SEO services for small business is a hot topic for business leaders. Sure there are a few businesses that are still holding out and believing that they can be successful without an internet marketing strategy, but most are recognizing that the world has a-changed and there is no going back. If you are one of those CEOs who know that your online efforts are not yielding the results that you need, you may find yourself uncertain of what your next steps are.
You already know that SEO, or Search Engine Optimization is all about being found online when someone is looking for the services or products you offer. It’s not enough that you have a great website, you need to be found and to have your website help you generate leads.
Have you ever felt like just when you thought you understood a little bit about something, the rules changed? Unfortunately, SEO is one of those areas where the rules keep changing and will likely continue to change. Maybe, like many other business owners, you hired a company to do SEO services for small business, but now you are asking these questions:
- Why does what my SEO company used to do not work anymore?
- Why have my leads dried up?
- Why aren’t people visiting our company website?
Let me suggest that before you throw the baby out with the bath water and just dump the entire bucket of SEO Services, you consider the following ways things are changing.
- SEO is no longer a solo sport
- Valuable content online is now playing quarterback
- Search engines are getting smarter
1. SEO is no Longer a Solo Sport
It used to be that when people talked about being found online, search engine optimization was the king of the mountain. It was a solo sport with a single directive. SEO services for small business was all about the keywords on your website and making sure your site had enough backlinks and everything was pretty technical. Lots of folks were caught up by companies who stuffed keywords in places they didn’t even make sense because all that mattered was that they were there. The search engines were looking for keywords and by working hard on your website SEO, rankings were sure to follow.
These days SEO is still important, but only as a part of your internet marketing strategy. It is no longer the team leader, but rather a member of a team that consists of many parts, like blogs, social media, and online PR just to name a few. Google and other search engines changed their algorithms to begin recognizing and valuing things they never had before, and straight SEO no longer has the muscle it used to on its own. Now it needs teammates, and if your current marketing company isn’t tooling up to provide you with larger, better SEO services for small business, it’s time for a new company.
2. Valuable Content Online is Now Playing Quarterback
With NFL Season kickoff this weekend, I have football on my mind. Like a football coach who has to cut his roster to 53, you may be wondering if SEO services for small business should be benched or traded for a more efficient player! I would argue that SEO is still a key part of a team, but if there is a central position, a place of leadership in this team, it is rapidly becoming content.
If you have been reading anything in the industry at all, you have probably started to come across a term called “Content Marketing” or alternatively “Inbound Marketing.” They are the same thing (think tissues versus Kleenex) and this “new” way of marketing is leading the charge. In a world where research tells us that 57% of any buying decision is made before a prospective customer ever contacts a company, how are you going to stand out in your industry? Developing amazing content and providing it to people who are searching for it is the best way to build trust and begin to show your value online to those looking for what you do. All that SEO training is great, because keywords matter a ton in good inbound marketing, but the leader is now the content that is being developed, and the focus is on developing content that people want and are looking for.
3. Search Engines are Getting Smarter
Google, Bing, Yahoo!, YouTube and a host of other search engines have developed new algorithms to help online users find what they are looking for. If you think about it, the goal of any search engine is to try to present you, the user, with the best possible answers and options for your online search. That is how they grow in usage and get you to keep coming back. So, in a world wide web that is expanding literally every second, how do the search engines sort it out? Past just a random set of keywords and technical SEO strategies, search engines are getting smarter at sorting through enormous amounts of online data to find companies who are providing content people want. That’s why SEO services for small business, partnered with compelling content, are important.
I’m not nearly smart enough to grasp how search engines do it, I just know that the online community is looking for answers and information, and search engines are sifting data to help them find what they are looking for. The more your company is interacting, contributing to the conversation online, and providing helpful content, the better your rankings will be in the search engines.
So, do SEO services for small business still matter? Yes, they do, but only as a part of a larger strategy that we call Inbound Marketing. Want to know more? Subscribe to our blog, or better yet, contact us to see how we can provide SEO services for YOUR small business.
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For more information about search engines and how their evolution affects an SEO strategy, check out this video.
