In this episode of the Digitally Overwhelmed Podcast, I talk about something that’s really close to my heart — the importance of SEO for small businesses.
Over the years, I’ve seen how search marketing can help business owners feel more grounded and confident in their visibility, even as social media algorithms and marketing trends constantly shift. SEO gives you a stable foundation — a home on the internet that continues to grow and evolve with your business.
I also share a more personal story about how search played a powerful role during a difficult time in my life, and why I believe so deeply in the value of helping people find what they’re looking for online.
Whether you’re just starting to dip your toes into SEO or you’ve been wondering how it fits into your current marketing, my hope is that this conversation gives you a new perspective on why it still matters — and how it can complement everything else you’re already doing.
At the end of the episode, I share a bit more about my newest hybrid service, the SEO Season Society, which combines one-on-one consulting with a membership platform designed to help small business owners and their teams feel clear and confident around keywords and content — without having to become SEO experts.
There are some distinct benefits to SEO for your small business.
1) Google is the place where people most often look for answers
SEO helps people find you when they look for answers on Google. I’m so passionate about this. Picture someone out there who’s really craving something. They open the browser and search it, and you come into their life at that perfect time.
You’ve probably had an experience of something coming to you at just the right time. It feels like divine timing. And that feeling is compounded by the fact that search is often used in a moment of crisis.
Last year, I had some health stuff come up. I was in so much pain that I actually went to the ER four times to figure out what was going on. In the end, a Google search was what led me to a website that had a service that gave me answers I couldn’t get at the ER. That service gave me so much tranquillity, and I\’m just so, so grateful to Google for giving me that.
There are people out there who are directly searching for what you have to offer. SEO brings those people to you. You just have to provide some content for them to find, whether it’s informational content or just a sales page.
2) Diversifying your marketing strategies will help you reach more people
Maybe you have a great following on Instagram or Facebook. However, it\’s not a good idea to put all of your eggs in one basket. By implementing SEO on your website, you’ll reach more and different audiences.
There is a large portion of your audience that is probably not on social media, or maybe is not on it very much. This is especially true if you’re targeting a certain age group, like some of the older generations.
Think of strengthening your presence on Google as a great compliment to the rest of your marketing. It’ll just make sure that you’re accessible to more of the people who need you.
3) SEO produces consistent and long-lasting results
When you’re focusing on marketing via social media, you have to create content all the time. You also have to pay attention to trends and be responsive to them. Search marketing is not really like that. You can create a great piece of content, and it’ll drive traffic to your site for years. For many of my clients, it\’s so calming to know that their website is continuously attracting business and sales.
Plus, SEO is one of the few marketing techniques that continues to improve over time. I’m not saying that just randomly writing on your website is going to necessarily get you results, but when you\’re doing SEO with a strategy and you’re aware of your keywords, you’ll see improvement over time.
In fact, you could actually have a website that is kind of old and is still ranking highly.
Of course, Google may evolve as well. But, the purpose of the platform is unlikely to change. At the end of the day, your content is still going to rank.
So, you can see why SEO is a great addition to the rest of your marketing. If you enjoyed this article and you’re just kind of dipping your toe into the search marketing world, check out episode 152 of my podcast. The episode goes into more detail about creating a marketing plan that combines SEO with the rest of your marketing.
You also might want to listen to check out this blog post, which explains step-by-step how to approach your SEO. Lastly, this post describes some small business SEO use cases in 2021. This is a great resource to check out if you’re interested in knowing how search marketing can impact your business results and goals down the line.
Wherever you are in your SEO journey, please share in the comment below! I want to hear all about it 💖