A recent survey of 600 small business owners and their employees in the United States and Canada found that 57% do not have an SEO strategy and 23% have no plans to create one this year. I was.
According to Pollfish research commissioned by UpCity, only 44% of companies have an SEO strategy in place today, and 34% will make it a priority in 2022.
While the relatively small sample size is notable, these findings are surprising given nearly two years of pandemic-related economic turmoil and business uncertainty.
Internet traffic grew 40% globally in 2020 as lockdowns, fears and business restrictions dramatically changed consumer information needs and shopping behaviors.
Search interest in SEO skyrocketed early in the pandemic, reaching unprecedented heights. This is because the company has rushed to be discovered by customers who are suddenly searching for nearby solutions such as food delivery, online his banking, healthcare appointments, home his office supplies and more.
Interest in SEO remains strong as it permeates not only as a valuable marketing channel, but also as a primary source of customer insight in an era when historical data has proven to be of little use. .
SEO works and businesses know it.
Our exclusive State of SEO 2021 study reveals that from mid-2020 to mid-2021, 64% of surveyed SEO pros saw an increase in client site traffic.
SEJ also found that 74.3% of SEO budgets were maintained or increased during that period.
As such, UpCity’s findings that a significant number of companies do not have an SEO strategy in place are alarming, at least for the companies involved.
Key findings from UpCity’s SEO SMB research report
“Our survey found that while many respondents utilize SEO strategies, many also combine their SEO practices with PPC strategies to create synergies between the two marketing channels. ,” writes the report’s author, David J. Brin.
In fact, 50% of SMBs with SEO strategies are also investing in paid search advertising, and another 30% plan to do so this year.
Best PPC Advertising Platform
When it comes to where these small businesses are investing their PPC dollars, UpCity found:
- 28% use Google Ads
- 17% use Facebook ads
- 14% use Instagram ads
- 9% use Amazon Ads
- 9% use LinkedIn ads
Which PPC advertising platform do you use? – UpcityThe best small business analytics tool
When asked what tools small businesses use for analytics:
“We asked the community what they use for their SEO analysis.” – UpcityTop Small Business SEO Goals for 2022
When it comes to what companies most want to achieve in their SEO programs this year, UpCity has found these to be the most important goals.
- Increase your organic traffic.
- Convert more organic visitors.
- Strengthen your domain authority.
- Get more featured snippets.
- Increase brand awareness.
- Strengthen your internal linking strategy.
- Improve page speed.
- Reduce bounce and exit rates.
- Create a stronger backlink profile.
- Diversify the range of high-traffic pages.
Conversely, you can also see the bright side of UpCity’s data. 78% of companies make SEO a priority in his 2022. This is great news for them.
If you don’t plan to create an SEO strategy this year, or plan to implement one, it can become increasingly difficult to find new customers online.
You have to start somewhere.
To learn more about UpCity’s findings, read our full research report on How Small Businesses Handle SEO.
Other resources:
Featured image: Shutterstock.com/KrakenImages
