You have probably already heard the importance of local SEO for small businesses and most likely have implemented it as part of your marketing plan. After all, targeting your marketing efforts effectively is always beneficial to ensure you are reaching the right people. Nevertheless, this is not to say that local SEO is easy. It can be challenging for small businesses.
Below, we will take a look at seven different reasons why SEO is complex for small businesses:
1. Link building and media coverage are harder
There is no denying that it is more difficult for small businesses to develop the leverage they need regarding media coverage and link-building. This is because big sites and brands with exceptional reputations seem to be able to get links without even trying. However, once you start getting mentioned in authoritative publications, getting your name out there and links back to your website will get easier and more accessible.
2. You have less powerful software and fewer tools at your disposal
Another reason small businesses struggle with local SEO is that they have less powerful software and fewer tools. Big companies can afford to spend a lot of money on great software. They will have several different tools at their disposal that enable them to automate their local SEO techniques more easily. Small companies must look for more affordable and accessible software and tool options.
Web platforms like Wix and WordPress offer solutions with low barriers to entry for SEO, but many times, a WordPress SEO expert or Wix SEO expert is needed to push the needle.
3. Big businesses have been doing SEO longer
Big businesses were not born that way. They had to build themselves up to reach that stage. Therefore, the chances are that they have been at it longer than you have. Many small businesses have not been around for long, which can be challenging. Time is everything, and SEO cannot be perfected overnight.
4. It is harder to keep up with the changes in local SEO
There is no denying that the world of SEO is constantly changing. This relates not only to the newest and latest trends that are going on when it comes to digital marketing but also to changes that Google is making regarding search algorithms and such things. It can be hard to dedicate a lot of time and effort to stay current with everything happening.
5. There always seems to be some other priority
This is something that a lot of business owners can surely relate to. Although you may have all of the best intentions, it can be not easy to make SEO a priority all of the time. After all, there are so many different things happening in the world of SEO and so many different techniques and strategies that you can make the most of. It can feel like a full-time job staying up to date with this and doing all the necessary things you need to do to enhance your online presence.
6. You Have A Lower SEO Budget
Of course, one of the main reasons it is more difficult for small businesses when it comes to local SEO is their smaller budget. There is no denying that you have to spend money if you are going to make money. However, you cannot spend money that you do not have. A lot of big businesses have vast amounts of money to spend on marketing, and this can put you at a disadvantage. Nevertheless, it simply means you must be savvy regarding your marketing spend.
7. Google Favors Brands
In SEO, we love to whine that Google favors brands, but the truth is
that everyone
favors brands. All other things being equal, Google ranks big brands higher in the search results because they have user behavior data indicating that people click more often on recognizable brand websites. So, if you want to compete on a keyword that bigger brands are also going after, you’ll have to work much harder to prove that your small business marketing blog content is relevant and worth the user’s time. You’ll never be able to beat the more prominent companies for many branded keywords.
Is Small Business Local SEO Still Worth the Trouble? Yes.
Now listen: We’re not saying you should give up on SEO. You
have
Do at least the bare minimum SEO if you want a reasonably viable online presence. If you have a website, you want to accomplish three things:
- Help potential customers find your site via search.
- Make sure your site is easy to navigate once they’ve found it.
- Make sure what they should do next is evident, whether calling in or adding something to a shopping cart – and convince them to do it.
These tasks, especially the second two, involve the principles of web design, usability, and conversion rate optimization as much as they do SEO. But to accomplish #1, you must think about search engine optimization. Of course, you should have other traffic sources for your site – PPC/remarketing, social media, email marketing, word of mouth – but if you neglect SEO, you’re leaving a tremendous potential source of brand-new leads untapped.
So there you have it: seven reasons local SEO is more complicated for small businesses. When you consider everything that has been discussed, it is not hard to see why many small companies struggle with local SEO. This highlights why choosing a marketing company with care is so important. It would be best if you found local visibility marketing experts for small businesses (who can put together an effective localized search engine optimization strategy that fits your small business budget.