If you own or run a company and have a digital presence, then you’ve probably heard of search engine optimisation (SEO), but are you aware of the advantages it offers? The benefits of SEO for business are plentiful, and if you’re serious about improving your bottom line and succeeding in your industry, then you should definitely take advantage.
Some business owners avoid SEO because they estimate that incorporating it into their digital marketing strategy will be time-consuming and complex. That can be the case sometimes. Moreover, it can take weeks to months before you start seeing results, depending on your approach and other factors. However, it is well worth investing money and time in search engine optimisation, as the benefits are typically significant and long-lasting.
Have you been on the fence about using search engine optimisation to grow your business? This post is for you. Consider jumping into the SEO camp with both feet for the following reasons.
How Businesses Benefit from SEO
Increase traffic to your website – Search engine optimisation increases traffic to your site on the web. More web traffic can lead to more sales, as well as more opportunities to cross-sell. Additionally, you can use SEO to maximise PPC campaigns and reduce your monthly and annual marketing costs by spending less on Google Ads.
Generate free leads – Good SEO means free leads. With a properly optimised website, you can show up in Google and major search engines when users search for products or services related to your business. The more often your site comes up on the first page of the search results, the more potential customers will find your business and interact with it.
Attract better qualified leads – Not only will you get more leads with SEO but also your business will generate better qualified leads. That is, consumers that have the time, interest, budget and authority to purchase and are familiar with your sales process. These prospects will resemble your ideal customer, saving you time and money.
Understand your customer – Customers from search engine optimisation are pre-qualified, as they find you when searching for a word or phrase that you are ranking for in search. In other words, they are probably worth your time, energy and resources, and there’s a good chance that they will become return or repeat consumers.
Boost credibility – Only high-quality, trustworthy websites rank at or near the top of Google’s first page for relevant terms, right? Yes, usually. Consumers are aware of this. Thus, your business gets a credibility boost when users type in a keyword or keyword phrase and search engines instantly bring up your website content.
Show you’re an expert – For the same reason above, if you are ranking for what the user or customer is looking for, then you must be an authoritative and reputable brand. After all, search engines like Google, Yahoo and Bing would not risk their reputations by having unreliable websites at the top of their search results pages.
More Reasons to Invest in Search Engine Optimisation
SEO is cheap – How much do you spend on digital marketing each month? How far does the money go? When you’re running PPC campaigns, sales may stop coming in when your dollars run out. This is where SEO really shines. While optimisation costs money and you may not get instant results, it can generate leads and sales for years.
Help to build your brand – Visitors are likely to spend more time browsing when you have an optimised website with useful content that matches their search intent. This can increase conversions. Users who engage for longer also tend to connect with the brand more, which can lead to customer advocacy and maximise ROI.
Improve UX – SEO improves user experience (UX) and organic search marketing performance, helping your website rank. Customers need to click less on an optimised site, making it easier to purchase. Consider that your drop off or abandonment rate will be roughly 1/3 for every extra page that you ask a customer to navigate.
Stay ahead of your competition – Attract businesses that would have gone to your competition by getting and staying ahead of them in search. That’s right, your competitors are probably investing in SEO, and businesses that invest heavily will usually outrank competing websites and gain market share.
Easy to measure – With SEO, you can track changes in rankings, conversions and more using platforms like Google Analytics. Customers are within your ecosystem and you can see where they’ve come from and how they have navigated your site. These insights make it possible to adjust and improve your search optimisation strategy.
Go With SEO for Long-Term Business Success
Search engine optimisation offers major benefits for most websites and can lead to exponential business growth. Brands that invest in SEO play the long game in the digital marketing sphere, building credibility and trust with audiences and ensuring that their business remains profitable and relevant/dominant in their industry.
Does this mean that you should ditch other digital marketing methods that you may be using? Absolutely not. SEO works nicely with other traffic-generating internet models, particularly pay-per-click. As a matter of fact, there have been various studies that have demonstrated that search engine optimisation can affect PPC campaigns and vice versa.
There are many ways to market a business website online but the best digital marketing strategies for businesses are diverse and comprehensive, focusing on producing traffic, sales and profits in the short and long term. Great marketing takes advantage of commercial opportunities and does not leave money on the table for competitors.
If you have the time, skills and resources, then you can handle your website’s search engine optimisation yourself. For most business owners, this is not a feasible option, though, and outsourcing the work is necessary. When hiring an SEO agency for your company, have clear goals in mind, look for transparency and be sure to check their track record.
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