Search engine optimization is often a misconstrued marketing strategy. Most business owners have heard of SEO but only a few actually know what it is.
Regardless of the intricate complexities of Search engine optimization, the following are top reasons why SEO is essential for every business website.
#1 – SEO Delivers More Business – The main aim of any SEO campaign is to get your business website ranking on the first page of Google and other search engines for targeted search terms. But why is that important?
Simple, less than 25% of people using the search engines click past the first page. So if your business website is not showing up on the first page for your products and services, then your potential customers will not find you. That means they are seeing your competitors and patronizing them instead.
Alternatively, if your website is ranked on the first page following a successful SEO campaign, then you will receive more leads. More leads equal more customers.
#2 – SEO Builds Brand Trust & Authority – Another great benefit of achieving first page rankings in the search engines is that your business gains trust and authority.
Unlike paid advertisements where your business is required to cough up large amounts of cash to be found on the first page, organic listings have to be earned.
Google and the other trusted search engines have earned high reputations for providing relevant results for each search performed. So when your website is showing up on the first page, which can be achieved with a successful SEO campaign, then you are portraying to your clients that you are solid and can be trusted.
#3 – SEO Is An Ongoing Process – Unlike getting a website built, which is a project that has a start date and completion date, SEO is a never-ending process.
This is because the internet is the world’s largest collection of information, more and more data is being added and updated all the time. With all the internet noise your business needs to stand out. This is exactly what an effective SEO campaign can achieve for your business.
SEO is the process of continually promoting your website throughout the internet. Adding fresh new contents and earning fresh new links from reputable and relevant sites. All of which is an ongoing project that has no end.
#4 – Your Competitors Are Doing It – At the end of the day your competitors are doing their own SEO on their business websites. This allows them to reap the rewards of generating more new business and building a successful reputation. Sadly if you are not competing and keeping up, your business will fall behind.
The same would be true if you had an SEO campaign and then one day decided to stop. Your website would eventually dwindle behind all your competitors and get lost in the internet noise of new information and competitive marketing.
#5 – SEO Is an Investment That Yields a Return – A vital point to note is that SEO is not a price that you have to reluctantly pay just because your competitors are doing it. SEO is an investment, and when you have a successful SEO campaign working for your business, you can enjoy huge returns.
By now you should know a little better exactly why your business website needs an SEO strategy.
At the end of the day the competitive landscape is constantly changing, and if you are not keeping up, then you are falling behind.
I have found out that most people with a new website concentrate too much on how cool the website looks or they want a really fancy flash presentation. In my opinion, these are things that can be focused on later as they provide very little value to your website from a standpoint of SEO or converting visitors.
Check out these basic SEO statistics, and you will see that having an optimized website is the only way to commit to a long-lasting Internet presence.
· When potential visitors are searching the internet, 40% of them click on an organic search result as opposed to paid search results.
· Internet users focus more on organic search results than paid ads.
· When viewing search results, only 25% of potential visitors scroll past the 1st page of results.
· The top 2 Internet activities are email and searching
· Blogging is highly beneficial to companies. The companies that have embraced blogging have 434% more pages indexed. Any website with more indexed pages will receive more leads.
· Two types of leads – Inbound (From SEO) and Outbound (From Cold Call) the inbound leads are 61% percent lower cost than an outbound lead.
· When asked about the value of a blog to their business, 81% of businesses stated that it was an important asset.
· When driving visitors to your site, Outbrain research shows that SEO is the #1 way to drive traffic and it is 300% more effective than social media.
· Leads that are generated from SEO have a 14.6% close rate while outbound leads only boast a 1.7% close rate.
· In a study from Slingshot SEO the following results were posted for clicks on search engine positions:
o Google #1 Position – 33% of the clicks
o Bing #1 Position – 9.7% of the clicks
o Google #2 Position – 13.2% of the clicks
o Bing #2 Position – 5.5% of the clicks
o Google #3 Position – 13.14% of the clicks
o Bing #3 Position – 2.7% of the clicks
It is very plain to see that organic search engine ranking is critical to the success of your business. The alternatives to optimizing your website are:
· Paid Clicks
· Paying for Backlinks
· Advertising such as Direct mail and print ads just to name a few.
The problem with the alternatives is not only the huge cost but the longevity of your efforts. When you set up a well-optimized site, your rankings will last much longer than any type of paid advertising.
