By Marty Rogers on March 1, 2021
These are all typical questions that business owners ask themselves when they're moving their operation online, but they're not easy questions to answer.
Why?
Well, because every business needs SEO and digital marketing services really.
But there are some companies that need it more than others.
The reasons why could include:
Did you know that 93% of online experiences begin with a search engine?
The best case scenario for all of the businesses mentioned below would be that there is somebody on the team who could actively do the SEO for them.
Hiring an SEO agency can be expensive, but you can also opt for a freelance SEO.
But you'll probably want to partner with a great marketing agency eventually.
There are many benefits to doing so. One is that they have the time required to get the job done effectively. Despite what you may think SEO is a full-time job.
Anyway, let's get to the list.
Thousands of startups are launched every single day around the world.
But unfortunately, most of them will fail within 3 years.
And not just because they can't get any traffic to turn into sales and revenue, but also because most ideas are not actually that great or viable.
But using SEO to drive traffic to your new startup website can be a great way to give yourself the best chance of survival and growth over the first few years. The only barrier to entry is time to learn, but there are many great SEO courses online.
Here at Fresh Lead Finder we are a SaaS startup and we are actively using SEO ourselves in order to drive customers to our new software.
It's working great, although we're only just getting started. You can do same.
If you own a vape shop you'll already be aware of that fact that you cannot advertise your business on Google using their Google Ads product.
Same goes for Facebook Ads as well.
That puts e-cigarette businesses in a difficult position, because with nobody bidding on ads there's only one thing everyone can do... SEO! So it's extremely competitive.
I ran an ecommerce store dropshipping vaping products a few years ago.
And back then it was VERY competitve.
So I can only imagine how much more competitive it is today with many more businesses launching since then, and investing more into their SEO.
But if you're fortunate enough to have the knowledge, like I was, or you have the budget to invest, then you will be able to make an impact no problem.
Just remember that it will take some time to start seeing results, so stick at it.
SaaS, also known as Software as a Service, is a very competitive industry.
It's an industry we're in. Specifically, lead generation software.
And the CPCs (cost per clicks) are ridiculously high on Google Ads, as you would probably imagine. Think as high as $53, which is unaffordable for most.
So SEO is going to be a necessity in this industry.
At least until you turn a profit.
Later on you might be able to start bidding on some long-tail terms.
But really, SEO is going to be the driving force behind most SaaS businesses. So ensuring you allocate regular time to learn will be important.
Business owners are always looking for solutions to their problems online.
I'm talking about accountants and bookkeepers, marketing agencies and consultants, legal services such as lawyers and solicitors, IT services and many, many more.
It's extremely important to have a presence online now.
And even more important that your presence can be discovered easily.
That means getting listed on Google My Business, picking up NAP citations from local business directories, making the most of content marketing, and so on.
When it comes to SEO some of these industries have very little competition (for example, accountants) whereas others will take a considerable amount of effort and time (3-6 months) to generate results (for example, legal services).
We kind of touched on ecommerce earlier with the vape stores, but that's in a class of its own due to ads being prohibited. But ecommerce SEO is extremely important.
39% of global ecommerce traffic comes from SEO.
And to put that into context, that means approximately $1.4 TRILLION in sales revenue is generated from search engine traffic a year. Maybe more. Quite astonishing.
That's why ecommerce businesses need to be doing SEO.
Priority is always making sure that all of your products are well optimised.
That means having good titles, unique descriptions, descriptive ALT tags on images and good use of internal linking to spread equity throughout your website.
Ensure you are utilising a good URL structure throughout, and avoid duplicate content on pages by using canonical tags. Also make use of reviews and ratings to increase your click-through-rates from the SERPs, or search engine results pages.
Before I get started, here's a fun one for you to think about...
Did you know that 72% of consumers who perform a local search on Google will end up visiting a store, or business, within 5 miles of their home or search location?
It's true, and it really outlines the power and importance of local SEO.
That means local businesses such as retail stores, restaurants, hotels, cafes, hair and beauty salons, pet shops, etc. MUST really prioritise their SEO.
Local search is a battleground. You have to fight for your right to shine.
And if you do it right, you'll reap serious rewards.
The most important SEO signals for local rankings are:
In most cases, the answer will be a resounding yes.
SEO is the best driver of cost-effective, impactful traffic which directly translates into new sales, leads and bookings. Whether you're a local business, software provider or ecommerce store, SEO is going to be your best way to move the needle.
And remember, if you can't afford to pay somebody to do your SEO then you can always learn yourself. There are plenty of great resources online.
