SEO optimization has become an increasingly popular marketing strategy among online brands. But in the race for the first page ranking, are SEO efforts generating the results that businesses want? SEO optimization actually is one of the more cost effective methods of digital marketing, and actually well worth the investment if done properly. Today, we will discuss the reasons we believe businesses today should invest in optimizing your content for SEO and the impact it can have on their brand.
What is SEO Optimization?
SEO optimization is the process of maximizing the amount of traffic a business receives by improving how their business ranks as a result of a search engine. Search engine results can be impacted by a number of different optimization techniques, including both on and off a website.
When performing a search, individuals usually won’t look past the first page of a search result, as it can be time consuming. Having your business rank well is important for driving traffic and find new leads that have an interest in your product.
Types of SEO Strategies:
- On page SEO relates to the content of your website. This can be improved through keyword targeting, link building, and optimizing content creation
- Technical SEO relates to the non-content elements of your website. This would be site speed, enhanced security, responsive design, site structure, coding, etc
- Off Site SEO, often referred to as “paid search,” helps strengthen the authority your site has with other websites. This is often improved through high-quality backlinking.
SEO optimization helps improve brand visibility among competitors. Brands use search engine optimization techniques to help improve ranking status among various types of keywords that relate to their business. Businesses can improve search rankings by either paying for better rankings among certain keywords, or optimizing different areas of their website that have an impact on search engine readability.
Some onsite SEO optimization techniques include:
- Improving site structure
- Creating a sitemap
- Creating new website content
- Improving performance
- Enhancing security
- Having a responsive design
Why does SEO Optimization Matter?
Business growth is driven through sales leads that become customers. Since so many individuals are performing online searches, having a website that ranks well can be an effective method of increasing visitor traffic.
Reasons to Invest in SEO
1. Search Engine Use Has Increased Significantly
Google now receives over 63,000 searches per second on any given day. People are using search engines to find information, compare products and services, read articles and find answers to questions.
2. Mobile Device Use is Higher than Ever
People are now using mobile devices even more than desktop devices due to their accessibility. Due to the increase in smartphone use, people are now able to perform searches in real time as discussions and experiences occur, which has increased the number of searches performed online immensely. By understanding why and how people search on a mobile device, a business can reach new markets of traffic with their solutions.
3. The Buying Experience Now Often Begins With a Search Engine
Consumers now use search engines more than ever to research and compare products.
In fact, over 93% of online experiences begin with a search engine. Search engines are frequently used when a customer has an idea of what they need, but don’t have a particular brand or business in mind. For example, let’s say you are looking to buy a new water bottle. You may be indifferent to the brand of the bottle, so you perform a search on water bottles. This is the beginning of your buying experience as you begin to go through various websites to find the right product for your needs and budget.
4. SEO Optimization Drives The Right Types of Leads
One of the best benefits of SEO optimization is that not only does it drive new people to your business, but it helps drive the right types of people that are more likely to make purchases. Other forms of marketing, such as cold calling and direct mail for example, may reach a lot of people, but they might have zero interest in your product. People performing searches on websites have an interest either in gathering information that could relate to your business, or directly looking for products and services in a category in which you sell.
5. Improves Brand Positioning
Every business fights for attention from their audience. Having good search visibility is an effective way to improve a brands positioning. When people perform online searches, they may not be brand loyal and select results based on chronological order. So even if your competition doesn’t necessarily provide a better brand experience, they may be taking your sales traffic through their search engine strategy. If your brand is not moving forward or making an effort towards improving your search ranking, you are missing out on business opportunities.
6. SEO is Cost Effective
Since SEO optimization comes in many forms, there are many ways a business can improve their brand visibility without a huge investment. Simple updates, such as improved performance, better security or consistent content marketing through a blog are all fairly inexpensive ways that improve search rankings. SEO optimization builds on itself, your business can continue to make small changes. SEO is also a measurable form of marketing, allowing you to evaluate the effectiveness of your campaign and analyze competitors.
Let’s Discuss Your SEO Optimization Strategy
SEO has helped businesses of all sizes find new individuals to market their products and services to. If your business has not yet invested in SEO, you may want to consider it as it is cost effective, improves your brand positioning and drives the right types of leads to your website that have an interest in your product or service.
Alliance Interactive offers SEO strategy and services to businesses that are looking to increase traffic and improve their sales lead strategy. Our SEO experts can determine what areas of your website can be improved upon, and provide the digital optimization required to improve search engine readability. For a free SEO health assessment or to discuss your search strategy, connect with us here.