The importance of understanding SEO for business owners
It seems like everyone has a website these days, right? Believe it or not, around half of Aussie local businesses do not have a website and with more than 97% of internet users searching for local businesses online, it’s pretty crazy to think of missing out on those customers!
Online marketing is a pretty broad topic, with paid ads, social media and another term you may have heard of… SEO. If you’re completely new to SEO, this article is for you. I’m here to break down the very basics of SEO for business owners such as yourself. I think it’s super important for you to at least have a basic understanding of what it is – not because you need to learn how to do it for yourself, but if you do decide to engage someone to do SEO services for your business website, you should know what it is you’re asking them to do.
Wait a sec… What is SEO?
SEO stands for search engine optimisation. Google is the world’s biggest search engine, but there are others such as Bing, Yahoo, and DuckDuckGo. The goal of SEO is to get your website appearing high up in the search engine results when someone searches for your product or service. For example, if you offer vehicle wrapping in the North Sydney area, you’d want your website to pop up when someone types in “car wraps north sydney”.
There are a series of strategies that can be applied both to the actual website and by creating links to the website from elsewhere online that can help optimise it within the search engine results.
The thing to understand about SEO, is that it is a long term strategy. The time and effort put in now can take months to show results, but having said that, once the hard work is done and your website is ranking well, it takes less energy to maintain its position in the search engine results.
Is SEO worth it for small businesses in Australia?
I see this question get asked a lot and these are the questions I put back to the business owner:
Do you rely on new enquiries coming in regularly for sustained income?
Now this might seem like a silly question, but there are some small businesses that really aren’t that reliant on being found online. One example might be a popular, established restaurant that is located in a prominent location and already has a strong customer base. While they would benefit from having a professional looking website with online booking and their menu available, this business probably isn’t relying on their local community to be searching for “restaurant near me” to get them in the door.
In contrast, a new competitor opening up in a less prominent location would certainly benefit from being found when locals are typing “thai restaurant near me” into Google.
For most local businesses, being found online is pretty important. If you need new enquiries coming in, it is essential.
How are you currently advertising your business?
Are you relying on a social media page for your business’s online presence? It’s risky territory for a few reasons. First of all, if your business page gets hacked, you could find yourself suspended or even have your Facebook or Instagram account shut down completely. All that content, all those followers – gone.
Secondly, you’re missing out on a whole chunk of society who are not on the social media platform you’re using. By all means, use social media marketing as a form of advertising, but remember that you’re excluding a big portion of internet users from seeing your product or services.
If you’re currently spending money on Google Ads, Facebook Ads, or more traditional media like radio or print media, it’s worth adding up the cost. Are you getting a return on your investment?
The reason SEO is such an effective way to spend your marketing budget is because you’re being found by people who are actively seeking out your product or service. That’s much more targeted than the full page advertisement in the back of a local magazine that might just happen to be found by someone who is a potential customer.
What’s a lead worth to you?
When you’re deciding whether SEO is worth it for your business, weigh up what a potential customer is worth. If SEO is going to set you back $1000 per month and an average customer brings in $20, you’re going to need some seriously good results to make it worthwhile. However, if an average job is worth $20,000 and you’re spending $2000 per month on SEO, you would only need one new customer and that SEO has delivered a 10x return on your investment. You do the maths.
How much does SEO cost?
This is a long answer, so I’m going to write a whole other article to go a little deeper, but I’ll just touch on a couple of points here. Think about the hours of work you’re paying someone to spend on your website. Most SEO consultants in Australia will charge $100 or more per hour, so be realistic about what you think someone can achieve if you only want to spend a couple of hundred dollars per month “on SEO”.
Taking someone on to do SEO can feel risky for a business owner, because the results often can’t be seen straight away so I can understand the reluctance to invest too much. However, a business owner needs to be realistic about what can reasonably be achieved with such a tiny commitment of time.
The other determining factor on how much SEO will cost is how competitive your industry is. If your competitors are having success online with well optimised websites, you can expect it’s going to take more time and effort to get good results. If you’re lucky, no one else in your area is doing it right online yet, then the search engine playing field is wide open for the taking.
Can you do SEO yourself for free?
SEO is a massive topic. I’ve been doing this for around a decade and I’m still constantly learning and updating my knowledge. There are, however, some basic concepts of SEO that aren’t overly technical, and can make a real difference to your visibility online, especially in a less competitive industry.
If you’re a business owner who already manages their own website and can make some changes, check out this article to get started. Of course there are more complex and sophisticated strategies, and that’s why professional SEO agencies exist, but there are definitely some DIY tactics for those who are keen to have a go.
How long does SEO take?
The length of time to get initial results from SEO is generally dependant on how competitive the service / product is. A plumber in Sydney, for example, is going to have a tougher time competing than a plumber in Dubbo.
Local SEO will usually start to show results within 3-6 months, with better results after the 12 months mark. National or global SEO can take up to 12-18 months, depending on how competitive the niche is. Ongoing SEO efforts will compound these results and generally keep producing stronger outcomes over the long term.
How do you know is SEO is working?
If you can see your website performing better in the search engine results for relevant search terms, you know it’s working. Tools such as Google Analytics can be good to monitor the numbers of visitors coming to your website, and Google Search Console can also provide really valuable insights. Both of these tools are free and just need to be set up and linked to your website.
There are also some great paid SEO tools that will give you more data on your website’s performance, such as SEMRush, Mangools, and Ahrefs.
If you’re working with an SEO agency, you should be getting feedback from them to show what they’ve been doing and what results have been achieved. SEO does require a certain level of patience, but if you suspect that you aren’t getting the results that you’re paying for, we offer an obligation-free review of your website.
