Why SEO Is Important For Your Business
We’re sure you’ve heard of Search Engine Optimization or SEO. But you may still be unsure of what SEO is exactly, why SEO is important for your business, and how to get started implementing it.
Content marketing and having a strategy to help you rank well on search engines are becoming a main component of a successful digital marketing plan.
More and more consumers are searching for information online and favoring useful, informative content over more direct advertising.
Therefore, understanding and implementing SEO is necessary for your business to stay competitive, visible, and relevant.
Continue reading to understand why SEO is important for your business and how you can implement it.
What is Search Engine Optimization (SEO)?
Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is a digital marketing practice that helps make your website visible on search engine results pages (SERP). It is made up of technical, on-page, and off-page components.
It involves adjusting and optimizing your website’s functionality, content, and content promotion in order to rank highly on SERP.
Ultimately, SEO practices are intended to work with search engine algorithms. Things the algorithms look for include a well functioning website, high-quality content including keywords, and high traffic and time on site.
The aspects that the algorithms look for are all very beneficial to your business and will help in converting more sales. Each element goes hand in hand. For example, the more traffic you bring to your site, the higher the SERP ranking, which in turn will drive more traffic!
Why SEO Is Important For Your Business
So why exactly is SEO important for your business? The majority of online activity, including product and service research, begins with search engines.
Queries (what is typed into search engines) are highly targeted; the user is specifically looking for information relating to that query.
Therefore it is valuable to provide relevant content if you have a product or service relating to the query.
Most searchers choose the first links on the page (excluding advertised links). In general, searchers will only click links one through five and very few get onto page two of SERP.
Therefore having an SEO strategy that places you high up on page one of SERP is very important. This placement will get you noticed and reward you with the benefits that SEO can bring.
Some of the things that SEO can help improve include:
Visibility
SEO gives your brand the visibility it needs to attract customers. As mentioned, the majority of online activity begins with a search query.
Therefore you want to be as visible as you can (ideally high up on page one) to ensure searchers visit your website.
Traffic
Being visible and in a good position on SERP should result in increased website traffic. In fact, organic search is generally the primary source of website traffic. Having a good SEO strategy with lots of high ranking links can bring more traffic than all other marketing efforts.
The traffic you get is also more qualified as in general, searchers are looking for exactly what you have. Even if you have the most optimized ad set, you cannot guarantee that those you reach will want your product. If someone is searching a query however, they have a present need for information and a solution to a problem.
That’s where SEO works. You can provide the info they need plus a solution so a conversion is way more likely.
Conversions
Implementing SEO can lead to more conversions. If you’re driving more traffic, that means more leads which should result in more conversions.
If 2% of your site visitors convert, increasing traffic from 10,000 to 50,000 visitors a month, for example, results in 800 more sales!
Even if you have the most optimized ad set, you cannot guarantee that those you reach will want your product.
As useful and informative content is a main element of SEO, this information can convince visitors that they need your product or service. By understanding exactly what you offer and how it will help them, visitors see more value in your offerings making a sale more likely.
Credibility and Trustworthiness
Companies with strong SEO and content strategies also tend to be more trusted. Creating informative and high-quality content builds trust. You’re more likely to trust a company that has blog posts explaining in depth what their offerings do and how they can help you.
That is compared to a website with only landing and product pages with basic information on their products or services. Other SEO components like building backlinks (when others link to pages on your website) and having a well functioning website add to trustworthiness and credibility.
User Experience
Search engine algorithms reward sites with good “UX” or user experience. To be competitive, you’ll need to ensure your website is as user friendly as possible.
You can learn some ways to improve UX in the Technical SEO section below. Ultimately SEO will force you to make your website easy to use which in turn reduces bounce rate and increases time on page. These will then also increase your ranking even more!