10 Critical Mistakes Small Businesses are Making When it Comes to SEO

10 Critical Mistakes Small Businesses Are Making When It
Comes to SEO
baeronmarketing.com/10-critical-mistakes-small-businesses-are-making-when-it-comes-to-seo/
The internet contains an astonishing amount of data and information – and consumers can’t get enough of it. Think
about the last time you wanted to know something. Did you pull out your encyclopedia? Did you reach for the phone
book? No… you probably reached for your smart phone or laptop and asked Google, Bing, Wikipedia, YouTube or
some other popular information source.
Now think about how powerful this can be for a business that wants to be found at the other end of that search. The
internet gives every business a path to draw in targeted prospects to their website, product, service, cause, etc.
Just a few decades ago, this never would have been possible. Being able to position your business, product, or
service to be easily found by those who wanted it was a pipe dream—something that even the most efficient and
successful of marketing professionals couldn’t even imagine.
But today, the idea of pre-targeting potential customers is one which is very real, and can be integrated based upon
user searches, website visits, demographic information, geographic location, and a number of other, helpful factors.
Still, though, those who can benefit from these marketing and promotional opportunities the most—small local
business owners—are often hesitant to do so.
There al lots of reasons behind this hesitation, but the bottom line is that those businesses willing to invest in online
marketing have the potential to explode their business and dramatically increase transactions, while those
neglecting this opportunity can expect to be left behind and risk losing significant market share.
Needless to say, those who try and explain the benefits of online marketing and the internet are probably frustrated
with the resistance of many business owners.
It really is in every small business owner’s best interest not to ignore the internet, but to utilize it. This doesn’t have
to take the form of complex marketing and advertising campaigns (although these can also help), as even a simple
and easy-to-design website can increase business impressively—especially in coordination with social media.
If you fall into this category of those small business owners who currently have what appears to be zero interest in
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making use of the internet to improve the sales and overall financial outlook of their company, then you need to pay
attention.
The first step towards successfully helping your business integrate into the digital age, to maximize opportunities
and success, is to understand the source of your resistance and hesitation.
So let’s take a look at some of the main reasons why some small business owners are still reluctant to fully utilize
the power of the Internet.
1. “I don’t have enough money”
Lack of money is one of the most common reasons that business owners who are resistant to developing an online
presence typically give. It’s a natural response, especially when they might be in a tough financial situation in their
business. These concerns are entirely misplaced, and it’s important to reflect upon two significant reasons why.
First, digital marketing and website development were much more expensive years ago, probably when owners first
inquired about getting their business online. And while web development really did cost quite a bit more in the past,
this is an unwarranted concern these days, because it’s possible to get a new website online for a fraction of what it
used to cost.
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The other reason to consider, is that when a business invests in effective SEO or other targeted online marketing
activities, they’ll likely see an increase in customers and transactions. Having a professional SEO strategy that
effectively markets your products or services to targeted, interested people online, can dramatically increase the
amount of customers you have coming into your business.
Your website is like a sales person who is working around the clock to get you more leads and customers. But
unless you promote your website through SEO, nobody is going to be able to find your website. That initial
investment into an effective SEO strategy, could end up bringing you customers for many years to come.
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2. “I don’t understand how it will work for me”
One of the major reasons why some business owners are reluctant to develop an effective SEO strategy for their
business is they just don’t understand how it all works. And that’s understandable, because it can be quite
complicated.
How does someone find their website online? How can they increase their rankings on Google? How do they
outrank their competitors for keywords that they’re targeting? And, what, exactly, are keywords anyway?
For people who aren’t tech savvy, the thought of having an SEO strategy implemented for their business can be
pretty daunting.
The thing is, you don’t need to know how it all works. You don’t need to know all the technical details of SEO in order
for your website to rank high in the search engines.
All you need is someone who understands all aspects of SEO, and can bring you customers through your website.
As the business owner, you should be focused on running the business, while you leave the “tech” and “web” stuff to
a professional.
3. “I’ll just do it myself”
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Another common objection small business owners have about getting eﬀective SEO done for their business is they
don’t want to hire a professional to do it. Instead, they want to try and do it themselves.
This might be ﬁne if you’ve already got a website that is producing great results for you, and you just need to tweak
a few things here and there.
But if you want a professional SEO strategy built for your business that’s actually designed to attract online visitors,
and then convert those visitors into customers, then hiring a professional might make sense. After all, you’ve got a
business to run. And smart business owners know when and where it makes sense to delegate and leverage he
expertise of others.
There’s no point wasting your time on something that might not even produce any results. Hire a professional, and
get the job done right.
4.“We already have a website”
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Some small business owners are reluctant to get a professional SEO strategy built for their business because
they’ve already have a website, and fear they’ll have to replace it.
To be clear, SEO is not about building a new website. While it certainly does make sense to review your current
website and make improvements to the structure, content, and other aspects of your site, it’s typically uncommon to
replace it entirely.
But remember, while SEO is about getting your business, products, or services found online by people using search
engines like Google or Bing, your website needs to eﬀectively convert their visit into a transaction. So any good
SEO professional will recommend optimizing your website to maximize the opportunities for converting your visitors
into customers.
5. “Our customers don’t use the internet to ﬁnd us”
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Another key objection a lot of small business owners have when it comes to developing SEO for their business is
they think their consumers aren’t searching for them online. They think that the Internet doesn’t influence their
prospects and customers, and they don’t see the need to invest into online marketing.
The reality is over 90% of consumers will search online for a local business before they even think about calling
them or visiting them. And most of them are doing so right from their mobile devices, meaning a business needs to
not only be online, but be discoverable on mobile as well.
Regardless of how things have worked in the past or how they’re working currently, the fact of the matter is almost
everybody is searching online for a local business before they do anything else.
And if you’re ignoring this fact, then you’re also ignoring all the potential customers you’re missing out on right now.
6. “I don’t have time to manage it”
A major reason why some small business owners object to getting a professional SEO developed for their website is
because they don’t want to take the time to manage the process.
If you’re holding off for the same reason, then you should realize that you don’t have to manage SEO yourself, and
the longer you hold off, the further ahead your competitors get.
You’ve already got enough on your plate with your business, and the last thing you want to do is learn about SEO
and monitor it all the time. What you should be doing instead is hiring SEO professionals who know exactly what
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they’re doing.
Leave it to the pros to actively manage and improve your rankings, while you focus on the primary aspects of your
business.
7. “We already tried SEO, and it did nothing for us”
If you’ve already tried SEO for your business, but you’re not really seeing any results from it, then it might be time to
get the pros in.
A lot of business owners have tried SEO once or twice, either by doing it themselves, hiring someone they know, or
investing in an inexpensive solution that may have actually ended up hurting them. They might have seen some
results, but overall it might have been pretty disappointing.
If this has happened to you in the past, what you need to understand is that SEO is an ongoing process. Eﬀective
SEO is always changing, and you need to stay on top of the process in order to see consistent results from it.
What you need to do is stay up-to-date on the latest best practices and be constantly updating your online presence.
Or hire a professional SEO company to take care of it all for you.
8. “We see great results from newspaper and radio ads”
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Some small business owners seem to think that because they see great results from their existing marketing they
don’t need to invest in SEO as well.
After all, if you’re getting a consistent stream of customers through newspaper ads, or radio ads, then why would
you need to look into having your website rank high on Google?
The thing is, it’s not about SEO or any other aspect of online marketing replacing what you’re currently doing. It’s
about SEO complementing your current marketing, and adding to the results you see now. After all, many
consumers want to know more about something they’ve seen advertised… and the first place they head to get more
information is the Internet.
SEO allows your potential customers to find you easier online, and they’re searching for you right now. The easier it
is for them to find your business online, the easier it is for them to get more information about what you have to offer
before they contact you.
It’s also important to note that online advertising and an online presence will attract many additional customers who
don’t read the newspaper, listen to the radio, or watch the TV station on which you’re advertising.
That means you can see much greater success by adding Internet marketing to your current business, rather than
replacing what you’re currently doing.
9. “We don’t sell anything online”
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One of the most common reasons small business owners think they don’t need SEO is because they think their
business isn’t selling products or services online.
That might be the case with businesses like restaurants, mechanics, or plumbers, where the business is location-
dependent, but even then, these businesses could benefit massively from an effective SEO strategy that promotes
their business online.
A lot of times, having an effective SEO strategy for your business isn’t just about selling things on your website; it’s
also about promoting your business and getting people to email you, call you, or walk through your doors.
SEO is another piece of the marketing puzzle that helps to get your business in front of people who are interested in
what you have to offer.
Not all sales will occur online, but most of them start there.
Whether a potential customer is looking for business hours, a phone number, pricing figures, and/or general
information relating to your company, there’s an excellent chance that the first part of the sale—considering a
specific company for a transaction—will be initiated online. Of course, the best part of this initial component of the
sale is that it will be completed automatically, without any required effort from you.
10. “We just don’t think we’re interested right now”
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Having an effective search engine strategy that promotes your business online is crucial for your success, but a lot
of people still don’t think they need to do SEO for their business. They just don’t see the value SEO can provide to
their business, and just don’t get how much it can help their business to get more leads and customers online.
They don’t get that the first thing most people do is search online for a business’ website to find out more about
them, and to find out how they can contact them.
If your business doesn’t have an effective SEO strategy, then you’re letting a lot of potential customers slip through
your hands, and into the hands of your competitors.
So as you can see there are quite a few reasons why some small business owners are still reluctant to have an
effective SEO strategy built for their business, but in most cases investing in professional SEO is going to bring in
more customers, more traffic, and more business than if you continue to ignore the Internet.
Your SEO strategy and any form of internet marketing isn’t going to replace anything you’re currently doing, and it’s
not going to significantly add to the amount of work you’re doing now.
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Once you have an eﬀective SEO strategy in place, it will be like your own sales team, working around the clock to
promote your business.
“Okay, I’m interested in learning more…”
If you’ve now got a better idea of how SEO can beneﬁt you, and want to learn more about the process of
implementing a campaign to get your business found by more people who are searching for you, we can help.
Request a call today from a member of our team to discuss your goals and budget, and identify the best options for
meeting both.
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David Baer
David Baer is founder of Baer On Marketing. Specializing in marketing funnel development & lead
generation consulting and services. David has been marketing online for over two decades, with
extensive marketing experience in theater, classical music, and wine, as well as digital product
development. David lives in beautiful Portland, Oregon, with his wife and daughter.
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10 Critical Mistakes Small Businesses are Making When it Comes to SEO

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10 Critical Mistakes Small Businesses are Making When it Comes to SEO