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Comment by josefresco | Hacker News Reader

> The only SEO you need to worry about for your own business site is "Write Good Content".

I provide SEO services to small businesses. Content creation alone is not enough, you'll eventually hit a wall. Just like creating a Facebook page/Twitter account and posting to it is not enough (anymore).

"Build it and and they will come" doesn't work on the Internet when your new website is an island in the middle of an ocean of websites. Backlinks are the other side of the coin, and while I don't' agree with the advice in this particular article you can do everything else wrong, and with good backlinks you'll rank well.

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Enough for what? I've done my share of small biz consulting, and the discussion circles around why they want a web site to begin with. Honestly, I have yet to meet a small biz owner who gives a crap about the web site for its own sake. It needs to contribute to their larger goals. That is not always growth... I've worked with folks who are already at capacity for their size and want streamlined communications, not growth. Maybe a few forms for their customers to submit info to them, make appointments, etc.

Maximizing search placement is sometimes useful for small biz sites, but it is never a goal in and of itself - it is a tool. SEO approaches need to regard it as such.

> Enough for what?

We're talking about SEO, so: "enough to increase your rank".

I agree in the larger picture there's more to consider for a small biz. But purely from a standpoint of increasing rank, content creation alone is not enough.

For small biz getting NAP (name address place) sorted and have some place to rank for your name is often the first priority.

Exactly that. Every local small business website approach needs to be tailored to the business needs of the company in question.

Some might need growth. Some, as you said, streamlined communications. I built a site for a small doctor's practice because she needed a way to inform about Covid regulations for the practice.

And her imprint needed to be in line with the legal requirements.

Nothing more. No SEO, no growth, no nothing. Too many patients already.

One needs to take the business needs into account. Always.

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