It’s important to understand that Search Engine Optimisation is important for ALL BUSINESSES. But why Is SEO so important for small businesses? A BigCommerce (2021) Survey shows how customers researched online for 43% of all purchases.
This includes physical purchases in stores, as customers have increased accessibility and appreciation of the buyer power provided by the internet. As evident from the inclusion of terms like “near me” geographical searches have increased by over 900% in the previous 2 years!
Therefore, SEO is more important for small businesses, as they must feature visibly online or risk almost half of their potential customers not knowing they exist.
By ensuring an online presence through local SEO, small businesses interact with their marketplace guiding customers to their physical or online stores. Find out more about Local SEO
here.
Local competition between businesses is often fiercer and more important to secure than national or international trade. Despite how there are typically fewer competitors! National companies can target an entire population year-round while small businesses can normally only serve a small geographical area.
These intense rivalries are born from the importance of securing customers and repeat customers that return to purchase consistently.
Word-of-mouth is a powerful tool in local communities and having as many local customers as possible be familiar and speak fondly of your brand is crucial.
This effect works both ways as when your competitors are dominating conversations; your business is getting forgotten about. Being the first brand that everyone sees on a generic local search is a good place to start.
What is Crucial for a Regional Company's SEO?
There are several important things to get right for a successful local SEO campaign, including social media. Optimising your business's social media sites and securing positive reviews and links to your page has many benefits:
- Reviews are essential to building consumer trust and confidence.
- Maximum links to your page increase overall traffic.
- Local customers can share with dozens or even hundreds of other local potential clients.
- As many inbound links as possible are central to ranking as highly.
- Potential to go viral/ locally viral- huge publicity for your brand otherwise unavailable.
- Take advantage of seasonal promotions like Black Friday, Cyber Monday, and Christmas.
- Social media is free publicity compared to paid advertising!
Should I Really Focus on Going Online with my Physical Shop?
- Over 75% of people are shopping online at least once a month. Without SEO the time and money you’ve spent on your online brand are almost completely wasted. Your content will go unseen, and your efforts will cost you more than they’ve generated.
- You’re a needle in a haystack whereas you could be ranking at the top of
Google for your local area. Instantly making customers believe you’re renowned for the best quality, value, and service available!
- Google is consulted for a staggering 92.78% of the searches made in the United Kingdom (Statcounter 2022). By ranking highly on Google, your website will get dramatically more traffic, connecting with potential customers before your competitors.
- 60% of all clickthrough goes to the top three highest-ranking positions on Google, summarising its importance. More and more customers join the internet and come online every day, get ahead of the curve and be the first business they consider.
Where Do I Start Using Search Engine Optimisation?
By partnering with successful and trusted companies you’ll ensure you rank as highly as possible. They will take care of the intimidating technical concepts, working closely and listening to you and understanding your vision and identity. Personality is a huge part of local business, so ensure you communicate the image you desire for your new spotlight.
Whether you’re a brick-and-mortar store or a small online business, these days you need a dominant online presence for success. Get the professional help you need to catapult your business into the future.
Enquire
here.
