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In part 1 of Why sooner is better for small business SEO we discussed the benefits of SEO in regards to developing niches and the advantages of establishing age early. In this section we’ll focus on how establishing SEO in a small business earlier rather than later will help us better understand customers, avoid spending unnecessary resources and learning to do it yourself.

Understanding your customers

• One of the most integral parts of implementing SEO in your web presence is extensive keyword research. You want to find and utilize the keywords that your customers are using to find products and services that you offer. This research is more often than not quite eye opening, and as a business owner you likely have many preconceptions regarding the ways your customers find you, often times wrong. Becoming involved in keyword research will help you understand what your customers are looking for. These could be products that you may not be offering or possibly, something you are offering but are calling it the wrong name.

Affordability during earlier stages

• Deciding to take on SEO practices earlier rather than later will also save you money on the bottom line. In the earlier stages of the web site design phase you can build your site to be SEO friendly. If you were to wait until much later in the life of the business a redesign of your website to become more SEO friendly would cost a great deal.

Learning to Do it Yourself

• In initial stages of almost any project small businesses tend to take on a good portion of the work load in-house. SEO practices should be no different. The advantages of starting early allow the small business to learn as they grow rather than having to spend great deals of resources either hiring an outside SEO firm or by trying to learn when the company is larger and there is much more at stake.

As a small business owner, capital and time are typically the most precious resources. Deciding where to allocate these valuable assets can often be a tedious task. With so many options available to you, putting your resources into the activities that can grow your business effectively can mean the difference between coming out on top or sinking to the bottom.

SEO, or Search Engine Optimization, isn’t typically the type of expenditure that an emerging small business thinks of in the early stages of development but there are several reasons why doing SEO early can greatly benefit an organization in the long run.

· D     Developing Niches

o As companies grow markets tends to decide which products and services are the most valuable to them, often without any guidance from the company themselves. Unique offerings can appeal to specific niche markets that the company may not have anticipated. By using SEO before these niche markets fully develop you capitalize most of the market exposure on the search engines before competitors join the niche. Getting your roots down early will establish your organization as an authority in the marketplace.

· B     Building Age

o Age of links is a very influential factor in search engine ranking. The sooner that you can start building links the sooner those links can start passing benefit. This thought process will also get you in the habit of thinking of ways to leverage your content as you build it rather than saying “We will adjust this for SEO at a later date”.

In part two we’ll discuss how good SEO will help you further discover and understand your market.