As a small business owner, you don’t have a lot of extra capital just lying around. Therefore, you need to spend your advertising dollars wisely. And while you might think that traditional advertising such as radio or TV is still your best bet, it really isn’t. To be successful in today’s marketplace, you have to have a serious online presence. The online world is where your consumers are and as technology continues to evolve, traditional advertising mediums are quickly becoming obsolete.

However, creating an online presence means much more than just having a webpage and a mobile site. You need your business reach to extend into your customer’s daily lives and for that, you need to hire an SEO firm. Right now, you’re probably asking yourself,”what is SEO marketing and how can it help me?” That’s a great question to ask. First, let’s cover the basics.

What is SEO Marketing?

SEO stands for search engine optimization. While the phrase sounds simple enough, the process of optimizing your business and your internet content is not. SEO companies understand this and use several different methods to give your business more exposure including

• providing well-written articles pertaining to your field of expertise for your customers to read
• matching keywords and phrases to your business (ones your clients are likely to use when searching)
• crafting social media content and campaigns
• combining all of these SEO tools and more to push your business higher in search engine rankings

Why Search Engine Page Rank Matters

SEO professionals use all of the tools at their disposal to move your website’s page rank as close to the first page as possible so that your business can rank higher in internet searches.

This is a huge plus because only a quarter of people look past the first page of search engine results. If your business isn’t listed there, their business is likely to go to one of your higher ranking competitors.

Why Content is Key

It’s not enough to offer your customers a great product or service. Many of your customers also want information and, if your website can provide it, you can see a boost in sales.

The information your customers are looking for will depend on the type of business you run. For example, if you own a business that sells and services air conditioners, your customers will likely be looking for information such as

• how to stop AC from leaking
• what to do if AC is making funny sounds
• how to save money when using AC

All of these customer concerns can be addressed by well-written content that uses keywords to direct them to your website. In fact, businesses with active blogs and articles have five times the internet traffic of their competitors. However, the content your customers find must be fresh and updated constantly. You may not have time for this task, but SEO marketing companies do.

So the question of “what is SEO marketing?” really should be “what isn’t SEO marketing?,” because it encompasses all of the tools and resources your business needs to gain new clients, boost your online presence, and increase your profits.