Original article: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/why-seo-important-business-kongfuseo/?trackingId=WdrIWnHUx2Gzw3W%2FjiyL1g%3D%3D
As a business owner, you already know that having and maintaining a strong online presence is crucial in this digital age. Yet only a few digital marketing tactics have been proven successful for virtually all types of companies, regardless of size or industry, and that is SEO. For most of the companies in Australia, SEO services provide the most of the Google marketing you need to succeed and offer a competitive advantage that can maximise the impact of your SEO strategy.
What is SEO?
SEO stands for ‘search engine optimisation’, consisting of multiple practices and strategies that optimise online content for search engine rankings. By utilising these tools, not only will you be increasing the quantity and quality of your website traffic, but you'll also be improving brand awareness through capitalising on non-paid or ‘organic’ searches. Whereas ‘inorganic’ searches would include paid ads, such as banners, cost per click (CPC) and pay per click (PPC), organic results are chosen and ranked through effective SEO.
How does it work?
Search engines are handy tools that provide users with the best answer to their queries by ‘crawling’ (reading) and ‘indexing’ (organising) a website’s content to evaluate whether it would be relevant and satisfy the user’s search intent. All that content gets ranked from most to least relevant and displayed on search engine result pages (SERPs).
Therefore, ensuring your website ranks higher on that list will help increase your chances of getting clicks and traffic. Out of five million Google users, the latest research shows that Google’s top organic result is 10 times more likely to receive a click compared to results on the second page. In fact, less than one percent of users ever go past the first page. In any effective SEO strategy, your objective would be to rank first, or within the first page of a specific search phrase (called ‘keywords’).
Because of modern SEO, many different factors influence search engine rankings. The top result is not necessarily the website with the most links, keywords or visitors, but one that would also provide value to the user. In this sense, great SEO would include attending to various working elements.
Top five reasons why SEO helps your business
1. Organic search is the primary source of website traffic
While paid ads are certainly the most straightforward way of getting your website to the top, research has shown that SEO has 20 times more traffic opportunity than PPC (pay-per-click) on both mobile and desktop.
Online users can’t omit from using search engines, whether it’s Google, Yahoo, Bing or any other – lots of people search for things. The amount of traffic that flows through a search engine is unparalleled, and not only that, this traffic is especially useful for businesses because it’s often very specific and a high-intent action. Think about it this way – you’re targeting an audience who are already reaching out to you, wanting to buy what you have to offer.
2. Builds brand credibility and trust
One of the main reasons that SEO is such a powerful business tactic is because ultimately, users trust search engines. They do their job well and have high criteria when reviewing content for users. So, curating your website to achieve these standards on a search engine is a clear signal to users that your content and brand are credible.
Establishing yourself as a trusted brand takes patience, commitment and being able to uphold certain standards. Some factors that can also build your brand’s authority on search engines include:
A clean website with simple, effective user experience
Quality backlinks (mentions of your website by other brands online)
Positive user behaviour (post shares and likes)
3. Better user experience
Although also an outcome of great SEO, positive user experiences (UX) will not only please your visitors but Google’s algorithm too.
Most search engines are now capable of recognising favourable user experiences depending on how long they stay on your website, repeat visits and various on-page elements. It’s important to think about the customer’s journey: Is your website easy to navigate? Is the connection secure and quick to load? Has it been optimised for mobile surfing?
Users know what they want when they search for something, the goal is to help them find that information with the fewest clicks. Providing engaging content and a seamless online experience for users will enable search engines to recognise your website as useful, leading to a higher ranking.
4. Take advantage of ‘local SEO’
As more users dominate mobile searches, local SEO specifically tailors content for high visibility in search engine results related to the user’s location. This tactic has been especially fundamental for small and medium-sized businesses, who have either relied on foot traffic or word-of-mouth.
A study shows that the majority of mobile users specifically search for local businesses, resulting in almost 80 percent of them making an in-store purchase. Local SEO plays a crucial role in driving traffic, engagement and conversions.
You can easily promote engagement on a local level by optimising your “Google My Business” social media profiles, user reviews and tailoring your brand’s messaging towards a local audience.
5. Cost-effective and long-term benefits
Of course, SEO costs money but compared to other marketing tactics, SEO is relatively cheap and its effects can hold water for years to come.
When it comes to SEO, think of it as an investment. Using SEO means that you can evolve your content with your target user’s intent – what they want to see, read or buy. While it’s best to follow these trends and changes closely, even basic SEO can show significant improvements.
Unlike paid ads, traffic can snowball without continuous funding. With organic traffic (driven by search) capturing over 40 percent revenue, SEO is a slow but deliberate process. But when it pays off, it really pays off.
Conclusion
A well-developed SEO strategy involves many moving parts but when done well, can be a powerful tool to accomplish business objectives.
Ultimately, SEO is about taking the time to understand your target audience and solve their problem — much like a business. Whether you do it yourself or hire a professional SEO company in Melbourne, you’ll be sure to reap the benefits.