Greatest challenges for small business SEO marketing

Small businesses have a lot to contend with, whether you are at the start-up stage or have established a few brick-and-mortar locations. SEO is just another side of marketing and website maintenance that you need to think of - its importance is huge!

Sometimes, there's a misconception that optimising your content is a job only for larger organisations. However, this is far from the truth! In fact, you can establish your business's digital footprint much more quickly by utilising SEO sooner rather than later. 

But first, we talk about why small business SEO marketing is important in general. 

Why bother optimising your site? 

SEO, which stands for Search Engine Optimisation, is a function that's used to increase a brand's visibility online. 

While optimising is most effective for increasing website organic traffic from search engines (as the name suggests) like Google and Bing, you'll find that you can also utilise tactics to improve social traffic and AI chat referrals to your site. 

For any businesses that rely on a strong digital presence, this will likely be the most important; it's essential that you know where your site traffic is coming from. Organic search is just one route - below Zeropark breakdowns how traffic is categorised. 

Why is it important to know where your traffic comes from? And most crucially, which traffic is converting the most into customers? 

Then, you can build a marketing plan which pulls more resources into the tactics that are working rather than those that aren't. Equally, you might be able to spot channels that have the potential to grow but don't have the resources needed to do so. 

What challenges can you expect? 

SEO isn't straightforward for any business, let alone a small one. You'll already have the stress of handling financial, sales, and marketing resources, so optimising might not always feel like a priority. 

It is, however, essential for growth. 

We explore some of the bigger challenges you'll come across on the road to building a fully optimised digital footprint. 

Not having the skills

One of the most obvious difficulties is simply not having the skills within your business. 

SEO is a very particular form of content marketing, unlike email, social media, etc. Because of this, you need a very particular skill set to optimise well.

Skills and knowledge include:

• Understanding how search engines work

• keyword research

• content strategy

• link building

  
  

If you are building websites, managing blogs, selling products or services online, or working in fields like digital marketing, content writing, e-commerce, or social media management, SEO is extremely valuable and often essential. It helps improve your site's visibility on search engines, attract more visitors, and drive growth.

Overall, SEO is a powerful skill in today's digital landscape. Whether you need it depends on how much your work or projects rely on attracting organic traffic online.

Understanding technical vs on-page

One important skill difference when considering SEO is on-page optimisation vs technical seo - they both fall under the same umbrella, and both are very different skills. 

As a small business, it's important to know the distinction because both are crucial to creating highly ranked content. The differences are: 

• On-page includes features like titles, meta descriptions, titles and internal linking. As the name indicates, it highlights all the things you can do to optimise one particular page of your website; often, you'll find these skills linked with experienced content writers or 'seo writers'

• Technical features include site speed, indexing, mobile responsiveness, and site health. Improving these things means creating a healthier website overall - and Google likes this! So, just like on-page, improving technical can increase your chances of ranking. 

Knowing how much expertise costs

If you haven't realised by now, SEO skills are vast, and you'll come across a range of experiences when looking for support online. 

It's tempting to get lured into grand claims from expensive agencies that guarantee things like '10 x top 3 ranking keywords in 3 months. Please be wary when it comes to metrics, as it's very easy to cherry-pick numbers that, while sound impressive, might not have that much impact on your business. 

Instead, smaller agencies tend to be much more proactive and transparent when it comes to small businesses. Bear in mind that it can take months to rank, but realism is always better than lofty claims. 

Keeping up with changing algorithms

Algorithms are changing constantly, whether it's a large Google update or a self-improving AI chatbot. You might be surprised to learn about how important these shifts are; in fact, they can totally change your content strategy depending on what content the algorithm wants to see more of. 

For example, in the Google update of March 2024, some sites lost up to 60% of their traffic as the update was set to prioritise discussion boards, such as Reddit, as well as websites that had strong social media presences - adding authority to a brand. 

You can read more about that here: Google Search: New updates to address spam and low-quality results.

Do the groundwork 

Good SEO doesn't happen in a vacuum; you need to know about your competition, search volumes, and other data that can help inform your strategy. 

It's worth conducting:

• Internal keyword analysis

• Competitor analysis

• Content audit

• Customer profiling 

  
  

Especially, as a small business, you don't have the luxury of throwing huge amounts of resources at keyword research and hoping something lands. Instead, it's better to prioritise quality over quantity (just like Google does) and rank on high-priority keywords. 

Getting the right tech

It's likely you'll find that you don't have all the data you need when trying to complete the above bullet list. For instance, where are you going to do your keyword research?

You'll need to use a digital tool that makes optimising as effortless as possible. Each SEO tool has its pros and cons, so it may depend on your overall content strategy and the sector you're currently working in. Some examples of good tools are:

• Semrush

• Moz

• Ahrefs

• Similarwebs

  
  

Going without any tools whatsoever is almost an impossible route to ranking, not to mention organic research will take much longer and use many more resources. 

Waiting too long 

SEO can't be done overnight. One mistake many businesses make is waiting too long to start optimising their content. 

The reality is that SEO is a long-term strategy that requires consistency, patience, and time. Realistically, it can take several months before you begin to see meaningful improvements in your rankings, traffic, and overall visibility. 

Search engines need time to crawl, index, and evaluate the quality and relevance of your content. The sooner you start optimising, the sooner you can begin building authority, attracting organic traffic, and gaining a competitive edge in your industry.

Not utilising local SEO

Local seo is the process of optimising your online presence to attract more business from relevant local searches on Google and other search engines. These searches typically include location-based keywords like "coffee shop near me" or "dentist in [city]."

Key elements of local SEO include:

• Google Business Profile optimisation (formerly Google My Business)

• Local citations (your business listed on directories like Yelp, Yellow Pages)

• Online reviews (especially on Google and industry-specific platforms)

• Local keyword targeting (e.g., "best plumber in Brooklyn")

• NAP consistency (Name, Address, Phone Number across all platforms)

  
  

For small businesses that really rely on local customer support, utilising these keywords should be part of your strategy. 

Final thoughts on small business SEO marketing

SEO is essential for businesses because it increases visibility and drives organic traffic to your website without the ongoing cost of paid ads.

When potential customers search for products or services online, businesses that appear at the top of search engine results are more likely to be trusted and chosen.

Effective SEO helps improve your website’s relevance, user experience, and authority, all of which contribute to higher rankings. It also gives small businesses a chance to compete with larger brands locally or globally. In the long run, SEO leads to sustainable growth, more qualified leads, and increased revenue opportunities.

Learn more about how to find seo support here.