Posted on: May 06, 2024
For small businesses, SEO is an effective and inexpensive tactic that helps them inform people about their business and services, increasing their website traffic and attracting more customers. So, it would not be an overstatement to say that businesses that don't leverage SEO miss out on a golden opportunity to reach their potential customers.
We have curated this article to help you understand everything about SEO and how it can benefit your business in the most SIMPLE AND EASY way. So, let's dive together into comprehending this most powerful strategy without any further delay.
What is SEO and why is it important?
Search engine optimization is the process of enhancing the visibility and ranking of a website on Google, Bing and other search engines. So that when people search for the products/services you offer or information on which you have deep expertise, your website comes in the top results. And the more you are on the top results, the more people you attract who are looking for your products, services or guidance.
So, now that you have understood about SEO and how it can help you in your business. It's time to introduce you to some of the most used TERMS AND TECHNIQUES in SEO, such as SERP, organic results, keyword research and optimization, link building and content generation. Don't get puzzled by these heavy terms- they are as simple as your favourite bedtime story. We are discussing these because without understanding them, you will not fully grasp the benefits of SEO for your small business.
SEO Terms
SERP
SERP ( search engine results page) is the page that search engines return after you enter a query. Though every search engine works differently, we will focus more on Google as it is the most popular search engine. Broadly, people enter three types of search queries on Google- Navigational queries, information queries and transactional queries.
Navigational queries
Navigational queries are those queries which occur when someone wants to search a brand but forgets the correct URL of the site. With the help of an example, you will better understand this- let's say Person A buy a pair of T-shirts from a business and recommends it to Person B. But person B forgot the business URL and entered something like XYZ T-shirts on Google instead of xyztshirts.com, which can take him to another business/website that is offering the same thing. SEO will ensure that even if users forget the exact URL of your business, they will still reach your website.
Information queries
A query in which an individual wants to learn something, such as “SEO tips for a website”, is called an information query. Though in these queries, individuals are not looking for the best SEO packages for a small business, you can drive them toward your brand by providing them with relevant information. You can make a blog post like the one you are reading right now, make a how-to video, an infographic, etc.
Transactional queries
When people want to buy something, they initiate transactional queries. As this query has high purchase intent, businesses should focus on cultivating the power of SEO to increase their visibility on SERP and generate revenue. Paid ads also serve as an effective way to attract customers across all the above search queries.
Organic results
SERP and organic results are closely associated with each other. This is because when you initiate any of the search queries (whether navigational, informational or transactional), these results are displayed on the search engine page. But not every result is an organic result.
Organic results are the results that are the most relevant, according to Google. Organic results are not generated through advertisement or paid ads but through SEO efforts, which we will discuss in the next section (where we will discuss SEO tactics), so don't worry about it. Also note that more than 50% of traffic comes from organic search, making it even more vital for small businesses to focus on SEO.
SEO Techniques/Tactics
Keyword research and optimization
Keyword research is a process in which specific keywords or phrases relevant to a business's audience are searched and analysed. Keyword optimization, on the other hand, is creating a strategy to add these keywords into various elements of the website, titles, headlines, content, etc.
Here is an insider peek only for you- just to tell you the importance of adding a keyword
We follow this incredible technique to help search engines find our content and rank our content better on search engines. This is because search engines rank content based on its relevance to search queries. So, naturally incorporating relevant keywords to the content indicates to search engines that your content is relevant. This eventually increases its chances of ranking higher in the search engine.
If you are still having trouble understanding this, don't worry. We will soon create a blog post which will help you grasp in-depth details about this topic.
Link building
One of the simplest ways to understand link building is to think of other websites that are linking to your website as having friends who can make you more popular. A reputable website, when linked to another, makes it look more credible and trustworthy in front of Google. But ensure they are high quality, as what matters is quality and not quantity.
Content generation
Content creation is sharing your knowledge with your audience in a written format. It will make people see you as an authority in your field, which helps build their trust in you, and eventually, they will select you. Though there are many ways to create SEO content, some of the popular formats of SEO content are:
Website content
Your audience will know about your business and products if you write about them. So, share all the information about your products and services. Also, you need to optimise your website pages to ensure they rank well in relevant searches with careful keyword research and optimisation.
Video and infographics
Though video is non-written content, it can attract a wide range of audiences. You can use videos to show off your new products, share critical information about them and engage customers.
Infographics provide a visually appealing way to share information with audiences. Many people like sharing infographics on social media to grab people's attention. You can do the same to increase your reach.
Blogs and Guides
Blogs enable businesses to share valuable information with their audience. It provides a great way to attract traffic and people and build your brand authority.
Guides are not blogs- They provide in-depth information about a particular topic. Guides open the opportunity for businesses to get new leads. For example, they provide businesses the option to show a snippet of their guide and tell people to sign up to read the whole guide.
Compelling benefits of SEO that will help you propel your small business forward
Generate organic website traffic
After understanding organic results (which we have discussed in the previous section), it will be easy for you to understand the concept of organic traffic.
Organic traffic refers to the number of people who visit a website from organic results. Let us take an example to understand how SEO helps generate organic traffic.
Suppose you run an online bookstore that offers children's books. By conducting keyword research, identifying keywords such as “Best children's book”, and adding them to your website content, product description, and blog posts, you can engage parents looking for children's books. Similarly, by creating content such as “10 Best Children books” and adding keywords naturally into it, you can increase your website traffic and make it more visible to people. Not only this, but you can also use link-building and several other SEO tactics to attract audiences organically.
Build trust and credibility
Building customer trust is difficult, as it takes time and effort. Companies that provide SEO services for small businesses are well aware of this. That is why they spend a lot of time creating strategies that help build a strong business foundation. They analyse various technical aspects of a website, which include its architecture, speed, performance, user-friendliness, website security and many others, to improve its performance on SERP (You know what is SERP?). Though this does not take much time, the authority of a brand is something that is earned over time.
Just like them, you also need to focus on the technical aspect of SEO and on all the crucial SEO tactics to build your brand trust and authority.
Helps you understand users
SEO will help you know what your customers want and desire by providing insights about their interests, behaviour, etc. For example, suppose you own a company that sells fitness products, and you notice there is an increase in search queries such as “Home workout exercises”. This insight will help you change your marketing strategies and focus more on products that people can use at home for exercise. This approach will help meet your audience's expectations and make long-term relationships with your customers.
Supports the purchasing process
Online research is the first step that people take when they want to purchase something. And why not? They don't need to go from one shop to another to buy something. SEO can help you leverage this trend by making you focus on the message that you are conveying to your customers. You can also provide attractive deals and offers to attract the customer from the very start of their product journey. Moreover, if you apply some more effort to SEO, you can give your audience access to all the latest information about a product/service, along with creating a brand experience that they will not easily forget.
Provides cost-effective long-term success
SEO is inexpensive and the most effective strategy to increase organic traffic and improve website performance over a period of time. To ensure you get the most out of your efforts, align with the data and insights from the analytics tool. By understanding user behaviour and its effect on your business, you can achieve great success.
Final words
So, this is everything about SEO (Terms, Techniques and benefits). If you have understood all this, you are well equipped to harness the power of SEO. However, if you think you can't do it on your own, consider hiring the best SEO company in India- Netmente.