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Why WOULDN’T You Want to Do SEO for Your Small Business Website?
If your plan is to drive your business into the ground and turn your business into an utter failure, then search engine optimization or SEO can be harmful for your business. Really harmful. It can ruin your plans to destroy your company and make it thrive instead… who would want a thriving and growing business?
Optimistic Companies Should be Doing SEO
Some businesses are so unsure of the future that they have suspended their business growth and marketing initiatives. Other, more optimistic firms have not only continued their marketing efforts but have increased them. Does it make sense to increase marketing and growth initiatives during such uncertain times? An investment in company growth is for the future.
Computers are a Pain in the…
Did you ever spend a long time working on a spreadsheet or entering data or writing a manual or document only to watch it all disappear before your eyes when your computer froze or crashed? Or, how about the time when you clicked on a link by accident and your computer got wrecked from a virus? And then there was the time when ransomware chewed up all your files and you could not get them back without shelling out loads of bitcoin cash. Computers can be a pain in the, well… but they don’t need to be!
Get Found or… Get Lost!
There are a variety of internet search engines, but the number 1 search engine is Google. Your potential customers are using Google to find the services and products you offer. There is no question about that. The big question is, “Will they find your business, or will they find a competitor’s?”
The answer to that question might also be the answer to the second question, “Which business will still be around in 5 or 10 years?” Get found or… get lost.
Why Your Business Needs a (New) Website
Your small business needs a website. If it already has one, it may well need a new website. Small business owners are rightfully absorbed in the daily routine of running the business and they often do not afford themselves the luxury of thinking about a new website. Some think since they launched their website a few years (or, perish the thought, many years) ago that there is no need to give more thought to the website.
Is SEO Worth the Expense?
Some small businesses advertise by way of local business listings or diner placemats or local mailings. These are relatively low-cost options. They also have an exceptionally low conversion rate. That is, the number of people who respond and call or email from these low-cost options is small. Think about how many people will be spilling their soup on your diner placemat ad before one responds to the ad by calling or emailing. These types of outbound marketing techniques are still appropriate for some businesses but for many more businesses, leveraging the power of the internet will yield many more leads; and the leads will be better.
How to Select an SEO Partner
You might have heard that your website needs Search Engine Optimization or “SEO” to be found in Google. Assuming that you understand that having a great website is a good start but not enough in the internet economy, how do you go about getting that great website found? There are many offering SEO services. How to select the right one for your business? Some website developers or hosts will promise to “do SEO” for your site but SEO is not a once and done thing. When selecting an SEO provider, choose one that provides an analysis and review of your website, keyword analysis, link detox, manual link-building, content creation, and promotion among their services. They should provide regular reports so you can track their progress.
Was Your Business Ready for COVID-19?
Was your business ready for COVID-19? Some “disasters” are thoughtfully provided by Mother Nature like storms and pandemics. Others are from humans. Ransomware and other malicious software attacks account for billions of dollars in lost revenue and remediation each year. And then, of course, there is just the failure of technology. There is never a convenient time for a server to crash or a laptop to die. But it happens and the risk it creates can be mitigated with careful planning. A New Jersey small business computer support company helped a local engineering firm prepare for the worst and they have not lost a days’ work since the Covid-19 pandemic hit NJ.
The Case of the Missing Website
While their new website was well-received by their existing customers, their sales did not increase much. They were hoping the new website would bring in new bagel-seeking customers but instead, it just made the business more convenient for their existing customers. That was good for the existing customers, but the real goal was to bring in new customers.
They searched in Google and Bing or other search engines for “donuts near me” and “local bagel shop” and “best bagels in New Jersey” and “tasty NJ donuts” and many other search keywords but their site was nowhere to be found in the search engine result pages.
A Tale of Two Websites
It was the best of sites; it was the worst of sites… Imagine two websites in the same line of business in the same geographic area and representing companies of similar size. Both companies recognize that they are the chief competitor of the other. Both companies want to increase revenue by getting new clients and both have decided to achieve that goal by launching a website to make themselves easier to find by new customers.