by Lauren Hobson
Your small business probably uses multiple marketing "channels" already, whether you think of them as channels or not. Print advertising, email campaigns, pay-per-click marketing, direct mail, banner ads - all of these are different types of marketing channels that you may already be using to promote your products and services. But although most small businesses know that Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is important for their web sites, not many use SEO as one of their strategic marketing channels.
So why consider using SEO as a key marketing strategy? Because like it or not, search engines (especially Google) are going to remain the most predominant method of driving traffic to web sites in the foreseeable future. Period. So if you want to capture some of that traffic, SEO should probably be included - or even prioritized - as a strategic marketing channel in your marketing plans.
Here's what makes SEO such a good channel for small business marketing:
1. Tremendous ROI - Often, it doesn't take a huge investment to improve your search engine results. Adding a few simple strategies each month can add up to great results over time. But if you're looking for faster results, a complete optimization of your web site will produce the greatest results in the shortest amount of time. And compared with the returns that an optimized site can produce, investing in SEO (either time or money or both) is a great value for your business.
2. Higher Brand Visibility - When your business and/or brand shows up in the top search results, you gain web visibility every time someone searches for your terms. The sheer repetition of seeing your business consistently listed at the top creates not only visibility, but also credibility and brand recognition. I'm sure you've heard that consumers need to see or hear a message at least three times before they pay attention to it, so the more they see your business in the search results, the better for you and your business.
3. Accurate Tracking and Measuring - With all the web analytics tools available today, it's fairly easy to capture data that can help you determine what's working on your site and what's not, enabling you to make adjustments and constantly improve your results. If you're not tracking what happens with your web site each month, how can you know if it's truly helping your business?
4. New Leads and Sales Generation - Since users turn to search engines almost 80% of the time to find information, there is virtually an inexhaustible supply of new prospects and potential customers searching for the types of products and services you provide. SEO can help your web site show up when people are most likely to visit - while they are in the process of actively searching for your information!
5. Pre-Qualified Traffic - By optimizing your web site, you can attract the types of visitors that are important to your business by using highly targeted keywords and phrases that directly relate. For instance, a law firm with a non-optimized site would likely attract all types of clients, even though the practice may specialize only in family law. By optimizing for "family law," the site is much more likely to attract pre-qualified clients who are already looking specifically for this type of service.
As a small business, it's important that you take advantage of the marketing channels that make the most sense for you. And by considering SEO as a strategic marketing channel, you open up your business to a whole new world driven by the web and its mighty search engines (and yes, I mean Google). This new channel may help you discover some new and untapped benefits that will help your business grow and thrive well into the future.
So why consider using SEO as a key marketing strategy? Because like it or not, search engines (especially Google) are going to remain the most predominant method of driving traffic to web sites in the foreseeable future. Period. So if you want to capture some of that traffic, SEO should probably be included - or even prioritized - as a strategic marketing channel in your marketing plans.
Here's what makes SEO such a good channel for small business marketing:
1. Tremendous ROI - Often, it doesn't take a huge investment to improve your search engine results. Adding a few simple strategies each month can add up to great results over time. But if you're looking for faster results, a complete optimization of your web site will produce the greatest results in the shortest amount of time. And compared with the returns that an optimized site can produce, investing in SEO (either time or money or both) is a great value for your business.
2. Higher Brand Visibility - When your business and/or brand shows up in the top search results, you gain web visibility every time someone searches for your terms. The sheer repetition of seeing your business consistently listed at the top creates not only visibility, but also credibility and brand recognition. I'm sure you've heard that consumers need to see or hear a message at least three times before they pay attention to it, so the more they see your business in the search results, the better for you and your business.
3. Accurate Tracking and Measuring - With all the web analytics tools available today, it's fairly easy to capture data that can help you determine what's working on your site and what's not, enabling you to make adjustments and constantly improve your results. If you're not tracking what happens with your web site each month, how can you know if it's truly helping your business?
4. New Leads and Sales Generation - Since users turn to search engines almost 80% of the time to find information, there is virtually an inexhaustible supply of new prospects and potential customers searching for the types of products and services you provide. SEO can help your web site show up when people are most likely to visit - while they are in the process of actively searching for your information!
5. Pre-Qualified Traffic - By optimizing your web site, you can attract the types of visitors that are important to your business by using highly targeted keywords and phrases that directly relate. For instance, a law firm with a non-optimized site would likely attract all types of clients, even though the practice may specialize only in family law. By optimizing for "family law," the site is much more likely to attract pre-qualified clients who are already looking specifically for this type of service.
As a small business, it's important that you take advantage of the marketing channels that make the most sense for you. And by considering SEO as a strategic marketing channel, you open up your business to a whole new world driven by the web and its mighty search engines (and yes, I mean Google). This new channel may help you discover some new and untapped benefits that will help your business grow and thrive well into the future.
About the Author
Lauren Hobson, President of Five Sparrows, LLC, has more than 15 years of experience in small business technology writing, marketing, and web site design and development. Five Sparrows provides high-quality, professional website and marketing services to small businesses and non-profits at affordable prices, giving clients access to customized services that meet both their needs and their budgets.
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