Why SEO is important for Local Businesses

What Is SEO?

SEO stands for Search Engine Optimisation. It is the process of optimising a web page so that it ranks higher in search engine results pages (SERPs). This can be done by changing content on your website, making sure you have high quality links pointing to your site and providing other signals to the search engines. The quality of the website and the content that you have is also a factor in getting your site to rank well on search engines and also means your customers will stay engaged and on your site for longer. The main focus of SEO is to promote Trust, Authority and Relevancy through your web site.

Is SEO Important?

Most people know that SEO is important but believe that they don’t need to use it. Some think it’s hard to understand and dismiss it. These businesses are losing out on improving their reputation, generating traffic to their sites and ultimately and most importantly sales.

I recently spoke with a client of mine about their business and they had been advised to create videos for Linkedin and engage with clients this way. Now this may work for some businesses where networking of this type is important but it is not a replacement for how potential customers interact with search engines. and find your products or services.

Let’s be honest here the first thing you do when looking for a product of service is to hit Google (other search engines are available) and search for it. It brings up a list of businesses and you can then pick one. If your business doesn’t pop up in the search results there is a high chance that you aren’t going to get picked regardless of how many LinkedIN videos you have done.

By using SEO, and creating your website to be a lead converting sales tool, you have a higher chance of getting business or sales for your product or service. If you’re a Landscape Gardener in Minehead you want your business to appear whenever a potential client searches for “landscape gardener minehead”, “paving minehead” or “fencing Somerset”. You will then have a much better chance of converting these searches in to actual paying customers if you appear in the top results.‍

I have lots of business I don’t need to do this?

Some business owners I speak to often tell me that they don’t need to do SEO because they don’t need to find clients. Or it could be the calls they do get aren’t for the types of services they want to supply. This could be due to outgrowing them or a change in focus.

Good SEO can help your business niche down to those specific types of sale that you want to be getting. This can help save you time and money by focusing on the main services you want to offer as your business evolves.

Say you are a building company and you want to only do Loft conversions, the best way to get the projects and clients you want is to use SEO to target only this service rather than extensions or roofing etc. This allows you to be specific with potential clients rather than coming up in all building related searches. 

Good SEO = Happy Customers

We live in a quick society where information is easily sourced and as consumers we want a fast solution to our problems. This is why we use the internet and search engines like Google. It allows us to find what we need fast. Using SEO means that you can make it convenient, easy and a positive experience even before you even speak to a customer. SEO is hugely important to every business from Local shops, small online stores along with big corporations.

This means you want your clients to have a positive experience in finding your business and then using your products or services.

What is Local SEO?

Local SEO is more focused on shops, traditional bricks and mortar businesses or local services. Say you are looking for our Landscape Gardener to come and do some work for you in Minehead and you search on Google. Google knows you don’t want to be given results that are based in Bristol or London as it would be a waste of your time unless they service Minehead. So as business by being part of Google’s business and map services it allows your customers to find services that are local to them in a specific area specified by your location. This is hugely important for local businesses as using SEO this can enhance how often and where you appear in the local listings. With the competitive nature of this getting the help of an SEO pro can be the best investment you've ever done and will pay dividends overtime. 

Can I do SEO once?

Google are the king of algorithms and make changes to these 1000’s of times a year. Their sole purpose it to make it easier for their customers to find the information they want on the internet. Many businesses think of SEO as a one time solution. Optimising their site and then leaving it. This could work for a little while however quickly their website will start to slip down the rankings moving off the first pages. This is where businesses can get an advantage by keeping up and improving the SEO through using a professional. This will allow you maintain and improve your site to make sure it continues to be relevant and as such important to Google.

Free SEO

Considering the amount of time and effort it takes to make a site optimised for search engines. Investing in an SEO professional is an investment in your business. There isn’t a cheap or Free good SEO service however this investment is relatively economical compared to other ways of getting your business out there. Optimising your site and keeping it up to date can lead to huge increases in sales, brand recognition and revenue for your business. Your investment in an SEO pro will be key to you outperforming your competitors and could be the best money you have ever spent.

Why is SEO important?

Above I have outlined some of the reasons why SEO is crucial for all types of businesses. For a relatively low cost you’ll be able to get an edge on thousands of other local businesses. You will dominate the search rankings for years and pull customers to you without having to lift a finger. This will take the expertise of a SEO professional to do, but any serious business will understand that the investment in this will help their business grow. 

So whether you are a landscape gardening service, builder, wedding planner or pet store with a shop and a website, using SEO can help you dominate your local and regional marketplace through Trust, Authority and Relevance.

5 Free tips for understanding SEO

1. SEO helps online businesses to rank higher in search engines and drive more traffic

2. It's helpful for your website to have connections with other sites

3. Focused and relevant content will help- if you want to rank well, you need content that people want to read

4. Make sure that your site is shared on social networks

5. Utilise keywords throughout the text on your site  

Book a FREE SEO strategy Call

We are offering a FREE Audit of any website which will include the Core Web Vitals, Recommendations to resolve any issues and a brief overview of your SEO rankings on Google. We will do a set of Videos going through your scores and any recommendations we have for you. To organise a free Audit click here or use our contact form below.

What makes you the best?

At Tomato Creative we design and build custom websites using the latest systems and processes. We don't build websites the same way as other 'graphic design' or 'web companies'.

‍All our websites are built to help you generate revenue for your business.

We are not just designers

Our websites are built to be easy-to-update and convert like crazy all using our SEO first custom strategies to ensure you:-

Get more traffic, Get more leads, Get more sales.