When we talk to businesses about their SEO strategy, we generally get one of three answers. Some have a defined system in place and know exactly what they’re doing – which is great! Some aren’t sure where to start, but know they need to do something to improve their search rankings – which is also great, since they’re taking the first step to putting a strategy in place. It’s the third kind of answer that’s always the most worrying.
Those are the business owners who say ‘I don’t really need SEO, do I? I mean, it doesn’t do anything’. And yes, that is a real thing someone has said to us. Which, given that almost all business and purchasing has some component of internet use involved now, is a bit short-sighted. SEO, when done correctly, can be the single most valuable part of your marketing efforts, and today we’re going to share 10 reasons why your business needs the power of SEO.
1. Increase Web Traffic
First and foremost, SEO can dramatically increase the amount of organic traffic to your website from search engines like Google and Bing. 93% of users will start browsing online from a search engine, and 75% of users will never go onto the second page of search engine results. Those statistics really do speak for themselves, especially when you consider that the first page of Google accounts for a staggering 92% of web traffic. If you want prospective customers to find your business in the first place (and that’s before we get onto the topic of converting them), your business needs to show up on that first results page for the relevant keywords. How do you do that? With SEO.
2. Build Trust and Credibility
In general, a website that ranks highly on Google is considered trustworthy. That’s because in order to rank highly, you need to demonstrate their knowledge and skill, provide high-quality content on a regular basis and showcase their dedication to the user experience in their web design, writing and other content. If your website can do all of this, then it’s given the reward of appearing highly on search engines. This means spending time on various activities like improving and adding content, increasing site speeds and researching keywords – all of which come under the banner of SEO.
3. Improve Your User Experience
Since search engines are only concerned with providing an accurate and valuable experience to their users, this is what your business will need to do too. That means understanding your customers and their expectations so that you can tailor their experience with your brand. We all judge a business the minute we land on their website (in about 0.05 seconds actually), so making sure that first impression and continuing journey make sense is important. After all, if you walked into a restaurant and were handed a menu with 2 pages of information about the owners and how they started out before you could see the dishes, you’d probably walk back out. Search engines take user experience into account and force you to put the right information in the right places for customers. So engaging in the SEO proves will automatically improve your prospects’ user experience.
4. It Leads To Better Engagement
A well-optimised website will bring in higher quality traffic from search engines, as we’ve already established. If your content is useful and matches the searchers intent, then they are likely to spend much more time browsing your website and learning about your business and offerings. They will engage with more of your content across the site, and stick around longer. All of these are fantastic things in terms of customer engagement, and can mean the difference between losing a prospect and converting them.
5. SEO Increases Conversion Rate
Off the back of the previous point, better quality traffic + better engagement = a much higher conversion rate. Because SEO helps you get your website in front of the right people, you already stand a better chance of converting than if you weren’t doing anything. SEO helps you target qualified and engaged prospects who are more likely to buy, and gives you a competitive advantage over other businesses offering the same thing. And because SEO will also take conversion into account, you’re more likely to see success across all 3 levels.
6. The Goalposts Are Constantly Moving
Search engines are constantly evolving and changing. Google makes changes to their search algorithms about 500-600 times per year, meaning they’re making on average 2 changes a day. Most of these are small changes that won’t affect your overall rankings, but some of them are major. Businesses have found that one day they were ranking really well and the next they weren’t even showing up on search results, and once they dug down they found out Google had moved the goalposts. SEO forces you to keep up with those goalposts, and as a result stay ahead of your competition too.
7. It’s Cost-Effective
Some elements of SEO are absolutely free. Some of them do cost, especially if you want to hire a professional to help you out (which we highly recommend). But in the grand scheme of things, SEO is actually one of the most cost-effective marketing channels you can have, with the ROI often outstripping the actual investment by hundreds, if not thousands. Investing in SEO in a smart way can pay off well for years to come, which makes it much more effective than many other forms of advertising.
8. Gives Your PR A Helping Hand
People tend to search online for news and related items, so if you’re looking to engage in PR for any reason, having a good SEO strategy in place can help you immensely. It means that your brand will already be ranking higher than competitors, and so when people are searching for that news story, they will find it quickly. Integrating your content and PR efforts with SEO is the perfect way to achieve far-reaching brand awareness.
9. Provides Measurable Results
Unlike many other areas of marketing, SEO can provide very real and measurable results. If you have the right software in place (which is often just a few plugins on your website and CRM system), you can track user activity and connect the dots back to where you obtained customers and the journey they went on. This kind of data is absolute gold dust, and allows you to really refine your messaging and customer journey, ultimately ending in more sales. It also means that if a strategy isn’t working out as well, you can see it and make changes, limiting money wasted.
10. Shows New Opportunities
Finally, SEO can play a wider role in your business than you originally thought. Because SEO encompasses pretty much all of your branding, marketing and business strategy, it means your SEO consultant will need to become immersed in your business and your target customers. As you go along, you will uncover new information, spot trends and understand your customers more fully, which will allow you to explore new opportunities ahead of your competition. In short, SEO takes you from being a competitor to an industry leader.
At Lion Spirit Media, we work with businesses across the UK to help them improve their organic search engine rankings, boost their web traffic and spread their message with SEO. Our experts are always up to date on the latest changes made by major search engines allowing you to gain all of the advantages of hiring an in-house SEO specialist working on your website each month for a much lower cost! Check our SEO packages to find out more. If you would like to find out more about how SEO can benefit your business, just get in touch with the team today to book your free, no-obligation consultation.
0 Comments