Here's why SEO offers a great opportunity for small businesses

One of the principal challenges of running a small business is wearing many hats. You may find yourself printing up ads, stocking inventory, managing benefits, hiring staff, handling customer service, and more. And these days, with so much business taking place online, you may find yourself moonlighting as a digital marketer as well.

If so, a basic grasp of Search Engine Optimization (SEO) can go a long way. When customers type a search term into Google or Bing, they’re presented with a list of web pages related to the “keywords” typed in.

Search engines send out bots that analyze web pages, looking at both the topic and the quality of content. Using complicated algorithms, they categorize and rank web pages, assigning them Search Engine Rankings.

Through SEO, business owners can make their content more appealing to search engines. This, in turn, means they show up higher in the rankings. Moz found that the first page of Google search results reel in over 70 percent of clicks, so a high ranking is important.

Getting to the top of search engines for national or global terms, like “best car 2022” is extremely difficult. Many big companies, such as Ford, and big publications, like MotorTrend, staff entire teams that produce SEO content.

When it comes to “best burger in Atlanta” or “best barber in Spokane,” you face less competition. That local pizza parlor or barbershop probably doesn’t have a team of content producers on hand. This makes it easier for ambitious local businesses to get to the top of search results.

Also, search engines are good at predicting when people need local results. If you’re in Chicago and google “best donuts,” you’ll be shown local results. The best donuts in Detroit aren’t useful for someone in the Windy City.

Add it all up, and small businesses are perhaps in the best position to take advantage of SEO.