16 benefits of SEO for your online business [Strategies & tips 2022]

Search engine optimization (SEO) will help your business generate brand awareness, expand and attract people from your target audience, and ultimately, help you earn more revenue. We highlight 16 benefits of SEO for your online business, and how you can implement them below.

Small businesses are situated at an opportune point when they optimize their website with SEO. With a well known brand, killer local SEO, and an optimized website that drives traffic, a company can take over the industry in their area.

This article sets out to provide 16 of the most important reasons why small businesses should invest in SEO. To start off, we discuss what SEO is and the different types of search engine optimization there are.

Without further ado, let’s jump into what is SEO for websites!

What is SEO for websites?

Search engine optimization (SEO) for websites is the practice used to improve the ranking of a website in search engines. This can be done in multiple ways including on-page SEO, off-page SEO, and technical SEO.

Small businesses that engage in SEO have more visibility on search engines and are able to increase their overall traffic. One reason why engaging in SEO is so beneficial for small businesses is that most businesses don’t do it. This means that other product and service providers will be easy to outrank and compete with.

Studies show that more than two-thirds of all clicks on search engine result pages (SERPs) go to the top five results. This means just by moving into the top five SERP results, a business can see a massive increase in organic search traffic. Moreover, the closer the web page gets to ranking number 1 on Google, the higher the click through rate gets. With almost 50% of clicks going to the website ranking in the first position on Google, it is a no brainer that businesses should invest in their website’s SEO performance.

Types of search engine optimization:

Search engine optimization consists of three different techniques including on-page, off-page and technical SEO. These three SEO techniques all add up to the overall optimization of your website. They all should be focused on to ensure that your website has the best chance of outranking the competition.

Below we highlight the key elements of search engine optimization:

On-page SEO:

On-page SEO is the most basic form of search engine optimization, and it focuses on improving the visibility of your website content and metadata in search results. This includes things like adding keywords to your titles, descriptions, and metatags, as well as optimizing your HTML code for search engines.

Off-page SEO

Off-page SEO refers to all the various methods that you can use to improve the visibility of your website beyond what’s possible with on-page optimization. This includes things like creating quality backlinks from high-traffic sites, building a strong social media presence, and promoting your website through other online channels. 

Technical SEO

Technical SEO refers to the various technical aspects of running a website that can help it rank higher in search results. This includes things like making sure your website is properly configured for search engines, using effective coding techniques, and ensuring that all links from your website are relevant and authoritative.

These three techniques are part of the 4 pillars of SEO (content writing is the fourth) that help you rank well on search engines. Knowing how to conduct website optimization is just half the conversation. We also need to discuss why it is important for small businesses to invest in SEO. But first, let’s take a look at if SEO even works for small businesses.

Does SEO work for small businesses?

For a small business to succeed a lot of hard work and dedication are needed. Moreover, the visibility of the business online is also critical for success. SEO is a proven strategy for making a small business’ website accessible to prospective consumers.

For small businesses local SEO can be one of the biggest SEO benefits for them and an easy way to rank. Google Business Profile (formally known as Google My Business), is a fast and simple way to show up in Google Maps and Google’s snack pack on Google SERP results. Google snack packs are for local searches and showcase the top three businesses in the targeted locality for a specific service or product.

To see how SEO works for small businesses and to include your information amongst other local companies, make sure to utilize key terms that are based on the specific location in your profile. Local SEO places a strong emphasis on local business competition, local directories, and what people search for versus your Google Business Profile.

You are severely constrained by your physical location when it comes to being ranked for local SEO. However, people searching for topics related to your business who are close to your physical address, are likely to see you in their search results. When compared to other search engine optimization methods, this assists you to target local consumers in Google Search results and being successful as a small business.

16 reasons why SEO is essential for your small business in 2022!

Website optimization for SEO and especially local SEO is extremely valuable for small businesses. It can mean the difference between the site being found on Google by a new customer, and the website being lost in the competition. 

Now let’s dive into 16 reasons why SEO is so crucial for small businesses.

1. Boost your business and website’s credibility

Websites that achieve a high SEO ranking on search engine result pages consistently are considered as high-quality, trustworthy resources by search engines and their audiences. Whereas, if a search engine user constantly sees a website ranking at the top of search results they will consider the website to be an industry leader and someone that they can trust to find information, products and services.

Moreover, SEO can boost a website’s credibility by attracting other website’s to link to it. Typically, when someone is looking for information to link to, they will click on the first search result, locate the exact information they need, and then externally link to it from their website. This means by increasing your ranking, you are also able to build backlinks to your website passively. The more backlinks, the higher the website’s domain authority and credibility.

2. SEO: Low cost, Big results

Search engine optimization (SEO), apart from time and effort, does not have to impact your bottom dollar if you decide to do it yourself. SEO, unlike other strategies like pay-per-click and paid ads, SEO marketing won’t cost anything and will provide your site with the best opportunity to generate sustainable traffic.

Google and other search engines crawl websites constantly, promoting quality content, and helping you rank better and increase organic traffic. In order to reap the benefits of your SEO efforts, you should devote time to reviewing content on higher ranking sites within your industry, and work to develop content that’s better than theirs. Then, share your content on multiple platforms including social media platforms.

Sharing content on social media can also help build your brand and your local SEO as many of your followers will be from your area. If you can use your social media platforms to promote and get benefits from your SEO optimized content, you will be able to see an increase in traffic and sales of services and products on your website.

3. Bolsters content marketing efforts

Unique content and SEO techniques support each other. By sharing informative content with online searchers, including text images and videos, you can rank your site better in search engines result pages. However, SEO can also play an important role in your business’s marketing efforts. Ensure your website’s content is unique, written well and optimized for keywords you want your business to be ranked for. Additionally, since Google and other search engines value freshness, update your content regularly.

Content marketing has been noted as one of the most cost efficient and successful ways to increase traffic to your website. Moreover, SEO experts believe that the traffic is of a higher quality as the visitors are already highly motivated individuals, and could be close to making a purchase. Small businesses that focus on their content can reap the benefits of SEO with their products and services.

4. Increase paid marketing campaigns

Paid marketing strategies (PPC) and unpaid strategies (SEO) can be utilized together for maximum benefits. PPC will ensure that your website is appearing at the top of the ad results sections, while SEO will ensure that your site ranks well in the organic search results. By utilizing both, you can make sure your website appears at the top of the search engine results page and thus, boost your brand’s credibility. This will also show people that you are not merely investing money in advertising to be on top while your site doesn’t have the capacity to actually rank.

To further benefit from PPC campaigns, you can implement SEO techniques, to further bolster your high-ranking page. For example, an already ranking page may do better if it is used as part of a PPC campaign, even more so if the keyword has a low cost-per-click.

5. Competitive advantage over competitors

It is more than likely that your competitors are also investing in SEO. Which means it would be a good idea for you to as well. Companies that invest in SEO, usually hold a larger portion of the market or industry share. Whereas, if over 90 percent of traffic on Google chooses a site from the first page, you cannot afford to be on any other page.

First a business should identify competitors, analyze their own strengths and weaknesses, and then develop and manage a good online reputation. After these steps are taken, the business should focus on making sure their website loads quickly, is optimized for mobiles and other devices, that content is high-quality, and provides the best user experience with informative and easily digestible content.

• The website loads quickly
• Optimizing for mobiles and other devices
• Content is high-quality, and provides the best user experience with informative and easily digestible content

6. Build a bigger audience

Marketing campaigns often focus on a small, specific and defined target audience. However, SEO can help broaden the target audience and attract people that are at any stage of your buying funnel.

If a company targets specific keywords instead of demographics, as is usually the case for PPC campaigns and social advertising, it may be able to attract additional prospects who are interested in the company’s products or services.

First, develop a keyword list that the company should focus on. Next, utilize keywords tools to conduct keyword research to refine your list of selected keywords. Finally, you need to analyze your competitors to target keywords they are ranking for and where they have gained  backlinks from. Use the research to develop an effective SEO strategy.

7. Rank on local searches

People looking for local services like ‘contractor near me’ are becoming more popular. Moreover, it has been shown that almost 80 percent of searches conducted on mobiles lead to conversions. By focusing on local SEO campaigns, a company can attract people that are ready to buy.

First the company should get a Google My Business Account. Next, it should request reviews from previous customers. Optimize your account by ensuring that it has the correct name, address and phone number associated with it. Another thing to assist your website’s ranking for local searches is to optimize it for voice searches. Voice optimization means that the content is in a conversation tone and answers common queries and provides solutions to search engine users.

8. Improve website usability

Search engine optimization is about ensuring a website is search engine friendly, however it can also improve the user experience when navigating through your website. Whereas, it is imperative that after the content is added to the website, it is optimized to be fast and responsive, has internal links as well as external links and every page is enhanced. 

There are a few different things that can improve the overall usability of your website. These include:

• Easy to understand navigation
• Relevant internal links
• External links to high quality content to further your audience’s understanding of the topic
• Utilize above and below the fold real estate correctly
• Ensure that your content is well designed and is easy to skim for information
• Use imagery

9. Quantifiable results for your website

Through SEO, a website can track their ranking, conversions as well as overall website traffic. Google Analytics will provide a comprehensive overview and in depth information which will allow you to understand the inner workings of your website and SEO campaign. One example of this is that you can follow a visitor’s path to becoming a paying customer. It will show you the pages they visited, what they clicked on, the keywords they searched for, and what actions they completed on your website. These insights will be imperative to monitoring and improving your SEO campaign.

The conversion path data provided is just one benefit of SEO, however if you are not sure how to use Google Analytics or Google Search Console, and need help accessing these benefits you may want to reach out to a SEO agency that provides these services. The SEO data available to small business owners can provide huge benefits if it is utilized in the correct way.

10. Increase user engagement

A website that you fully optimize will increase the number of visitors, as well as, increase the quality of traffic. A site that has valuable content and is inline with searcher’s intent, the searcher will likely engage with your site for a longer period of time. The longer someone browses your site, the more likely you will be able to convert them into paying customers, and ultimately increase your ROI. Moreover, a user that believes in your site, spends time on it searching, will be likely to advocate for your brand and generate long-term revenue.

To ensure better user engagement, you can utilize online tools to conduct an SEO audit for your site. These tools can provide massive benefits for small businesses as they will suggest SEO aspects you can optimize in-house on your website. And if you are a little tech savvy, the tools will be able to save you money on SEO services while your website benefits from increased organic SEO traffic.

11. Your business is open 24/7

By investing in SEO means that your website can be found online 24 hours a day seven days a week. This means that a potential customer can find your services and products no matter when they are searching for help. They can access your website, and get all the information they need about your business without needing to contact you.

Additionally, this allows potential customers the ability to research your brand and business without needing to step foot in your brick and mortar shop. This is extremely important for small businesses as it will allow you to build trust and credibility with the individual during a longer period of time. By allowing them access to your information and knowledge base 24/7 you can show that your company has the expertise to solve their problems.

In order to generate visibility for your business online no matter the time of day, means that you need to invest in search engine optimization. By conducting local keyword research and optimizing your website for local SEO, you can ensure that you are found by searchers in your vicinity.

12. Improves brand awareness

SEO is a very effective way of improving brand awareness for your online business. It helps you rank higher in search engines and draw more visitors to your website. In addition, it can help you increase revenue by driving more leads to your website.

Improved brand awareness and recognition can be achieved through two primary methods: organic SEO and paid advertising. Organic SEO refers to getting your website ranked well in search engine results pages without paying for ads, while paid advertising refers to using paid ads to boost your website’s visibility. 

The benefits of SEO for businesses are twofold: first, it can help achieve greater brand awareness and recognition. This is because people will be more likely to stumble upon your website if it ranks high on the search engine results pages (SERPs). Second, top-ranking websites receive a lot of organic traffic from people who are looking for information on that topic. This helps you generate more leads and customers from search engines rather than paying for advertising.

Either way, SEO is an important way for businesses to reach new customers and build high-quality customer relationships. By improving your website’s visibility and ranking, you’ll increase the chances that people will find you and learn more about your product or service.

13. Better click through rate

SEO is a powerful tool that can help improve your click through rate (CTR). This is the percentage of visitors who actually convert into leads or customers.

Higher CTRs mean that more people are clicking on your ads and landing pages, which means you’re getting more leads or customers from each ad campaign. This is great news if you’re looking to grow your business fast and scale up quickly. In fact, studies have shown that a 1% improvement in CTR can result in an 11% increase in revenue!

There are many different SEO techniques that you can use to boost your CTR, but the most effective ones are those that focus on improving your site’s ranking in Google search engines. By doing this, you’ll be positioning your business above the competition and making it easier for people to find you.

14. Better conversion rate

SEO can help improve the overall conversion rate for your website by improving the visibility of your site and boosting traffic to it. This can result in higher sales, since customers who are able to find and purchase what they’re looking for are likely to be satisfied with their purchase.

In addition, search engine optimization can also help you rank better in search engine results pages (SERP), which in turn leads to increased visibility and improved rankings. This makes it easier for potential customers to find and access your website, which boosts conversion rates even further. 

Overall, SEO is a very effective way of increasing the visibility of your online business and promoting it to a wider audience. It can lead to higher profits and better customer satisfaction, making it one of the most important aspects of online marketing.

15. Sustainable traffic and website growth

SEO is a long-term strategy that can help you generate more sustainable website traffic. This means by investing in search engine optimization up front, you are giving your website the resources to rank for keywords and terms for a long time to come. By writing content for SEO, a small business can see a massive return on their investment (ROI). 

A great ROI is the result of a businesses content marketing strategy and efforts. This means that Google is ranking the website on their SERPs and sending organic traffic to the site. Moreover, as long as the business monitors the performance of their content, they can update, add new relevant information and refresh the content to ensure that they can maintain their rankings for a long time.

16. Gain high-quality and motivated traffic

One of the most important benefits of SEO for online businesses is the highly motivated and targeted organic traffic that gets sent to the website by search engines. The quality of website traffic is typically better than any other website traffic source because people are actively searching for the information, products or services that your business offers.

When someone lands on your website after searching for a term, it means they are interested in what you have to offer. This means that the prospective customer is already somewhere along your sales funnel. 

If a site is able to use effective call to actions and lead magnets, they can convert them into a potential customer by collecting their information such as email address and begin to use email marketing strategies to push them through the buyer’s journey.

Key takeaways: Benefits Of SEO For Your Online Business

So why is SEO so important for businesses? SEO can provide substantial benefits for online business, and ensure sustainable growth over the years to come through organic traffic. With increase organic traffic comes highly motivated visitors that already know what they are looking for. With a well put together optimized website, you will be able to see an increase in conversions and sales. Moreover, companies that invest in SEO can generate trust amongst potential customers while building credibility. Therefore, making it an essential component to any digital marketing strategy.

If you are looking to take your online business to the next level, you may want to consider the benefits of a SEO service provider. If you are interested in the benefits we can provide small businesses with our SEO services, reach out to us and ask more about our tailor made SEO packages. You can also work with Clear Door SEO a SEO company in Portland and use our on-page SEO and off-page SEO services. We also provide content writing services, or free website audits to see exactly what you can improve on.