How Does SEO Help Small Businesses Increase Visibility, Traffic, and Sales?
- Rhiannon
- Oct 24, 2022
- 14 min read
Updated: 5 days ago
SEO (Search Engine Optimisation) helps websites get found in organic search engine results. So, when someone searches for something in Google, Etsy, YouTube or any search engine, algorithms use various signals to decide which listings or website pages appear and where. By working on your SEO, you can help your small business website appear on the first page of Google Search results, without you having to pay for ads. This article outlines 10 ways SEO helps small businesses increase their visibility, website traffic and sales organically.
TL; DR: In a hurry? Here's a quick summary:
SEO helps small businesses increase their visibility, website traffic, and sales organically. Whilst SEO is not an immediate fix, it can build momentum and drive fantastic results when applied consistently over a period of time. This makes SEO a cost-effective long-term marketing channel for small businesses and independent brands. Here are 10 ways in which SEO helps small businesses:
SEO helps your small business get found by customers who are ready to buy
SEO can help you get found by customers who are researching a topic, problem, or need
SEO can help your small business get found locally
SEO can help you connect with your target audience by allowing you to demonstrate your real-life experience
SEO can help you showcase your niche expertise
SEO can help you build your authority as a go-to expert
SEO can help you establish your brand as trustworthy
SEO can help you convert high-intent search engine users who are ready to buy
SEO can help you convert low-intent search engine users over the medium to long term
SEO can help you maximise your website as a revenue-generating asset that captivates, connects with, and converts your target audience for years to come
These 10 benefits of SEO to small businesses can be broken down into three key areas:
SEO helps your small business captivate your target audience when they look for products, services, and information in search engines
SEO helps you connect with your target audience, helping to establish trust and authority with prospective customers or clients
SEO helps you convert your target audience into customers or clients over the short, medium, and long-term
Essentially, SEO helps small businesses grow at every stage of the buyer journey, from initial awareness, through the consideration stage, right through to decision and purchasing. This makes SEO an ideal marketing channel for small businesses that want to grow organically and sustainably.
What is SEO?
SEO stands for search engine optimisation — so when you carry out SEO, you are trying to get your website to rank higher in the organic search engine results. The higher your website appears in the search results, the more likely people are to visit it. SEO can apply to any platform that uses a search engine, such as Etsy, Amazon, YouTube or Pinterest. However, I specialise in SEO for Google Search, so that is what this guide is all about.
Example: An independent online retailer sells their own brand of equestrian riding tights and base layers. They would probably want their website to appear in the search engine results when people search for “riding tights” and “equestrian base layers”, for example. To make this happen, relevant pages of the website would need to be optimised for those keywords.
When you carry out SEO on your website, you are telling search engines that the website (or specific pages on that website) are relevant to certain keywords or search terms.
How Does The Google Search Algorithm Work?
Google Search uses an algorithm to decide which content to display to users, and for which search terms.
Every time you Google something, the algorithm sifts through all the website pages that mention the keywords you have used, and chooses which ones to present to you. This all happens in a microsecond, every time you run a search query!
The Google algorithm uses several factors (or signals) to determine how to rank website pages. There is much debate surrounding how many ranking signals there are, and how much weight each one carries. It's likely there are several hundred ranking signals, but you don't need to know all of them.
The key thing to remember is that Google wants to serve "helpful content" to its users - that is content that satisfies the user's query with relevant, accurate, authentic information. So, your aim when trying to SEO your website is to provide the most helpful content for people who are searching for your target keywords.
I have provided more information on how to search engine optimise your website with my beginner's guide on how to create an SEO strategy.
Note: SEO is changing. With the growth of answer engines, as well as Google's new AI Overviews, the specifics of SEO are evolving. However, the core principles remain the same.
How Does SEO Help Small Businesses?
Your target audience uses search engines to find information, products and services. SEO helps your small business website rank (show up, or appear) in the search engine results (SERPs, or search engine results pages) for relevant search queries.
SEO can work very effectively for small businesses that want to get found online by their target audience when they are actively looking for information, products or services. It does not rely on catching the attention of social media "doom scrollers" or "going viral" in the same way that a social media post would.
Here are some examples of the types of information your target audience might by searching for, along with some examples of search queries:
Answers to questions (e.g. "how does SEO work?")
Instructions (e.g. "how to tack up a horse")
Inspiration (e.g. "Cheltenham Festival outfit ideas")
Motivation (e.g. "2024 business plan" or "small business ideas")
Products or services (e.g. "equestrian base layer" or "content marketing services")
Local businesses (e.g. "plumber in Newbury")
By creating website pages and blog posts that answer your target audience's search queries, you can help your small business get more visible online.
3 Ways SEO Helps Your Small Business Get Found Online
When you carry out SEO on your website, you can target high intent "commercial" keywords, which describe products or services, and low intent "informational" keywords, which include questions. This means you can target people at various stages of the buyer journey, from cool prospects carrying out initial research, to hot leads actively looking to make a purchase.
There are 3 main ways in which SEO can help your small business get found online:
SEO can help your small business get found by people who are actively looking to buy now (high intent searches)
SEO can help your small business get discovered by people who could become clients or customers later (low intent searches)
SEO can help your small business get found by people looking for local products or services
For a deeper look at how to captivate your target audience with SEO, check out my blog post on how to increase your small business website's organic visibility with SEO and blogging.
SEO Helps Your Website Get Found By People Who Are Ready to Buy Now
Getting your website in front of people who are actively looking for the products or services you offer can help you make sales more quickly. By optimising your website for commercial keywords that describe what you sell, you have a valuable opportunity to target high-intent buyers and drive sales through your website.
Examples of high-intent commercial keywords include "tweed coat", "seo services" and "gun dog training services". Notice how each of these terms directly describes a product or service, and would be used by someone who is interested in making a purchase or enquiring in the near future.
Targeting high-intent commercial keywords can result in a higher conversion rate for your small business. However, these keywords are often very competitive, so it may take much longer for your website to rank for some of the more generic, higher search volume keywords. Therefore, it is a good idea to choose your commercial keywords carefully, and also target low intent informational keywords.
If you want to learn more about choosing SEO keywords for your small business website, check out my guide to SEO keyword research for small businesses.
SEO Helps Your Website Get Found By People Who May Buy Later
Targeting low intent informational keywords can help you to increase your small business website's organic visibility more quickly, because these keywords tend to be less competitive and easier to rank for than commercial keywords.
Optimising your website for informational keywords through informative and engaging blog posts can help your website get found by people who are interested in your offers and may one day become clients or customers. Examples of informational keywords include "what to wear to cheltenham festival", "how to do seo" or "how to crate train a dog". People who search for these keywords are not actively looking to make a purchase just yet, but they could be nurtured towards becoming a client or customer.
Targeting informational keywords gives you opportunities to build your credibility, nurture your audience, educate them, and inspire them. You can then nurture these website visitors towards making a purchase.
It is important to strike a balance between targeting commercial and informational keywords. Where commercial keywords are more likely to lead to sales, they can be more difficult to rank for. On the flip side, informational keywords can be easier to rank for, but they won't drive sales as quickly.
SEO Helps Your Website Get Found Locally
Depending on the nature of your small business, many of your clients or customers could be local to you. If you offer in-person services (e.g. plumbing, gardening, building, floristry, etc) or you have a bricks-and-mortar business (e.g. hotels, cafes, venues, shops), then local SEO is likely to be highly effective and relatively easy.
Local keywords include a location or "near me". Here are some examples of local SEO keywords:
"wedding florist near me"
"dog training in Newbury"
"plumber in Reading"
"hotels near Southampton"
"country clothing shop in Hampshire"
One big advantage of targeting these keywords is that not only are they high intent, but they are usually much less competitive than generic keywords that are not location-based. So, if it makes sense for your business to target local keywords, this could be a good opportunity to get your website visible and make sales quickly.
To find out more about local SEO, check out my guide to local SEO for small businesses, and the five things your small business website needs if you want to get found locally. I've also written an in-depth guide on the importance of local SEO to small businesses.
4 Ways SEO Can Help Your Small Business Nurture Your Target Audience
SEO is often overlooked when it comes to audience nurturing. However, SEO (especially blogging) can help you connect with and nurture your target audience, by allowing you to demonstrate your experience, showcase your expertise, build your authority, and foster trust.
There are four main ways in which SEO (specifically, blogging) can help you connect with your target audience:
SEO and blogging help you demonstrate your real-life experience
SEO and blogging allow you to showcase your niche expertise
SEO and blogging help you build your authority as the go-to expert
SEO and blogging help you nurture trust
I've gone into more depth on this subject in my guide to connecting with your target audience through blogging.
SEO and Blogging Help You Demonstrate Your Real-Life Experience
You can use blog content to demonstrate your real-life experience in your subject area. By including your professional and personal experiences in your blog posts, you are creating authentic content that can't be found anywhere else on the internet. This is something Google looks for in its search for quality content. Furthermore, seeing that you have real-life experience in the subject area you are writing about will help your audience trust and relate to you.
An example of real-life expertise could be a dog trainer who writes about how they helped one of their clients crate train their dog. They could outline the problems this client faced in trying to train their own dog, and how the trainer helped them to overcome these difficulties.
Another example could be an independent retailer blogging about what they chose to wear to Cheltenham Festival, and why they chose that outfit. Perhaps they chose a particular coat because it's nice an warm, and maybe they chose flat shoes over heels because they know it's a long day out with lots of walking and standing.
Incorporating your relevant real-life experiences and examples into your blog content helps you connect with the people you want to help. You can also include this type of content in your website About page, as well as on your homepage. Furthermore, you can create case studies to highlight how you have helped clients with specific challenges.
See below for some examples of case studies I wrote for my own business:
SEO and Blogging Can Help You Showcase Your Niche Expertise
When you create blog content for your small business website, you are aiming to establish yourself as the go-to expert in your niche. Blogging presents a fantastic opportunity for you to demonstrate your niche expertise, as you inform and educate your target audience.
You can demonstrate your expertise by writing blog posts that answer common questions. Many informational keywords are questions or "how to's", and you can use these keywords to educate your target audience and show them that you are the go-to expert in your niche.
For example, this blog post educates my target audience of small business owners on how SEO can help their small business. I'm providing value, whilst demonstrating my expertise in this niche. An independent country fashion retailer could demonstrate their niche expertise with a blog post about what to wear shooting, or what to wear to Cheltenham Festival. These events both have specific dress codes, requirements, or expectations, so you can demonstrate niche expertise by highlighting why certain items are recommended, and why others are not.
Creating educational blog content that provides value to your target audience helps to build trust, as you are showing them that you know what you're talking about. You are also giving them a reason to keep coming back to your website, and to subscribe to your email list for more value and new content alerts.
SEO and Blogging Build Your Authority as the Go-To Expert
SEO can help you build your authority in the eyes of your human audience, as well as search engines and answer engines. By getting backlinks - links from other websites back to your own website - you can increase your website's authority in the eyes of Google and your audience. This is sometimes referred to as "domain authority" in SEO circles.
Good quality backlinks can include directory listings relevant to your niche, guest articles for reputable and relevant niche websites, and mentions on other reputable websites that cite your website as a source of information and link back to it.
Building your authority through backlinks is key to establishing yourself as an expert in your subject area, because people (and search engines) will often see "social proof" as an important trust signal.
SEO and Blogging Help You Build Trust Among Your Audience
SEO and blogging can also help you build trust among your target audience. Building trust comes from demonstrating experience, expertise, and authority, but it also comes from having accurate and up-to-date details, information, and testimonials or reviews on your website.
Having lots of 5 star Google reviews on your Google Business page can also help to improve your website's organic visibility, especially for local searches.
By having plenty of positive reviews, and accurate information on your website, you are telling your website visitors (and search engines) that your small business is active and trustworthy.
How SEO Can Help Your Small Business Make More Sales
Ultimately, SEO can help your small business convert browsers into buyers, and make more sales. By getting your website in front of the right people, and nurturing your audience, you can make more sales in the short-term and the longer-term.
There are two main ways in which SEO can help your small business make more sales, and generate more conversions:
SEO can help you convert high-intent search engine users who are looking to buy now
SEO can help you convert low-intent search engine users who aren't actively looking to buy now
SEO Can Help You Drive Conversions Now
Optimising your website for commercial search terms used by high-intent search engine users can help you make sales to people who are actively looking to make a purchase now or in the near future.
Being at the top of the organic search results for those high-intent, commercial keywords is especially important for lower-ticket items that generally require less pre-purchase consideration from the buyer. This is because consumers are more likely to make a quicker purchasing decision, without looking into the various options. Examples include small accessories, consumables, lower-ticket gifts, and impulse purchases.
Having clear CTAs (calls-to-action) on your website, such as "Buy Now" or "Book Now", you can help drive those people towards those high-value conversions such as purchases, discovery call bookings, and free trial sign-ups.
SEO Can Help You Drive Conversions Later
It isn't easy to get your website to rank for the more competitive, high-intent keywords. Therefore, optimising your website for informational keywords can help you capture your audience early in the buyer journey, so they are more likely to choose you when they are ready to purchase. This is where your educational blog content comes in.
Furthermore, the use of clear CTAs that invite website visitors to subscribe to your email list allows you to keep nurturing those people towards buying from you at a later date. By capturing those people who are early in the buyer journey, and getting them onto your email list, you can be their first choice when they come to making a buying decision.
Finally, using your informational blog content to drive readers towards relevant products or services can help them see how you could solve their problem or need. Using internal linking, you can take those early-stage online browsers through the buyer journey towards your product or service.
SEO Can Help You Maximise Your Website as a Revenue-Generating Asset
When you bring together all the benefits of SEO to your small business, you will see that search engine optimisation is a powerful tool. By helping your small business captivate, connect with, and convert your target audience, SEO maximises your small business website as a revenue-generating asset.
With SEO, you can build a business to last and free yourself from that marketing overwhelm and burnout that comes with daily social media posting. By investing time and effort into optimising your website for Google Search, you can increase the visibility of your small business, drive relevant, organic traffic to your website, and generate more conversions.
Choosing to invest in SEO for your small business also helps you build a business that can withstand social media algorithm changes, and protects you in the event that you lose access to your social media accounts (this happened to me, and it is totally worth preparing for).
SEO also releases you from the content creation hamster wheel, as you can focus on quality over quantity, and concentrate on building a bank of content that will continue to work for your business for weeks, months or years after is is initially published. This is ideal for busy small business owners who are managing their own marketing as well as running their businesses.
How I Help Small Business Owners Free Themselves from Social Media using SEO
Since 2020, I have helped many small businesses get found online and grow organically with SEO. Many of the clients I work with are introverted entrepreneurs, who want to liberate themselves from marketing burnout and maximise their website as a revenue-generating asset. I help small businesses and independent brands grow their business authentically — without exhausting launches, constant social media posting, or feeling like they have to be someone they're not.
If you want to unlock your website as your primary marketing channel, that will drive organic visibility, nurture your audience, and generate conversions for your business, then my new enrol-anytime programme, Quiet Horsepower, is for you. Coming autumn 2025, this programme is for introverted business owners who want to free themselves from the content creation hamster wheel, free themselves from social media overwhelm, and grow their business their way.
Subscribe to my newsletter to learn more about Quiet Horsepower and my other marketing consultancy services for small businesses. Or, if you're ready to explore working with me, book your complimentary discovery call today.
About the Author: Rhiannon Harradine ACIM
Rhiannon is an independent marketing consultant and Associate of the Chartered Institute of Marketing (ACIM). Since 2020, Rhiannon has helped independent UK businesses across several sectors increase their visibility, traffic, and sales organically - without running expensive ads or creating exhausting social media videos! Today, she supports introverted business owners, equine businesses, and online service providers who want to grow their businesses organically, authentically, and in alignment with their values, goals, and desires.
