March, 2020 | Mike McRitchie | Resume and LinkedIn Profile Writer | Telecom Marketing Content Writer

As you may have probably heard by now, SEO (Search Engine Optimization) is no longer considered to be an optional marketing strategy but rather mandatory. The main reason is that the online market is growing to be more competitive and overcrowded each year.

2020 is finally here and you can pretty much guess the situation; SEO became more important than ever. This is especially true for small businesses. Many SMBs need a way to stand out in such a competitive environment, as well as gain a much-needed competitive advantage over well-established and better-funded companies that are already favoring a good presence in the market.

Competing in such a dynamic landscape is difficult enough as it is. Without marketing, small companies and especially new ones wouldn’t stand a chance against those who came first. Fortunately, SEO and the rest of the marketing strategies can give everyone a fighting chance. With that in mind, here are a few reasons why small businesses need SEO more than ever.

SEO is cost-effective

It’s no secret that the budget SMBs commonly have cannot compare to that of the large enterprises and popular brands. If a company has enough funds to launch a large-scale marketing campaign that will cover every important marketing aspect, then how does a small company compete against that with a tight enough budget as it is?

The answer is cost-effective marketing strategies, such as SEO. Using the budget wisely is essential for SMBs. You cannot overspend on marketing if that will leave you without enough funds to develop your products or grow your business efficiently. That’s why you need a strategy that will ensure your money’s worth. This is exactly how SEO works.

You can spend as much as you can and still get viable results from it. Whether those results are portrayed as more web traffic, improved visibility, greater exposure or anything else, it will be beneficial for your small business. The key, however, is knowing in which SEO tactics to invest so that you can benefit from it even with a small budget.

Being visible is vital

Visibility in the online world is of the utmost importance, especially in 2020. Consumers tend to do a lot of research before they decide to make a purchase or devote their attention to a business. SEO helps your visibility increase by helping you rank well on search engines, such as Google.

But how does that benefit my business, you ask? Here are a few benefits of being visible online and ranking well on search engines.

The majority of consumers won’t go beyond the first page of search results.
Appearing on the first page of search results is considered to be a recommendation as far as consumers are concerned.
Between 70% and 80% of consumers focus on organic results while ignoring paid ads.
Consumers look for reviews and content regarding products and services.
They prefer content that matches their intent.
The first page of search results captures up to 92% of website traffic and clicks compared to the second page that captures only 6%.
Ranking well for relevant keywords increases organic web traffic.
Content that ranks well makes you authoritative and thus more sought-after.

You need those conversions

As mentioned before, the majority of search engine users ignore paid ads and focus on organic results. By ranking well on search engines, you become more visible, easily findable and more accessible to consumers.

Organic search complements organic web traffic and such leads are more willing to convert once they find your business and your website online.

In other words, consumers that have the intent of finding a specific product or service are already willing to make a purchase. Finding your business in their search results simplifies the entire process. That’s why matching your keywords and your content with that of consumer intent is essential.

However, many SMBs aren’t really sure how to achieve that. Fortunately, there’s always an option to consider effective white label SEO. What it means is that you partner up with an agency that will promote your product via SEO while you take responsibility for selling that very same product.

Your competitors are on it or are they?

Every business is looking for a way to gain a competitive advantage and outrun their competitors. SEO can be that advantage if you know how to use it. What you probably didn’t know is that large companies often don’t bother with SEO.

As you may know, SEO takes time to produce any viable results, which is why many companies simply give up on it instead of investing in SEO further. In other words, you may compete with other SMBs regarding SEO than against large companies, which is a better situation considering your limited budget.

You have more chances of outrunning fellow small companies than popular brands and other SMBs are most certainly using SEO. All the more reason for you to start using SEO too if you haven’t started using it by now.

SEO grows to be more and more important every year. As the market becomes more complex to navigate, SMBs need a way to overcome challenges and obstacles the market will have in store for them. That’s why SEO is one of the surest ways to make a name for yourself in such a competitive environment.

Being a physician in a private practice is just like most other small businesses. You need to find new patients, keep them and keep down your costs.

People have many choices depending on their insurance on who to go to for their healthcare needs. Long gone are the days of the family doctor that treats multiple generations of the same family until they retire.

These days you have to make sure you’re attracting patients to have a steady income stream.

Some of the marketing techniques are different for a doctor than they are for other solo practitioners – so let’s take a look at how you should proceed.

1 – Build a useful website

The engine that will power your marketing has to be your website. Many doctors make the mistake of creating a site that just has basic information. While you need to have things like services and office hours, there has to be more than that.

For starters, it should have a blog. You should have articles that rank well in the search engines that will bring in traffic. It also serves to give some personality to your practice as people can see what it is that you stand for.

You should probably hire a writer who understands how to write engaging copy that doesn’t come across like a legal contract. Your blog is for your potential patients, not other doctors – so a copywriter will know the right voice to use.

2 – Grow an email list

One of the most important things to have on your website is a way to get people to give you their email. Email marketing is one of the most effective ways to grow your business.

Have a landing page that offers a downloadable product in exchange for their email. Something like a checklist for the flu, or a short ebook about how to prevent diabetes, that people can download is helpful. These are called lead magnets as they attract leads (emails).

When you are sending helpful emails to your list, they will feel confident using your services. They can even be reminded to come for a check-up or for their vaccines by email.

The best part is that it is all done with automation software so you don’t have to worry about finding time to send the emails individually.

3 – Use PPC ads

Even if you have all of your SEO on point and your site is ranking in the number one spot for physicians in your area, you’re still going to be further down the results.

Pay Per Click Ads always come first. You’ll need to make sure that you are also spending money on ads to get those top spots for your keywords.

Suppose the keyword terms are “Podiatrist in Peoria”. You’ll have to bid on those keywords and come out of it with the top spot for those keywords. On the other side, you’ll have to make sure you are also excluding terms that aren’t specific to your practice so you don’t spend money on ineffective ads.