Will Good SEO Drive Customer Growth?
SEO stands for Search Engine Optimization (SEO), which is the practice of increasing the quantity and quality of traffic to your website through organic search engine results. People may search online for: “local farmers near Charleston, South Carolina,” “buy pastured poultry online,” or “local CSA near me.” Of course, you want your Farm’s website and web Store to show up on the first page of their search!
Good SEO has the potential to drive new customers to your Farm - eventually. The more visitors and links from other websites and channels to your website, the more likely your website will rank higher on the search page. This process takes time and is unpredictable, so there’s no guarantee what position your website will be ranked in search results. The “search rankings” are determined by crawlers (based on search algorithms that change frequently) that routinely index all websites across many data points. Think of SEO as a real-time popularity contest at any given moment in time. If you are the new kid on the block (aka a new website), nobody knows you yet, so your popularity remains to be seen but, ideally, will increase over time.
SEO is one helpful part of your marketing strategy - just remember it takes time to show results and does not guarantee an increase in traffic. You should know that even large marketing agencies servicing massive companies with big SEO budgets will say: SEO is a moving target with no guaranteed results. SEO is not a silver bullet to attracting website traffic. While there is no certainty of SEO to drive consistent traffic, it is still a good idea to implement baseline SEO best practices.
WHAT ARE SEO BASELINE BEST PRACTICES?
There are a few best practices to put you (and keep you!) in the pathway of SEO crawlers. It doesn’t have to cost a lot and, in some cases, only requires a time commitment from you. Your efforts will help with the ongoing ‘indexing’ of your website.
(ONE-TIME) LAYING THE GROUNDWORK:
Have a Designer build your website* with SEO best practices, including user navigation, keywords, indexing titles, etc.**
Establish a consistent, beautiful brand experience across all online channels (web, email, social). Link between your channels (e.g., post a link to a hot new item on Facebook, so customers click from Facebook to your Store).**
Set up online shopping and point customers to your Store to place their orders - make sure it is an easy self-service shopping solution.** Convenient purchasing increases the likelihood that customers will return again and again. This creates traffic to your website! #goodforSEO
Sign up for Google Business here (and ask friends, family & customers to post reviews!)
Sign up for Google Console here.
If you're unsure where to start or would like to build a Farm website that implements best SEO practices, Barn2Door can help! While our Team is qualified to support your Farm, SEO can be a long process, so it can take time (and some work on your end!) for the algorithm to push your website to the top!
* When a website is first launched, it takes weeks or even months for it to be indexed, even for the first time.
** Barn2Door helps Farmers implement best practices across all channels (web, mobile, social, and email) to drive SEO traffic! Learn more.
Read: How Will Barn2Door Impact SEO for My Farm
(ONGOING) REGULAR, REPEAT BEST PRACTICES:
Post, post, post! Help drive traffic to your website and web Store through proactive communications to customers across all channels (web, social, and email)
Ask community sites or businesses who feature your products or whom you are affiliated with to include a ‘link’ from their website to your website.
Ask local bloggers or press to write a story on your Farm with links to your website.
Regularly add links to store ‘items’ or store ‘categories’ to your emails, newsletters, and social channels.
Add your website link to local farm food directories (online)
Just remember, SEO is a marathon - not a sprint. It takes time and consistent effort to establish, develop and maintain your online popularity! Think of it this way: all of your ‘proactive’ online marketing and customer engagement efforts across all channels (social, web, email) will help drive traffic and assist your SEO. Your digital communications and online store will drive traffic and help establish your website and web Store’s ongoing popularity and searchability.
Barn2Door provides an all-in-one solution to grow and manage your Farm business. If you’re curious to learn why successful Farms run on Barn2Door, watch this 5-minute video.