The arsenal of digital marketing tactics would not be complete without one critically-important part: Search Engine Optimization, or more commonly known as SEO.
For more than two decades, it has become an integral part of digital marketing and is known to be the most effective medium to get organic traffic for websites today.
Research conducted by BrightEdge revealed that organic search is the largest driver of web traffic for most sectors, and is a critical part of revenue-generating efforts today. With its capacity to bring your business website to the forefront of search engine results pages, SEO should be part of your digital marketing efforts this year and onwards, as you will be able to reap numerous benefits that you may have never experienced before.
If you think that SEO is only meant for the big fish in your industry, then think again. Here are the top six reasons why your business needs SEO today:
1. The Online Experience Starts with Search.
If your business is not online, you are losing a large chunk of the opportunity of being found by over 3 billion people who search the internet every day. Harnessing the power of SEO means you first need to have a website, and it must be found in search engines, which SEO fulfills.
In the online world, getting on top of SERPs is the paramount goal, as 75% of internet users do not go past the first page of the search results. SEO plays a critical role in raising your website ranking. When executed with other tactics such as search marketing, content marketing, and social media marketing, SEO can be the best tool that you can use to improve your ranking.
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2. It is Very Cost Effective.
Marketers see SEO as becoming more effective with reporting rising effectiveness.
While advertising through traditional models such as newspapers and magazines can still be effective today, these channels are now more expensive and ineffective. Businesses must find a way to get their brand on top of the competition without spending too much money.
SEO not only is more affordable to execute, it is also more cost-effective, as it allows you to tailor your campaign based on the current needs of your business. The results are also more measurable with SEO.
An extensive research should be conducted about your company and the competition to ensure that you reach your targeted audience efficiently and effectively. Analytics can help you easily track and measure the KPIs that matter the most to your business, such as the number of your website visitors, their stay duration, and the parts of your website visited most frequently.
3. High Traffic + High Conversion Rate.
As stated earlier, advertising on traditional channels is becoming more ineffective. Aside from its limited capability to laser-focus your campaign to the intended audience, it also is tough to measure if anyone really availed your products or services because of your ad.
Measurable, satisfying results correspond to a well-planned marketing strategy.
Through keyword analysis, SEO can determine the relative size of your market, as well as their buying behavior and preferences. By knowing the intent behind their search, you can create an effective marketing campaign that can put your brand on top of your competition, more targeted traffic converting into loyal customers, and more potential sales.
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4. It’s the Norm in the Competition Today.
Regardless of your niche, it is very likely that most of your competitors are implementing their own SEO campaign today.
Today’s global commerce is rapidly becoming digital – being left out can translate to lost opportunities. There’s also a good chance that not everyone in your competition uses SEO very well. In this case, you can exploit their weaknesses and build a website based on it.
SEO is fast becoming a standard in today’s market. If you ignore it, then expect that your market will also ignore your business soon.
5. It Caters to the Mobile Market.
Mobile has overtaken the desktop in terms of usage worldwide, per a report from comScore. As the mobile market continues to explode, we can expect that more and more people will conduct searches through their mobile devices.
This is great news if you are running a brick-and-mortar store. Local SEO can help your business rank for mobile and for local search by optimizing you to be as mobile-friendly as possible.
In fact, a report from Search Engine Land revealed that local searches lead 50% of mobile visitors to visit stores within one day!
6. It is Ever-Changing and so is the Opportunities.
SEO as a marketing tactic is an ever-changing industry.
Google continuously rolls out updates to its search algorithm, and a single update can hugely impact your website’s ranking if it’s not optimized properly.
The good thing is that changes in SEO are triggered by the changing preferences of the market. As such, your website and online marketing mix must remain dynamic to satisfy the changing needs of the audience. And since it is highly measurable, you can always assess, evaluate, and revise your strategy to align with the shifts in the market.
As the global commerce continues to shift towards digital platforms, we can expect that SEO will continue to gain significance in the years to come. With SEO as the root by which all online marketing strategies are utilized nowadays, leveraging this tactic can bring more ROI in your business in the long run.
About The Author
This is a guest post by Joseph Dalton, an exceptional business person with vast expertise in sales and marketing, both in Ireland and abroad. He was also part of team set up by the European Union to help potential entrepreneurs attain an online presence. Joseph works with successful businesses that are challenged by ‘too many ideas but not enough time’ and want to make more money by working smarter.