What All Small Business Owners Need To Know About SEO

My daily routine involves waking up around 6am, getting the kid ready for daycare and sifting through the 50 or so emails that have bombarded my iPhone through the night. It never fails for me to see 2 or 3 emails from some “SEO” person making some outrageous claim about what they do and how it can positively impact your site. You may have seen these emails and read the trigger keywords like:

“quality search engine optimization”

“dedicated team of over (insert ridiculously high number) SEO specialists”

“best SEO services”

“guaranteed rankings”

Sounds pretty good eh? Let me explain what owners need to know about small business SEO so you’re properly educated before making a decision on engaging in SEO practices.

Guaranteed Rankings Is A Myth

People say “nothing in life is guaranteed” so why would a page 1 spot on Google be guaranteed? The reality is Google’s ranking algorithm changes all the time (in fact they’ll change the algorithm some 500+ times a year), but your competition is also changing whether good or bad. In fact, Google outright says No one can guarantee a #1 ranking on Google. So if Google says that then how and why can someone who doesn’t work for Google make that claim?

Google Did Not Call You

A friend of mine who runs a small auto garage and has no website was adamant that someone from Google had called them to talk about his Google+ listing. The reality is Google doesn’t call you unless you’re a proven agency that’s gone through a few hoops to become accredited. What you’re getting is someone claiming to be from Google because it gets attention. Who’s going to listen to (insert name here) who are calling from (insert unknown company name here)? It’s sad but in most cases, these are bottom of the barrel “SEO” companies who wind up charging you insane monthly fees. To do something you can do on your own for free and realistically only once in a while. So I’m sorry to burst the bubble but Google didn’t call you.

Good SEO Isn’t Cheap

I’ve seen it many times over the years. I see “SEO” companies peddling offers like “$49.95 a month”. “$100 for 3 months work”. Or any other number of cheap pricing strategies with the hopes someone will bite. SEO all seems the same, right? We all say and apparently do the same things so with a little price shopping you can find the cheapest offer and get the same service and same results. The reality is SEO is the combination of doing a lot of different organic things like on-page SEO, content creation, link building, outreach and more. Why? It’s no longer just about ranking well for some big keywords (most likely the keywords that aren’t exactly attainable right now), it’s about getting organic traffic from lots of different sources, all pointing back to your site via some fabulous content! So, it’s a lot of work to do this. $49.95 a month doesn’t cut it anymore.

But I’m Just A Small Business

Of course! But you claim to be great at what you do, right. (Although I did have one client tell me he was insanely lazy nobody ever said they were bad)? Google wants to rank great websites, not a site that’s chasing a keyword. If you say you’re great at what you do and your offline clients say you’re great at what you do. Then your website should prove you’re just as great there too. You’re going to have people who are being introduced to your brand online. So you NEED to give them an experience like no other. You need to wow them and make them want to come back. That means your site can’t be in a “set it and forget it” mode. You need to work on it just as much as your SEO provider will.

Ultimately you will need to be involved in the development of your site. Nobody will know your products/services and industry better than you! Nobody will know your customers and potential customers better than you! That means you’ll need to work with your SEO provider to better help them understand your needs and goals. If they’re good then they’ll get you the results you want.

I hope this post has helped you better understand a few things about small business SEO. If you have any questions please call me at 905-943-2985 x108.