By now, most local businesses have invested in or are beginning to invest in creating a better online presence for their brand. This ranges from actions as simple as creating a social media account for the business, getting featured on local websites and blogs, even all the way up to hiring a dedicated Search Engine Optimization (SEO) consultant, so that their business can rank higher in search engine results. Businesses that have neglected online advertising and marketing are finding it harder to compete for potential customers against businesses that have a robust online presence and optimized SEO to rank highly. But you may be asking, “What makes SEO for businesses in Santa Rosa Beach, Destin, Panama City Beach, etc. any more important than anywhere else in the country?”
A Tourism Economy
What separates our area from the majority of the U.S, is that we have an economy that is primarily dependent on tourism from the summer months (May-August). What implications does this have for entrepreneurs and local business owners? In effect, the majority of your yearly revenue is generated by the vacationers that come here to see the beautiful white sand beaches of the Emerald Coast. Unless they are returning to our area again, this mass influx of tourists will most likely be relying on internet searches to find the local business they will enjoy while staying in 30A, Destin, PCB, etc. Therefore, it’s imperative that your business is ready to capitalize off of this massive wave of customers by already having a good web presence, which leads into my next point –
SEO takes time
While some SEO consultants claim that they can get your business amazing results in “as little as 3-6 weeks”, 99% of cases are not going to see meaningful results in this small of a timeframe. The general consensus is that websites can see results within 4-6 months. With this information in mind, any local business that wants to take advantage of the massive influx of tourism should already be investing in some sort of SEO strategy many months BEFORE summer arrives, so that it can reap the full benefits when potential customers are doing their searches for local businesses. But in addition to good timing, there is another major factor at play when it comes to SEO’s importance in the Santa Rosa Beach business space.
Standing out from the competition
Obviously, no matter where you go, one of the main purposes of SEO is helping you rank above your competitors in search results, but this becomes even more important in an economy where there are loads of businesses all competing in the same niches. Let’s take for example, beach chair and beach bonfire companies. They are a dime-a-dozen along the beaches of 30A, Panama City, etc. because the beach services sector is a very profitable niche. The tourists on vacation here are flush with options when they look up “local beach chair companies” or “30A beach bonfire companies”. From my own personal experience, and I’m sure many of you can attest, we usually click on the first or second result we see because we believe it must be the best or most relevant – otherwise why would it be at the top?
Having that top spot means that you are the most likely option for potential customers to click, and hopefully buy while they are on vacation. A well engineered SEO strategy can be the difference between your business getting tons of customers, or getting outranked by a competitor in the same niche.
To conclude
A SEO strategy is a good idea regardless of the area your business is in. However, it is of heightened importance in the Santa Rosa Beach area because of our unique tourism economy, extreme influx of customers that come in the summer, and high levels of competition in profitable niches.
If you’d like some help in propelling your business’s online presence forward this summer, get in contact with us over at 30A Web Solutions, and see how our local SEO and web design solutions can help you and your business reach new heights this summer.