Nowadays, every company with an online presence should realise that they need a strong SEO strategy. It can be a confusing, complex subject – and it’s always evolving. However, it’s still vital that you understand the importance of SEO for your business. For example, what worked yesterday might not work tomorrow. So, for companies, both big and small, you need to stay up to speed with new developments in order to remain competitive.
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The importance of SEO for business
SEO meaning
While almost everyone acknowledges the importance of SEO, not everyone fully understands what it is. SEO stands for Search Engine Optimisation. Put simply, it’s any activity that attempts to improve search engine rankings. In other words, SEO is all about boosting your company’s online visibility and driving organic traffic. So, if you want your website to be found, you need a defined and effective SEO business strategy.
Bring your business traffic
Generating traffic is the primary function of SEO. Therefore, the higher your website ranks, the more traffic you’ll receive. Think about how you behave when you search for websites. How often do you click on sites that aren’t featured on the first page of your search results? Appearing on page one is important. And that’s a goal that holds true for all search engines – not just Google. Yes, Google holds a huge share of the global search engine market. But ranking highly on others, such as Bing, Yahoo, Baidu and DuckDuckGo, is a valuable objective, too.
Another reason for SEO in business is the quality of leads it generates. This can be done by publishing relevant content at the right length on a blog and updating this regularly. Sure, your traffic may be great – but you’ll need to convert it. Great SEO will bring you quality and well as quantity. It’s much easier to convert highly targeted users that are already actively seeking the services or products you supply. So SEO helps to make those introductions. Your offer might be great. Your website might look amazing. The demand for what you offer might be huge. But, if potential customers can’t find you, it’s game over. Therefore, use SEO to bring them to your (virtual doorstep) via expert content creation and you’re halfway there.
A sound investment
First and foremost, like every other element of your business marketing strategy, good SEO costs money. But done correctly, it’s a very cost-effective discipline. It delivers an excellent ROI, especially compared with offline advertising or other types of outbound marketing, such as cold-calling.
As already explained, SEO allows you to target people who are already looking for what your business provides. The importance of SEO is what’s known as an inbound marketing strategy. It helps you to attract customers in the right purchase mind-set. They want what you have. You aren’t interrupting their leisure time or wasting time and money, trying to sell them something they don’t desire. All you have to do is to convince them that you are the best business to purchase from.
Make it measurable
Measurability is yet another benefit of a strong SEO business strategy. There are a number of analytical tools (for example, Google Analytics) you can use that provide a range of valuable data and metrics. For example, they can tell you exactly how your customers search and where they are based. You can also discover how and when they browse, and which keywords are driving traffic. This is turn can help you to grow and develop your business successfully, both online and offline.
Build trust and credibility
Websites that rank highly in search results are considered by customers to be more credible and trustworthy. So clients feel reassured if the company they deal with appears near the top of their SERPS (search engine results pages). They may not even consciously realise it – but it’s true. In fact, many even feel that Google itself is endorsing your company or brand if it appears first. So, this aspect further enhances the importance of SEO.
Boost your brand awareness
The more often you rank highly in web searches, the more recognised your brand becomes. This also encourages consumers to trust your company, as well as boosting brand awareness.
With the right SEO, your business will appear in connection with certain keywords. This also gives the impression that your company/products are exactly what they are searching for. This can be particularly lucrative for less well-known companies. Potential customers won’t necessarily know to search for you by name – they’ll enter products or services instead. If your brand is consistently near the top of the search results, they’re more likely to become a customer. So, it’s yet another reason why smart small business SEO activity is so important.
In short, a good SEO strategy helps you become more competitive. It enables you to stand out from the crowd and communicate what you offer. Therefore, if you want to grow your business, you need to be where users are searching. An effective SEO company strategy keeps you visible among your business rivals.
Best of all, SEO extends your reach. Local SEO does exactly what you’d expect it to – respond to online demand within a specific, local vicinity. International SEO allows you to reach a global search audience and significantly expand your company presence.
A better user experience
Obviously you want your customers (both potential and existing) to have a positive experience when they visit your website. How satisfied they are usually has a direct correlation with how they perceive your business – and whether they return.
A successful SEO strategy seeks to enhance user experience and general usability. And that’s not just because it keeps your customers happy – Google likes it too. The leading search engine rewards sites that provide a positive user experience with higher rankings. So a website that’s quick and easy to navigate, with optimised on-page elements and content, is vital to commercial success.