Is SEO worth it for small businesses in 2025? (Honest answer + tips)

Why SEO is important for small businesses

Here's why SEO is worth it for small businesses. You're a small business with a website, but no one's visiting it. Should you invest your time and potentially money into SEO in 2025? The short answer is yes. SEO is still one of the most cost-effective ways to grow your business online. In this blog, we'll go into further detail and explain why SEO works, how to get started, and which tips and tools we use.

There are many reasons why SEO is important, especially for small businesses. The purpose of SEO is to improve your website's visibility in search engines such as Google. Having good SEO will help get more traffic to your website which can be converted into leads. SEO can range from the look and usability of the website to utilizing trending keywords. SEO is useful because it has shown to work time and time again. Additionally, SEO helps drive organic traffic to your website meaning it's much cheaper than spending money on advertising.

It's a good idea to consider investing in an SEO keyword tool which will help you find and keep track of top keywords regarding your business (we will go over our favourite tools later on in this blog). There can be a huge learning curve when it comes to SEO, but trust us, taking the time to learn about it will yield results. All of this to say, yes SEO is worth it for small businesses. If this is a new concept to you, don't worry. In the next section, we will be going over SEO tips that will help your small business get more traffic.

SEO tips

Now, we will quickly go over some key SEO strategies and what you can expect as you get started.

1. Content:

• When it comes to content, ensure that what you have on your website is well-organized and valuable to others. Showcase your business uniquely to stand out from the competition. The longer people stay on your website, the better your SEO will be. Therefore, make sure you website is as clean, polished, and professional as possible.

2. Keywords:

• Using an online keyword tool can help you find search terms specific to your small business. Incorporating these keywords strategically will help you rank higher in the search results. Be sure to use the keywords naturally across your content to avoid 'keyword stuffing'.
• Here are some other things to consider:
  • Make sure your keywords are accurate to your small business
  • Prioritize easy keywords (with high search volume) which will be less competitive when you're first starting out
  • Research your competition and see which keywords they use on their websites
  • Include the keywords multiple times throughout your page, but especially in the first 100-150 characters

3. Backlinks:

• Backlinks are important because your website will seem more credible which will get you closer to the top of the search results. The more backlinks you can get, the better.
• Try making connections with other small business owners who also have websites. From here, you can ask them to include your business in their website through a backlink, and you can do the same for them. For example, if you are a wedding planner, try talking to some of your contacts for wedding bouquets and give them a shoutout on your website with a link to them. They can do the same for you.

SEO tools

Learning about SEO can be a daunting task and trying to find good tools to use can be even harder. Here are some of our favourite tools we use that help with SEO not only for our business, but also for our clients.

1. Semrush:

• Semrush is a great tool to help you scope out keywords and also keep an eye on your competitors. Semrush has a Keyword Magic Tool which lets you compile all of your keywords into a single list including the monthly volume and competitiveness of each one. This makes the keywords easy to track and helps you keep an eye on monthly search trends relating to your small business.
• Semrush has four different types of search intent which allows you to understand why searchers are searching for a keyword. Each type of search intent is labeled with a letter:
  • 'I' for informational: searchers want to learn about something
  • 'N' for navigational: user is trying to find a specific page or website
  • 'C' for commercial: user is researching options before making a purchase
  • 'T' for transactional: user is ready to complete a purchase
• Semrush also provides great information on backlinks and how to use them. Additionally, Semrush will even help you compare domains and analyze website traffic.
• Overall, we highly recommend using Semrush even though it comes with a monthly fee. They also have a free version which limits the tools available and only allows for 10 keyword searches a day.

An example of what a keyword search in Semrush will look like.

2. Google Search Console:

• Google Search Console is a tool we use to help track our website traffic and analytics. It helps you break down your website's performance and also allows you to index your webpages.
• Importantly, Google Search Console helps with SEO because it tells you how many clicks and impressions your website has and which keywords have helped achieve this.
• Ultimately, Google Search Console is a great free tool that will make it easier for you to see how your website is performing.

3. Google Keyword Planner:

• Google Keyword Planner is a great tool to help you search for keywords. It will show you the search volume, competitiveness, and trends (similar to Semrush).
• While Google Keyword Planner may not be as accurate as Semrush, it's very effective for planning Google Ad Campaigns as it allows you to estimate the cost-per-click.
• Google Keyword Planner is a great tool that we use quite often.

SEO services

At Gemify, we work with small business that are just getting started online. We've seen first-hand how confusing SEO can be. This blog included the exact tools and tactics we've used to help businesses build momentum from day one.

Learning about and implementing SEO can be very time-consuming. But one thing is for certain, and that is that SEO is worth it (especially for small businesses). Luckily, there are many agencies (like us!) who know their way around SEO and can help your website soar to the top of search results.

Using the tools and tips we've mentioned have helped one of our clients double their clicks from 2,000 clicks to 4,000 clicks in under a month! So we know SEO works. Oftentimes, business owners don't have the time or knowledge to become fully engaged with SEO, which is why hiring someone who knows how it works is helpful. If you are interested in any of our SEO services, you can send us an email to contact@gemify.ca and we'd love to hear from you.

Wrap-up

SEO is definitely worth it for small businesses. Not only is it a cost-effective way for marketing, but it also helps you build traffic leading to sales. Having an online presence is very important for small business owners and SEO will help you optimize your website.

Thank you for reading today's blog. If you have any questions or concerns, please don't hesitate to send us an email. Additionally, if you have any questions about SEO or websites in general, don't be afraid to shoot us a message!