What is SEO? The Small Business Guide to Getting Found Online

Imagine your website as your digital storefront. Like any brick-and-mortar store, it showcases your products or services, conveys who you are as a brand, and explains how you can help your customers. You might have the most beautiful website out there, but without SEO, it’s like building that storefront in the middle of the desert. Without roads, signs, or GPS to guide people, no one knows you exist. 

So what is SEO marketing, and how does it drive customers to your door? This guide breaks down the essentials that every business owner needs to know to get started.

What is SEO?

SEO stands for “search engine optimization.” In simple terms, it is the process of improving your website to increase its visibility in search engines like Google or Bing. 

More specifically, SEO helps search engines understand your website so they can match it with users who are searching for your specific products or services. The ultimate goal is to appear at the top of the results when someone searches for keywords relevant to your business.

For example, if you own a hair salon, you want your website to show up when someone searches “hair salon near me.” SEO makes that happen.

Why does SEO matter for your business?

Compared to traditional advertising, SEO offers unique advantages that help small businesses compete with larger brands.

1. SEO increases your website’s visibility where it matters.

SEO puts you in front of customers at the exact moment they are looking for a solution. It’s not about interrupting someone with an ad; it’s about being the answer to their question. This makes it a valuable tool for reaching the right audience at the right time.

2. SEO offers long-term cost-effectiveness.

Website SEO is also cost effective. Unlike paid advertising channels, where your traffic disappears the moment you stop paying for ads, SEO is an investment in your online presence. Although it takes time to build, a website that ranks well continues to bring in customers without a cost for every click.

3. It offers built-in credibility.

People trust Google’s top results. When your website appears at the top of a search, people subconsciously view your business as an industry leader and a trustworthy resource.

How does SEO work?

Search engines want to provide the best possible experience for their users. For your website to appear in search results, search engines must find your site, understand it, and decide that it is helpful to show users.

Search engines use “crawlers” (a type of software robot) to systematically browse the internet, follow links, and discover websites. This process allows search engines to build a repository, or “index,” of the billions of webpages that exist across the internet. Then, when someone enters a search on Google or Bing, the search engine uses algorithms to deliver a list of results that it believes will be the most helpful and relevant for that searcher.

At its core, SEO is about providing the best answer to a user’s search and proving to search engines that your website truly is the best resource.

The Three Pillars of Website SEO

To help your business rank higher, there are three primary areas of SEO to focus on:

1. On-Page SEO (Your Content)

On-page SEO is everything that you do on your website to make it clearer for users and search engines. This includes:

• Keywords: Integrating the phrases your customers actually type into Google
• High-quality content: Writing unique blogs and landing pages that truly help your audience
• Metadata: Writing “title tags” and “meta descriptions” that tell Google what each page is about
• User experience: Adding quality images and videos to your website where they make sense, using headings and subheadings to organize your content, and creating straightforward URLs
• EEAT (Expertise, Experience, Authoritativeness, Trustworthiness): Demonstrating your expertise and trustworthiness (by describing your credentials, displaying customer testimonials, and more

2. Off-page SEO (Your Reputation)

While on-page SEO focuses on everything that happens on your website, off-page SEO is everything that happens off of your website. It focuses on your brand’s authority and reputation across the rest of the web. 

Off-page SEO includes:

• Backlinks: When other reputable websites link to yours, it acts as an endorsement of your content.
• Social signals: Mentions of your brand on social media and other platforms help build your reputation.
• Google Business Profile: For local businesses, Google offers free business listings. Optimizing your Google Business Profile helps improve your rankings on Google Search and Maps.
• Online reviews: Positive reviews on Google, Facebook, and other websites build trust with potential customers and with search engines.

3. Technical SEO (The Foundation)

Technical SEO is the "under the hood" work that ensures search engines can actually read your site. It’s about creating a strong foundation for your website so the rest can shine.

Examples of technical SEO include:

• Site speed: Websites that load quickly offer a better user experience. Slow websites can be frustrating, and people may leave your site quickly.
• Mobile friendliness: Whether your website looks good and works well on smartphones
• Site structure and navigation" Whether your website is intuitive for users and “crawlers” to navigate and find the content they are looking for

Wrapping Up

SEO is a fundamental part of a modern business strategy. It helps people find you, builds your credibility, and provides an excellent return on investment.

While it can seem overwhelming at first, understanding the basics is the first step to growing your online presence. You don’t need to be a tech genius to start seeing the benefits of SEO; you just need a solid strategy and a partner who can help you navigate it.

Ready to plant your seeds and start growing your online presence? Contact Digital Roots Co. today for a free consultation. Let’s build a strategy that helps customers find your business.