Who is a Good Candidate for SEO?

Well it really does depend. The flippant answer is everybody and while it’s true that every business really does need some form of SEO, it’s ultimately the depth of SEO requirement that needs qualification.

At the branded search query level I would argue every business needs to have a business panel presence and that is achieved with a Google Business Profile. There are other knowledge panel options such as branded or personal panels which I’ll discuss in another post.

I appreciate the service area business vs. bricks & mortar issue, however there are helpful workarounds. I think in 99% of cases, a fully optimised & managed Google business profile is attainable – whatever the business.

Don’t forget Bing Places as well which has a sync feature with your Google Business Profile.

For hyper local rural areas and those hyper-local focused businesses that live there, word of mouth still rules the roost for the majority of traders and shopkeepers as there’s no real search volume to take advantage of, thus a great looking, client friendly website, a fully optimised Google Business Profile and a number of high quality business entries on the likes of Yell, Bing Places etc should suffice in terms of online marketing efforts for many local business types.

Bottom line if your business name comes up you’re going to get ‘googled’. Make sure you’re there in all your glory with up to date information and ideally a link to a Website that you’re 100% proud of and up to date with timely, helpful information to share with your visitors.

If you’re not going to put any weight or capital behind your website in terms of appearance, authority and capabilities and simply run with those classic 1-3 page starter offerings as ‘someone told you every business needs a website‘, I would strongly advise you not to bother as your Google Business Profile will likely suffice.

In short, do it right or save your money and take the family away somewhere nice on holiday.

Pro-Tip: As soon as you want your Webpages to start showing up in the search engines for the product and/or services you offer, it’s time to get your Website in order and get serious with your digital marketing effort.

If you’re hyper-local and retail-focused i.e. a shopkeeper of some sort, you really need to consider ecommerce functionality to ensure customers have a range of options to buy from you.

Pro-Tip: Bottom line it’s now expected.

Just don’t expect to rank globally in the major search engines anytime soon.

So what is Local SEO? Well its next level up marketing beyond hyper-local rural and a significant value-play for those businesses working in the the many cities & towns across planet earth where business is increasingly more competitive and there is reasonable to considerable search volume and intent.

Local businesses tend to focus on specific geo-catchment areas in terms of where they’re prepared to work and it’s smarter to focus efforts locally if that’s all what’s required.

Questions such as city or town, large or small population do need answering as achieving high visibility online in the City of St David’s is slightly less challenging than London which incidentally should be tackled at the individual borough level to begin with and spiralling out from there.

Pro-Tip: This is in fact the correct strategy for all digital marketing effort and produces results at a quicker click etc.

Ecommerce and local businesses works very well and yes, if your website address becomes known to potential clients outside of your focused locality, folks will be able to buy from you.

Just don’t expect to rank globally in the major search engines anytime soon.

Pro-Tip: Locally-focused ecommerce should not to be confused with the nationally and internationally focused ecommerce business types where significant time and investment is required to promote online awareness.

A significant majority of ecommerce customers to local businesses have at some time actually visited the establishment.

So what is National SEO? Well its next level up marketing beyond Local SEO and a significant value-play for those businesses seeking visibility for their products and services across the entire country & beyond.

Pro-Tip: Start as if you’re focused locally and spiral out from there for a positive national presence over time.

Everybody.

Any business (locally or nationally focused) that needs to be found online whether by name or the products/services it offers.

Growth businesses & those sufficiently established that need to be found online whether by name or the products/services offered that sell on a month to month basis, needing a constant stream of quality inbound leads and those businesses who sell online seeking to reach a country-wide & beyond audience i.e. ecommerce players.