If you’re running a local or small business, it’s important that you understand SEO and lead generation.
What SEO and Lead Generation mean
SEO stands for Search Engine Optimization, and in today’s tech-centric world, proper SEO is more important than ever for getting discovered.
Lead generation simply refers to creating “leads”, or potential customers, for your business, which is accomplished in part by great SEO. Other factors that tie into lead generation include advertising and the reputation of your business as a whole.
Related Article: What is SEO?
How they pertain to small businesses
Now that you understand the basics, think about your modern consumer for a minute. They own an iPhone or an Android, and they’re using these powerful mobile devices for so many functions it borders on mind-boggling. One of the most important functions involves search engines, like Google, which they use to find whatever they’re looking for.
Say you’re located in Denver, and you run a pest control business. Your potential customer would search something like “pest control in Denver”, and gravitate toward the first few results that they get.
If you’ve practiced proper SEO and lead generation, your business will be one of those results.
Related Article: Local SEO: How to Rank You Local Business
How you can achieve them for yours
So you understand why SEO and lead generation are important, but how can you actually do these things?
Think back to the search query we mentioned earlier- “pest control in Denver”. That is what some would call a long-tail keyword. Short-tail keywords, like “pest control”, will draw up all kinds of general results on the topic, while our example long tail will draw up businesses and blog posts relevant to that keyword.
It’s important for a local business to target the long-tail keywords that their customers would be looking for. Whatever you can think of that applies to your business is what you want to target.
The best way to do this is through blogging or running a website tied to your business. Blog posts or web pages that target keywords like these will greatly increase your presence on Google searches.
Adding your site and your business to Google Maps will also help you in this regard. You need to put yourself on the map in order to be found on it, after all- that is what SEO boils down to.
Further lead generation will be accomplished based on the quality of your site, services, products, and marketing campaigns.
Conclusion
These are the basic need-to-knows for the modern small business. A digital presence isn’t optional- it’s necessary to succeed in any meaningful way, and practicing proper SEO and lead generation is the only way to make that happen.
