Search engine optimization (SEO) is what increases your chances of being found when customers search for a product or service like yours with Google, Bing, and other search engines. If a customer is using a search engine to find what they need and you don’t show up, you don’t exist.

Why local SEO matters

There are many ways to get the word out about your business: phonebook ads, flyers, radio commercials, paid online ads, and more. But all of those things cost money.

On the other hand, if customers find your business while using a search engine it’s like free website traffic (also called organic traffic). Though you may spend some time optimizing your website, you’re not paying for each new lead like with pay-per click (PPC) advertising.

SEO is important because it is the most cost-effective way to bring in new customers that your business. So why don’t more people do it? SEO takes time and patience to do right. Most people just want fast results and aren’t willing to invest the time, but it never happens over night.

Here’s an example

This concept is particularly important for local businesses. If you’re a painter, customers won’t find you by typing ‘painter’ into Google because this is such a general term and there are going to be millions of websites that have the term “painter” within it. But if you’re a painter in Whippany and customers type in ‘whippany painter’ there’s a much better chance they’ll find you because the search is looking through all of the websites that have painter and whippany within its content.  This is how local SEO works.