One of the first questions many small business owners ask us is: “How can I get my website to rank higher in Google searches?”
With more businesses investing in their digital presence, this is an important question to be asking. At least half of the visits coming to your site will be through normal, unpaid (organic) search, and many other visits will come from other organic avenues, such as directory listings, guest blogging, and social media.
Given the impact that search engine rankings (how high your website appears on search result pages) can have on inbound leads, visibility, and overall growth, small businesses should consider investing heavily in Search Engine Optimization (SEO).
In this article, we will expand upon three key reasons why small businesses should prioritize having an SEO-friendly site.
Organic Search Is Most Likely Your Primary Source of Web Traffic
Organic search — the listings that show up below the ads when you enter a query on Google — is vitally important to your sales funnel. In Canada, Google is the most popular search engine accounting for 92% of the search engine market share. This makes ranking a website in Google especially important for businesses and their bottom line.
Organic search and paid advertising are the main sources of traffic for most businesses. Paid advertising can provide immediate and targeted traffic to your website. However traffic will dry up as soon as you stop your paid advertising campaign.
SEO, on the other hand, does take longer to produce results. Depending on the extent of your investment in SEO, however, some of your site’s pages could stay near the top of search engine results pages (SERPs) for several months or years.
Understanding how Google ranks web pages on search results can have a huge impact on your ability to generate leads for your business.
Great SEO Is Also Great UX
Google continues to dominate as the top search engine because its algorithms — the processes that Google Search uses to rank web pages — are constantly evolving. It’s important for companies, especially small businesses, to be proactive in learning about how new updates will affect their visibility.
One of the main elements of Google’s frequent algorithm updates is a desire to improve the user experience by showing users websites that best answer their search queries. Having information on your website that is relevant and easily accessible will contribute to your ability to rank higher on search engine result pages.
As Google Search itself is becoming more tailored to the goals and behaviours of users, the way that it ranks sites will follow suit. If your site guides visitors with simple navigation and fewer clicks, you will be sure to see an impact on your rankings. This is especially true when it comes to designing for mobile devices, where the user experience can be impacted even more due to bad design.
SEO-Friendly Sites Experience Higher Levels of Engagement, Better Conversion Rates, and More Revenue
Because information is now widely accessible on the internet, potential customers are spending more time researching products and services before making a purchase. Ranking higher on Google will ensure that your company is a part of each of those buying decisions, bringing in more leads and increasing overall revenue.
SEO, like all other business services, is an investment. Luckily for small business owners, finding an affordable SEO company is easier than ever. Also, many tools exist that provide quantifiable metrics to help you evaluate the effectiveness of your SEO strategy.
Conclusion
Hiring a top SEO small business web design company is important for small businesses that want to experience growth. Search engines connect your company with potential buyers, and understanding the ranking process will help you reach a wider audience.
Looking to implement a strategy to increase your online visibility? Get in touch with our team to learn more about the ways that we can support your business.
