SEO is a vital component of digital marketing and if you want to be a well recognised business online then you will need to develop a proper SEO strategy. Without SEO it is highly likely that your website and business will fail, especially these days when there is so much competition in every single industry.
Most businesses these days understand that they need SEO for their website but they lack true understanding of why. There are quite a few number of reasons as to why every business needs SEO.
In saying this, it is also important to understand that SEO does take time and you shouldn’t get disheartened if there aren’t any results for the first couple of months. SEO is a long term strategy and there are no quick fixes.
Before a strategy is developed, be sure to take a step back and think about the top reasons why your business actually needs SEO. The most important reasons are outlined below:
1. Helps In Building Credibility And Trust With Customers
When Google ranks your website highly (i.e. on the first page) it is helping to build credibility with customers as they can see you are an expert in what they have searched for.
There are a number of different factors that come into play when looking to build authority for your website:
- Evergreen content
- On page SEO
- Number of high quality backlinks
- Successful user behaviour
This is where the significance of time comes back into play. You can’t expect to build credibility and trust instantly with customers. This is something that happens over time and if users constantly see your website at the top of the Google listing, then this will certainly improve your authority.
You also need to be committed, not only does SEO take a long time, it also requires constant effort. And once you do reach that coveted top spot on Google, you will have to work just as hard as before to keep your website there.
2. Return On Investment Is Quite High
In other words, SEO is pretty cheap in the scheme of things. Take a look at other forms of marketing like print advertisement or even advertisements on TV. How much do you think they cost? A lot more than SEO that’s for sure!
SEO is here for the little guys to give them a chance to take on the big dogs. Yes, there are major businesses out there that are spending significant amounts on SEO. However, when it comes to the average Joe’s business, a little goes a long way.
It is so vital to build a strong foundation to grow from and good SEO practice will certainly help you get there. If you are looking to hire a professional SEO company, think of it as an investment and over the months and years, you are sure to see great dividends.
3. Organic Traffic Is The Most Common
Most businesses source a significant proportion of their website traffic from organic search. Therefore if your website isn’t highly visible on a search engine, then site performance is sure to be lacking.
There are actually quite a number of different search engines out there, but obviously the main one is Google, owning around about 90% of the total search engine market. So it is important, first and foremost, to look into Google’s best practices and follow them.
But, there is still another 10% of the market you aren’t necessarily appealing to. So make sure you do your research about the other search engines and their guidelines that are important to follow.
When you follow these guidelines you are more likely to see a better ranking. A better ranking leads to increased visibility and this therefore leads on to an increase in the organic traffic on your site.
4. Quality SEO Leads To Improved User Experience
While most people just look at the big picture and know they want better rankings and visibility, not many understand that improving user experience is an important stepping stone.
Google bots can now understand when a user has had a positive or negative experience on your website. This is a very important factor by Google and it has become an essential element for every website if they want to be successful.
As well as this, customers have also become more and more picky over the past few years and if certain components of your website aren’t up to scratch they will leave.
User experience is a vital part of SEO and you need to think about the type of website that will make users happy. For example, your website needs to be mobile friendly because more and more people are using their phones to search for things these days and your site speed needs to be quick.
