There are many reasons as to why SEO is important for your business. This short guide is for non-technical business owners to understand and learn more.
Key Takeaways:
Significance of SEO: Ensure strong business presence and visibility by leveraging SEO for easy discovery on platforms like Google.
Understanding SEO: SEO simplifies optimizing a website for search engines, elevating its visibility and authority in search results.
Factors Influencing Ranking: Key ranking factors include relevant content, establishing authority through reviews and credentials, and maintaining a well-functioning website for positive SEO outcomes.
Establishing Authority: Gain Google’s favor by showcasing authority through customer reviews, listing credentials, and presenting oneself as a clean professional in the digital space.
Website Maintenance for SEO: Likening a broken website to a broken car stresses the importance of maintaining a clean, functional website for optimal SEO results.
Why SEO Is Important For Your Business
To have a strong business means to have a strong business presence. Knowing that you can get the job done is not enough to get people to recognize you as an authoritative figure within your niche, especially when it comes to Google. By now, living in modern times, every business should be listed on Google, but to be fair, that’s not enough. Your business needs to show up so that customers can find you.
So here are a few things, and we’ll break them down for you so you don’t get lost in the technical jargon that is SEO and why SEO is important to understand as a business owner.
Understand What SEO Is
Let’s clear up the term first; it’s a weird acronym, SEO. SEO stands for Search Engine Optimization; by definition, it is the “optimization of your website for the search engines to understand.” But what does that really mean? Think of it this way: what do you do when you search for help on Google based on your current needs? You look for it, of course! And most of the time, you, like myself, and I’d say most people, will typically look at the first few options that Google will give you. You then make your choices off of that, then wallah! A website that solves your problem.
If you were looking for a product, you then buy. If you are looking for a service, book an appointment or even request a quote. Those few websites on the top of the page showed authority in Google’s eyes. That’s the power of SEO!
But wait? How did they do that! How did they get to the top of the page, and I can’t even show up on page 2?
Well… let’s examine some factors for that reason.
A Few Ways To Help You Rank Better
When you first start out or even while in business, most businesses focus solely on a few things. The type of service they offer, the product they have, but not really much besides that. This is why SEO is important because it helps your customers find you without having a ton of marketing effort like spending ads. Here are a few factors for you to consider that might help you get some results!
Have Relevant Content
The contents of your website should show an accurate description of what your business sells, but also give more context on what your services do. Think of Google as your language teacher, and you are the student. You want to get a good grade, right? So do just that: clarify your message of what your business does, include relevant information for the services you offer, and, more importantly, don’t forget to ask your customers to buy!
Present Authority
Google loves knowing and seeing you show dominance that you’d like to receive a good grade that your friends and family would be proud of! They also like knowing you are the talk of the town or the popular kid! (But in a good way). Your business needs to show authority to your potential customers so they will buy. Ask previous clients or customers for reviews; that’s one way of getting authority. List your credentials on the website; people and Google love seeing that you are a trained professional, so show that SEO you are one. Those are just a couple of simple ways, but to be clear, there are many ways to establish authority.
Be A Clean Professional
How often do you clean yourself up? Or, more or less, how often do you make sure you have everything in check, not forgetting your phone, wallet (or purse), or keys before leaving the house? When you don’t clean up after yourself, you begin to smell, right? Or when you leave something behind, you have to or want to turn back and grab that item, right? Because then your day would be ruined and you would not be sure when and if you need the item. If you’re driving, I’d suggest you go back and get that.
We’d like to think a website behaves just like that. Making sure your website is in tip-top shape is a major contributor to SEO. No one likes using a broken car, because we all know something is bound to happen if we don’t fix it. That’s the same behavior Google feels when your website functions correctly. So take note, and make sure your website is working correctly, not just “as expected.”
Outside Of Google Search
As technology continues to grow by the day, and even more powerful AI tools being released for production, SEO is important even in other platforms like Facebook, Instagram, soon to be LinkedIn. SEO by definition is to find search results, and if you care to target your audience, it is good practice to have a strategy that surrounds your SEO.
Summary
These are just a few things you need to consider on your website to have Google better understand your business giving some reasons of why SEO is important. There are more ways than these few mentioned, and Google, being the keyholder that it is, will always be changing throughout time. But one thing is certain: people love knowing what they are buying, and a compelling website helps solve that problem.
