78% of small businesses with an SEO strategy are confident they understand SEO best practices, according to a new report.
A new survey from The Manifest, found this confidence may be misplaced based on the resources and services small businesses rely on for SEO, the report concludes.
More than half (54%) of small businesses rely mostly on in-house staff for their SEO strategies, instead of seeking outside expertise. In addition, social media marketing (63%) is the most common small business SEO activity, though it has no proven impact on SEO.
Additional findings from the report include:
- More than one-third of small businesses (36%) have an SEO strategy. An additional 23% plan to create an SEO strategy in 2019.
- Twenty-eight percent (28%) of small businesses hire an SEO agency for help with their SEO strategies.
- Half or more of small businesses that hire an SEO agency include content marketing (55%), on-site optimization (54%), keyword research (54%), and local search optimization (50%) as part of their SEO strategies.
- More than three-fourths of small businesses (77%) that partner with an SEO agency invest in PPC advertising.
