Types of SEO - What Makes Sense For Your Business?

I speak with dozens of small business owners a month. Most have some understanding of SEO, but in my experience very few truly understand the value it imparts to their day to day business. Usually, what I hear from them breaks down to this:  “So I’ve heard of SEO, and/or I know what SEO is, but how does it apply to my business and is it even something I should be concerned with?”

The answer of course is that yes, SEO is absolutely something every small business owner should be working on, and yes, it can have a huge impact on your sales. But the other part of the question is, how does this apply to my business? That is a little more nuanced, and the answer really depends on what your business model looks like. At its most basic, you can break it down like so: do you want to drive traffic to your brick and mortar location, or do you want to drive traffic to your website? Is it both? The answer will tell you a lot about what the best method might be of getting in front of your customers! And it will also show you the steps you need to take to make that happen.

I can use one of my clients as an example on how this could play out for you. SEO has been the main focus of their campaign from the beginning, with other elements sprinkled in; but I’d really like to unpack what we’ve been doing for them on the SEO side, and why we’ve been taking the particular path we have.  

The client owns a multi-location restaurant and when I first spoke with them they were having challenges on two fronts: driving visibility for their locations in Google search results and tracking actual foot traffic to their locations. When we began working with them, we immediately began managing the Google My Business pages for each location, making changes and sending signals to Google to drive Google awareness and increase the amount of times each location appeared in a “near me” type search.

And what was the direct result of doing this work? The answer is as simple as it is profound: an increase in clicks for driving directions.  Think about it… The more times your business listing appears in a “near me” type search for the product or service you provide, the more opportunity a customer has of asking Google for directions to your location. And when you consider that, according to Google, “Nearly 80% of shoppers will go to the store to buy when they have an item they need or want immediately”, you can see the pressing value appearing more often in search results had on their individual locations!

Now this client has another side to the business, in consumer packaged goods. They bottle and sell a drink mix that they offer at their bar, and as our relationship developed this side of the business took on greater importance; so much so that they developed a unique website for the mix and a separate marketing plan and budget. My contact reached out to me for ideas on how we could help; and after talking we determined that they had three main challenges to address:  one, to drive visibility of the new website in Google searches; two, to drive new, quality traffic to the website on an ongoing basis; and three, to drive sales on the website. So this is a radically different scenario than the other side of the business, where the goal was to drive foot traffic to a physical location; now we are driving online traffic to a website in order to push online sales. The approach needs to be completely different to reflect that different focus, and that is exactly what we are doing for them now: executing a plan to work on their website coding, content, and backlinks to drive Google awareness and online traffic. (To see a quick and concise video overview of Organic SEO, click here).

So to recap, when you are considering how SEO can help you; are you trying to drive traffic to a location, or to a website?  The answer to that question is going to point the way forward and really help you to focus on the correct steps and eliminate any unneeded work; and done right this will lead to increased sales, whether it be at your physical storefront or on a website.

If you are looking for help getting your SEO off the ground, or if you simply have questions or comments reach out here for a FREE consultation or contact me at juan.rojas@vdigitalservices.com.