you’re able to stay focused on your customers.
SEO is a moving target
As we covered in the “engine” section of our SEO intro above, Google uses a complex algorithm that takes into account various ranking factors to determine the quality, relevancy, and accuracy of a page. We know a good chunk of those ranking factors, but not all of them. Plus, Google is always evolving its algorithm. A small business SEO service can stay on top of these algorithm updates and adjust the strategy accordingly.
Knowledge and tools
Free keyword tools are great to use when creating content and doing the SEO work you can do. SEO tools and service subscriptions are also helpful, but you have to learn how to get the most out of each platform. A professional SEO service provider is equipped with both the best tools and the knowledge which, when combined can give you a leg up over your competitors.
Benefits of using a website SEO service
So we can see how much work an SEO partner can remove from your small business marketing to-do list, but let’s talk about what you gain in return.
Stay focused on growth
As mentioned above, SEO takes a lot of time—not just each individual tactic but also performing ongoing maintenance and staying on top of Google’s updates. By hiring a website SEO service provider, you no longer have to go down the rabbit hole of meta tag how-tos, SEO audits (unless you want to) and Google updates. This means you have more time to focus on other aspects of your business, like growing your offerings or clientele.
See quick(er) succes:
SEO efforts can take weeks and even months to show in terms of website traffic and more customers. So while I think that learning the hard way is often the best way, SEO’s long turnaround time makes it not the most fun place for trial and error. A small business SEO service has the combined years of experience among its specialists to be able to quickly identify wins and errors that might otherwise take you years (and precious brain cells) to achieve on your own. Plus, there are plenty of other aspects of your business that I’m sure you’re already learning the hard way.
