In today’s world, most people access the internet through a mobile device such as a phone or tablet. In the past, people did not rely on mobile devices to find places to eat, shop, or for directions. It can sometimes be hard to understand the importance of making their business pop up on top of internet searches. It has been estimated that more than 90% of all internet experiences start with a visit to Google or other search engines. While having a search engine optimization (SEO) plan was not always crucial to the success of failure of the business, having the right SEO company by your side can make a huge difference in how your business does.

What exactly does an SEO company do? That is a question many small business owners have and it is a good one. Google is, by far, the most used search engine. Having said that, the vast majority of internet users never look past the first page of their search results. When you work with an SEO company, they help devise a strategy to make sure you show up higher in the search results. The algorithm used by Google and other search engines changes all of the time so it is important to keep working on refining and tweaking your SEO strategy.

Here are some of the reasons for working with a good SEO company can help improve your business:

1. You will get more people to visit your website. When you work with an SEO company on your website design, you will have a better chance of bumping up your ranking within search engine searches. When people see your website at the top of their search engine results, they are much more likely to visit it. It has been found that nearly 20% of clicks go the top slots in a search engine search. That number drops down to 10% for the next site on the list, and 7% for the website that is third on the list. These numbers refer to the websites that are organically found while performing a search, not the sites that paid to be put on top. It is worth noting that consumers tend to prefer the results from organic searches over the ads.
2. Other businesses that offer the same goods or services are using an SEO strategy. At the end of the day, while you may not yet see the value of working with a good SEO company but your competitors do not. Both you and the others who sell the same items or provide the same services are already online trying to get their websites to pop up on top of search engine searches. This is not the kind of thing that you do once and forget about it. You have to maintain your work on your social media sites and you need to constantly update your website with new content. Moreover, local businesses often come up closer to the top when they use features such as Google’s “near me” button.
3. The need for a good SEO strategy shows no sign of going away. There have been periods of time when experts in digital marketing proclaim, “SEO is dead.” Not only is that not true but its importance seems to be growing by the day. While the algorithms change a lot, as long as they are being used and if people continue to rely on search engines the way they do now, the more small businesses will need to keep up with their SEO plan.
4. You can use your SEO strategy to grow awareness of your brand. Say you own a new, Italian restaurant. A group of five friends may be looking for just that. They whip out their mobile devices and search for “Italian restaurant near me” and up pops your site with directions, hours, and your menu. Because of the work you have done with an SEO company, these people find you and you have five new customers to impress.

For some small business owners, the idea of hiring and working with an SEO company seems foreign and strange. With the right firm, you will see how they pay for themselves.