Who needs SEO? - SEO benefits for companies of any size
From the one-person side-hustle to the multinational corporation, all kinds of companies are bustling around the web. Does each need SEO? We bring light into the darkness with the experience of over 800 digital projects.
How important is SEO?
SEO stands for search engine optimization. This is about being found by Google for relevant search terms (keywords). Most users only look at the first few entries on Google before they give up or select an entry. Hardly any user clicks on the second page. So the goal is to rank in the first search results with your site. How do you achieve this? This is where SEO comes in.
In our digital reality, companies can't afford not to be found. After all, the first place many people look for the nearest coffee shop or a hot water heat pump is Google. It doesn't matter if your target audience is end customers or other businesses: A Google search is often the first step in the customer journey. Companies with physical stores often underestimate this. After all, what does a copy store need SEO for? Well, most people would first Google where there is a copy store. This so-called Local SEO will be looked at in more detail later.
Google's algorithm is becoming more and more complex. This means that Google is getting better at recognizing whether your site is user-friendly. A modern search engine optimization has therefore not only Google, but also users in mind.
All of this ensures that anyone with a website or physical location needs SEO to pick up their potential customers. So the answer to "who needs SEO" is: just about everyone!
Who does not need SEO
If "Just about everyone" needs SEO, who doesn't need SEO? We had a long discussion in the agency and we came up with only three groups that don't need SEO.
1. who has too many customers
SEO contributes to customer acquisition in many cases. On the other hand, if you have already booked the appointments half a year in advance, or are completely sold out, the idea of more customers brings sweat to your brow. Why should the website be number 1 on Google, if you just have to cancel potential customers anyway.
2. who has too much money for SEA
When money needs to be blown quickly, SEA (paid search) is a good option. Constantly rising costs per click make for absurd SEA spending in many industries. Those with too much money to spend can spend their money here. Unfortunately, unlike SEO, this spending has no long-term effects.
3. who begrudge the competition
Probably the competitors also have employees and bills that need to be paid. So if you begrudge your competitors getting traffic and customers by ranking well on Google, you can neglect SEO. On the other hand, those who might want to hold their own on Google, read on.
SEO measures for companies of any size
In the following, SEO is considered at different levels. Which measures are actually relevant depends on the industry and the products/services. Thus, it may of course be that a measure that stands with large companies is also already relevant in some cases for sideline business. The classification should therefore only serve as inspiration and the absolute minimum. In the following, the individual measures are divided according to company size. You can find a more detailed look into the different industries in a previous post about industry-specific SEO.
SEO for sideline
Does someone selling keychains on Etsy need SEO? Once you have a website for your project, you also need to think about SEO. SEO for your own site makes sense if only so that you can send your customers and contacts to your own site instead of to your account on Instagram, Google Maps, or even Etsy. All of your accounts can be linked to your website that way. Here you can showcase the different offers. Your website should be easy to navigate and get all the relevant information for your potential customers. Of course, marketplaces and referral sites are also very valuable depending on your venture. In any case, you need to search for the right keywords to reach the customers of your niche. Name your products and services very specifically to be found without competing with the big players.
SEO for small business
Small businesses should also design their website clearly. Google rewards it when customers find what they are looking for. Fill your website with text that clearly communicates to your customers and Google what services or products are offered here. Focus on different keywords (search terms) on different pages to avoid cannibalization.
Depending on the type of business, Local SEO is indispensable. Actually, the Internet is worldwide: I could call up the page of a Rosenheim shoe store from Sri Lanka or Kenya, too. However, if you own a shoe store in Rosenheim without an online store, prospective customers from Sri Lanka are of no use to you. Local SEO starts here and tries to place you well on Google Maps, for example, so that your local customers can easily find your physical location.
SEO for medium-sized businesses
The two most important elements for SEO are content and backlinks. As a medium-sized company, you can focus here. Content means content and in SEO mostly stands for texts that serve for SEO placement. In addition to constantly expanding SEO texts on subpages, it is recommended for companies with the necessary staff to establish a blog. Blogs are good for all keywords that are important for your subject area, but do not necessarily encourage purchases. For example, for a jeans online store, "jeans sizes" doesn't necessarily lead someone to buy a pair of jeans on the page where they find the info. But the page views and brand recognition are still valuable. Also, internal links can be placed on blog pages, which is beneficial for SEO. A blog does a lot of work if it is filled properly and regularly. After all, each post needs keyword research and a length that can keep up with the competition. Therefore, this is often the point where our clients come to us as a Content and SEO agency come to you. Because we help with careful planning and optimized texts.
Another point where companies often need the assistance of an SEO agency is technical SEO. There are a lot of big and small technical hurdles that cause your website to be penalized by Google. These are, for example, long loading times or broken links. A SEO Agency has the experience and the necessary tools to quickly find such obstacles. She can also support you with all the other measures discussed so far.
Let's get back to the backlinks mentioned above. Google evaluates it positively when other pages link to your page. This signals a certain authority in this subject area. Not all links are of equal value. It is especially valuable to be linked by trustworthy and established sites like the Süddeutsche Zeitung or Wikipedia. These external links come partly organically, but are often hard work.
SEO for large corporations
In large corporations there are own employees/departments for SEO and/or an external SEO agency. All previous points are relevant, only with more budget and a higher demand for perfection. One direction that has not been mentioned yet is SEO as a sustainable recruiting measure. When a potential candidate searches for possible jobs, he should find your company.
Advantages of SEO
Haven't we convinced you yet why SEO is important? Or do you still need arguments for more SEO budget? Then finally, take a look at the SEO benefits in detail!
More traffic and more customers
This obvious SEO benefit is probably the origin of most SEO measures. Good content brings more traffic to the site and a good ranking for relevant keywords ensures more customers.
Sustainable effects
Paid search results (SEA) can also ensure more customers. BUT: The effects are only relevant as long as advertising is placed. SEO is a much more sustainable option here. After all, a well-optimized page can produce more customers and traffic for years to come.
Cost effective successes
These sustainable successes make SEO very cost-efficient. We sometimes observe absurd costs per click via Google Ads. This makes SEA increasingly unattainable for smaller budgets and inefficient for many keywords. The last two reasons for SEO therefore go hand in hand. Because more sustainable successes ensure more cost efficiency in the long run.
Part of a digital world
But the competition doesn't just drive up Google Ads prices. If the others do good SEO, but you don't, you leave the market to them. On the other hand, if the others do bad SEO, your company can stand out. Don't leave any clicks to the competition and get the traffic and customers yourself.
Measurable changes
These SEO benefits can also be measured. Which keywords lead users to which page? The accurate and diverse data available with SEO leads to many opportunities to try out and evaluate changes.
Reaching convinced customers
It has a real advantage to rank well for specific keywords, such as "cordless hedge trimmer". Because you don't have to convince the potential customer of the advantages of a cordless hedge trimmer. After all, he probably wants to buy it, otherwise he wouldn't have googled it. So you reach your customers with a directness that you can only dream of on social media or in billboard advertising. There, you first have to awaken in people the need for a cordless hedge trimmer.
Discover customer needs
Let's stay with the needs of the customers. An examination of keywords also always allows a trip into the desires of the searching masses. When doing keyword research for your garlic bread recipe, for example, you notice that "garlic bread with cheese" is searched for a lot, which might be a good idea for the next recipe. Assortment and content can thus be adapted to the consumer and justified with numbers.
Create trust
When someone hands you a flyer, you don't necessarily know how trustworthy that company is. If, on the other hand, you Google "buy buttons online," you usually assume that the top results are the best ways to buy buttons online. In this case, the trust that the user has in Google transfers to the websites in the results. Is this user trust in Google always justified? We would definitely have counterexamples. But the fact is: Google wouldn't have made it this far if the results were completely off.
Trust is important to us at Coco. Therefore we have trustworthy SEO texts dedicated an entire article to it.
