SEO, or search engine optimization, is the way you increase the relevancy and authority of your website or internet contributions. By making your site relevant to searches made by your customers, you appear higher in the lists on searches. If you appear to be a highly-respected site that others constantly refer to, then you will appear even higher in the list.
Why is this the case? Well, the search engine algorithms are designed to present the best content to its users possible. Therefore, if a user types in a certain search term, then the site will want to present exactly the right content to satisfy the needs of the user. Equally, the search engine doesn’t want to be providing content produced by 12-year-olds in their bedroom. This means the sites will give priority to content that seems to be established and written by professionals in their workplaces.
Savvy marketers quickly worked out that you could increase your chances of being found by embedding lots of keywords relevant to the site. They also worked out if they created links to their sites from other places then they would appear more authoritative.
So, in short, SEO is a means of driving traffic to your online content. It is a skill – do it badly and you could incur penalties that see you drop to the bottom of the search engine lists to die in obscurity. Do it properly and you could inhabit the much cherished top three spots on a search – the only place your users are likely to click.
Here are some of the many reasons why you should invest in quality SEO.
It really works!
Bottom line – SEO works to drive traffic to your website. It is the equivalent of renting top quality high street brick and mortar space. You are putting yourself at the top of the list of sites for your customers – you are being found. Without people clicking on your content – you are going to live forever in obscurity. Good quality organic use of keywords, use of backlinks, use of off-page meta-data can all work to boost you up the list on search engines.
It will continue to work as long as people use search engines
When people don’t know what they are looking for – they go to a search engine – which is pretty much every time they choose to use the internet. Until someone finds a way of guiding people to your site without using search engines, then you are going to want to optimize your site to work with the algorithms.
Increase your ranking
There are two reasons why you want to increase your ranking. First, it puts you higher in the search lists and you are more likely to be found. Hardly anyone looks below number three of the list of searches and pretty much no one clicks on a second page. You might as well not exist. Reason two is a high ranking becomes a commodity you can sell. Your authority can bestow authority on other sites and they are likely to pay you good money to post content on your site that links to their site. So, great SEO can end up making you money.
Promote your quality content
SEO is the best way to get attention to your quality content. It is true that a lot of SEO copy is written never to be read. The whole point of some articles is to increase the percentage relevancy of keywords on a site and no more. However, if you have content that you think will be shared and will place you as a thought-leader – optimize it to the hilt and get people to see it.
Local SEO is becoming essential
More and more location pop-ups are being used to help improve the quality of searches. If I am looking for an SEO marketer in Miami and I type in marketer – there is no point Google pointing me to a company in Alaska. So, location is now being used to optimize searches and it is essential that you stay relevant to your local market.
Focus on your segmented audience
By localizing your content, you also better segment your audience. If you know that the majority of your audience are going to be in urban America, then you can use SEO to increase the relevance of your content to this audience.
Boost your ROI
What’s better than cheap and cheerful? Getting your money back because it can pay you to invest. Statistics will show you that the money you put into SEO will be returned by website traffic, click throughs and conversions.
It doesn’t take much effort
Barring the hiring of a quality content manager and copywriter, ensuring your site is optimized couldn’t be easier. Hiring the correct professional help to make sure that copy has the appropriate keywords and is engaging enough for others to share is the extent of your input. You need to have a website and have copy written anyway – you just need to ask for the extra service. Easy.
You need to be found by your user
It is unhealthy for a business to have no online presence. If you are not found on the internet then you do not exist on the internet. Therefore, SEO is more than just about boosting traffic – often it is about making sure your audience know you exist as a digital entity. Without this presence your business could be harmed.
Your competitors are doing it
It is not always best just to do something because others are – in fact your parents probably warned against it – however, in marketing it is never a good idea to be the one not making sure your content is viewed. If your competitors are using SEO it means they are above you in the search engine and therefore more likely to be chosen over you by your potential customers.
In short, it makes little sense not to use SEO. The rumors that SEO is dead and people need to move to branding instead is premature. SEO still works and will continue to work until people find other ways of finding content that doesn’t include search engines.
