If you’re a business owner in a small town, you’ve probably heard that SEO isn’t important. After all, how can you possibly compete with larger companies from big cities? Well, the fact is that SEO is still essential, even for small businesses. You can use SEO to your advantage, even if you have a small budget.
The internet is not like it was when Google started. There are many more users, and there are many more pages, but the laws of how people search have not changed. People accessing the internet from a small town are not much different from those in a big city. If you want your business to succeed, you have to be on the first page of Google in your town.
Local SEO
As alluded to before, small businesses have been reluctant to embrace search engine marketing in the past, but times have changed. In the past few years, local SEO has become essential (more on that shortly), and Google has started to highlight local businesses in their search results. So, rather than accepting that Google is ignoring them, businesses should embrace local SEO marketing and use it to their advantage. Here are some reasons why.
Competing in a Small Town
As was clearly painted in an article by Coastline Marketing Group, just because you are in a small town does not mean there are no competitors. The fact is, your competitors are likely putting money into digital marketing. If you are not, then you are missing out on a lot of potential customers.
Expanded Outreach
My wife worked for a highly sought-after neurosurgeon. People wanted to see this doctor so bad that they would come from around the world to have him operate on them. Now, I know we are not all doctors; however, that doesn’t mean that your business can’t reach past your small town. Before the Pandemic, the mall in Lancaster, Ohio, used to drive traffic from bigger cities all the time. People are looking for more than a product; they are also looking for an experience. The internet provides a platform where the entire world can gain from that experience! Now, we shouldn’t all expect to be the next Amazon; however, we should not put our retirement in a bottle because we are scared.
Millennials
I could leave it to the title, and you probably already know what I am saying here. But if you don’t, Millennials and Gen Z make most of their purchases online. And that means, if you are not online, you are missing a hot market!
It’s easy to think of SEO in big cities and forget that it’s still an issue in small towns, such as in Lancaster, OH. The result? A local business can get lost in the shuffle if it doesn’t have a good online presence. Small-town businesses can easily lose customers to e-commerce sites if they don’t take advantage of SEO.
J&A Digital Solutions specializes in internet marketing and website development. We proudly serve the Central Ohio area. Please contact us for a free audit of your current online presence and status.