3 Reasons Small Business Owners Should Leverage SEO For Brand Visibility

Article written by Nina Gibson, Digital Marketer and SEO Expert

As a small business owner, finding ways to make marketing easier for your business and gain more brand visibility is always a top priority. And while social media platforms seem to get all of the attention, there are other marketing channels that you need to be leveraging as an entrepreneur in order to grow your business on and offline.

Enter SEO. Aka the original internet hype girl.

There are so many reasons why integrating SEO into your overall marketing strategy is important, but today we are going to break down three reasons why business owners should leverage SEO for their business. Plus, I’ll share juicy tips along the way.

 #3 SEO Makes Content Repurposing a Dream

 One of the biggest objections I hear from clients when we talk about making SEO a regular part of their marketing strategy is time. Writing content for SEO is so time consuming they tell me, plus trying to find the right keywords, maneuvering all of the on-page optimization, actually finding time to write. It can be A LOT.

I get it. Time is precious. Especially when you’re a solopreneur or small business owner because we wear all of the hats and do all of the things. But what if I told you that creating an anchor piece of SEO content on a regular basis will actually save you time?

That’s right.

When you create a legacy piece of content – either long-form written content, a video or a podcast – you can easily use that as an anchor to create micro pieces of content for social media, Pinterest, other legacy platforms and more. 

Content repurposing can be one of your biggest marketing allies, and when you start with a piece of content centered on topics users are actually searching for, you’ve already done 50% of the hard work.

TIP: You don’t have to create content and repurpose it across EVERY single platform. Pick a few that resonate with you, your audience and your brand vibe. From there, create a consistent and realistic schedule to create, repurpose and publish! 

#2 The Competition Probably Isn’t Doing It

So many business owners I see on social media or talk to about marketing think of SEO as overly technical, only for developers or “techy” people or even as passé. That always makes me laugh because SEO is anything but. It is a foundational component of your overall digital marketing strategy and here’s a little secret - chances are, most of your competitors aren’t utilizing it.

If you make SEO front and center from the get-go, you’ll be driving traffic on autopilot (yes, this is a thing and yes, it’s possible) one year down the line while they’re still trying to figure out how to make the latest TikTok algorithm update work for their business.

I know what you’re thinking. Short form video is where it’s at right now. Yes, it’s an amazing discovery tool and there are *gasps* ways to leverage SEO to make short-form video work for you too, but this medium alone cannot do all of the heavy lifting for your business. A long-form content strategy (that can include video) is necessary for not only scaling your business, but for establishing you and your business as an authority online.

TIP: If you’re not sure where to start when it comes to SEO, start with keyword research. Understanding what users are searching for is step 1. Once you understand the queries that might bring users to your site, you can start creating content around those terms.

I get it. A lot of people think that SEO is passe or is just an add-on that you can worry about later. But the business owners who focus on SEO from the beginning and understand it’s a long-term growth strategy win in the end.

Need proof? Check out this amazing article about how Canva used smart SEO strategies to scale to a 6-billion-dollar valuation.

Link: https://foundationinc.co/lab/canva-seo

#1 SEO Helps Diversify Your Website Traffic

In 2022, there are more ways than ever for users to discover your brand or service. And while it feels like social media is the ONLY way for users to find you, the truth is that SEO can play a vital role at almost every touch point in a customer’s journey.

How?

In every scenario, a user could be and is most often going to Google or another platform (yes, even social media SEO counts) looking for information relevant to where they are in their journey.

In the beginning, it might be as simple as “how do I grow my blog traffic?” Toward the end of the journey, they are most likely doing comparison research, reading revies, etc., before ultimately deciding to purchase.

TIP: If you’re a local business, SEO is going to be your new best friend. A Local SEO strategy is super important for businesses that serve customers in a specific location. Not sure what Local SEO is? Learn more here: https://backlinko.com/local-seo-guide

Ensuring that your SEO + visibility strategy can meet this user’s need at every step of the journey is vital, but it also creates opportunity to reach different users at different stages of their customer journey. This helps to diversify your website traffic and reach new users who might not otherwise have discovered you.

And that’s a wrap!

Three compelling reasons why small business owners should leverage SEO for more brand visibility and discoverability. I know that SEO can seem inaccessible and just downright hard at times, but by understanding how vital it is to your online presence, getting started with it can be that much easier. When in doubt, start with keywords first, then content and then you can worry about all of the technical ins and outs down the road. 

Remember, SEO is the bridge that connects your amazing business with a user who is searching for exactly what you offer. It’s just another tool for creating CONNECTIONS. 

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