Small businesses face many challenges when starting out. This is par for the course, and being able to overcome obstacles is a key step in becoming a successful—and sustainable—business. Some of the challenges that come as part of being a small start-up can make implementing a successful SEO strategy hard. Thankfully, there are ways to work around these hurdles.
In this blog, we’re looking at why small businesses need a good SEO strategy, and how an agency is equipped to help small businesses execute that strategy despite the limitations of size. To find out more, read on.
SEO or search engine optimisation helps small businesses succeed in more ways than one. It’s not just about boosting your web traffic or pushing yourself up Google’s search results. SEO also helps small businesses create user-friendly websites, build stronger relationships faster with clients, and better understand what your customers truly want.
Both online-only and brick-and-mortar businesses commonly use SEO. Online shops can increase their leads and conversions, and brick-and-mortar locations leverage SEO to place themselves on the local map—quite literally! In both cases, SEO is about making the pathway to your business as hassle-free for customers as possible.
This is particularly vital to small start-ups, as it’s important for investments in the early stages to pay off. Without SEO, there’s no guarantee that investment into your online presence is actually helping. SEO helps make online content visible, and without it, small businesses may never gain the traction they need to stick around.
All businesses have to factor in finances, no matter their size. When it comes to SEO, you do get out what you put in, and that means very effective campaigns can be expensive. For the best results, it may even be worth running multiple campaigns at once.
The reason an SEO agency can help you overcome this comes down to the quality of data. Specialist agencies have tools to help quantify the return on investment. This means spending on marketing is tracked, and small businesses can see how it translates into more revenue, eclipsing the costs of SEO. Without an agency, it can be hard to know how to most effectively invest in SEO, especially because it is a long-term strategy that requires ongoing work. Small businesses also can’t afford to spend huge budgets on online ad space which may turn out to be targeting the wrong area or timeframes.
Good marketing strategies can be complicated to run, and many small businesses simply don’t have the staff to dedicate to SEO. Time is a precious commodity to start-ups, and so saving time by using an agency can help.
Just like with the logistical issues above, it’s not likely that a smaller team has the technical knowledge to implement SEO strategies that are up-to-date with the most recent changes in the industry. Google loves to update their algorithm!
It’s also not uncommon for start-ups to only have one sole team member dedicated to marketing across all channels, so specialist agencies provide these marketing managers with a team that they can trust to know the shifts and changes in the SEO landscape.
Newer businesses usually have smaller websites, as they are more inclined to be focused on a specific niche for their products or services. This translates into a smaller amount of online content, and thin-content websites can struggle to rank well. After all, content is king!
SEO agencies know how relevant content is to rankings and driving traffic, and can help small businesses create more content than they ever could on their own. In addition to a lack of content, outdated content is another common challenge faced by small businesses, and this is another plate to spin.
Prabin is one of New Zealand’s top SEO specialists. He has over 6 years of experience in Web Development & Digital Marketing, specializing in SEO, CRO, Analytics and expertise in the wider digital marketing eco-system.