Why is SEO important for a business?

For most businesses, a new customer’s first step is a search. They type what they need into Google, look at what comes up and get in touch with one of the businesses they find. SEO is the work that makes sure you’re one of them.

Here’s why that matters, and also when it shouldn’t be your first priority.

People are already looking for what you sell

Most marketing tries to catch the attention of people who weren’t thinking about you. Search is different. Someone typing “roofer near me” or “commercial cleaning Hull” already wants what you offer. They’re further along than someone scrolling past an advert, and much more likely to get in touch.

If you don’t appear for those searches, the person doesn’t stop looking. They pick a competitor who does.

Rankings keep working

When you stop paying for ads, the enquiries from them stop the same day. Rankings work differently. A page that ranks well keeps bringing in visitors long after the work that got it there, and each page that ranks adds to the next.

That doesn’t mean SEO is free once it’s done, because search keeps changing and competitors keep improving. But over time it can become a steady source of enquiries that doesn’t depend on how much you spend on ads that month.

It builds trust

Turning up in the results for the searches that matter, alongside good reviews, tells people you’re a real, established business. For a lot of customers, especially for a bigger purchase, that’s part of how they decide who to call.

It makes your website better for people too

Much of what helps a site rank also makes it easier to use: pages that load quickly, a clear structure, useful content that answers the questions customers have. Doing SEO properly tends to improve how many visitors get in touch, as well as how many arrive.

Search is changing, and the basics still count

People now ask the same questions of Google, ChatGPT and other AI tools, and Google often shows an AI summary above the normal results. These tools draw on websites that explain things clearly and accurately. The groundwork that helps you rank, like clear pages, accurate business details and content that answers real questions, also gives them something to use when they mention a business.

What happens when it goes wrong

The clearest way to see why SEO matters is to see what happens when it disappears. John Morton, a close-up magician in Lincolnshire, ran his business on being found for magician searches across Hull, Lincoln, Grimsby and beyond. During lockdown his hosting failed, the site went down and he went from the top of the results to nowhere.

Getting him back meant repairing the site, moving it somewhere reliable, rebuilding the pages that had ranked before and adding pages for towns he hadn’t covered. As the rankings came back, so did the bookings. For a business like his, being found on Google is a large part of how the work comes in.

When SEO isn’t the priority

SEO isn’t the right answer for every business at every moment:

• If nobody searches for what you sell yet, perhaps because it’s a new type of product, there’s little search demand to win.
• If you need enquiries this week, SEO is too slow on its own. Google Ads can bring in work straight away while the SEO builds.
• If your website is putting people off, fixing that first will do more than sending extra visitors to it.

We’d rather tell you that than sell you SEO you don’t need.

Where to start

The first step is finding out what people search for in your line of work, how hard those searches are to rank for and how your site measures up. That shows whether SEO is worth doing for your business and where the quickest wins are.

If you’d like us to take a look, get in touch or read more about our SEO work. Hull businesses can read about SEO in Hull.