Search engine optimization, the art and science of improving your website for increased search visibility and qualified traffic.
Taking into account not only the search engines, but also the searchers, SEO programs can be time consuming, technically challenging and hard to understand. Around since the mid 1990’s, the strategies for SEO success have changed dramatically over the years, but the need for an optimized online presence that attracts and engages the target audience is more important than ever. As online marketing strategies evolve and requests for budgets increase, many brands are questioning the need for SEO. We’ve put together the top 6 reasons why all brands should be seriously considering SEO.
- Increased traffic– 71% of organic searchers click on results on the first page of Google, with 67% of those clicks going to websites in the top 5 positions. If your website isn’t ranking well, you won’t be found. Understanding your target audience, their search behavior and their buying cycle is key to optimizing your website not just for search visibility, but for the right search visibility. A #1 position doesn’t mean anything if your target audience isn’t searching that phrase, or if your other search details aren’t optimized for click through rates. Search visibility is great, but an increase in organic traffic is an even better reason to invest in a strategic SEO plan.
- Better user experience – While SEO used to be a game between website and search engine, it’s more important than ever to take your website user into account when optimizing a site. The search engines pay attention to how visitors are using your site, if they come and leave quickly, for example, that’s a signal to the search engine that they didn’t find what they were looking for. Enough visits like that, and they will determine your site isn’t as relevant, and drop your search visibility. Technically speaking, SEO is about
making sure search engines can crawl and index your site, understanding the key phrases and topics that are most important to your brand and how you can benefit their searchers. But an added value of SEO should be the optimization for your users. Solid SEO can help you create a stronger, more productive website that attracts and engages visitors, beginning to move them through the buying cycle and convert! - Improved brand awareness – The better your search visibility, the more exposure you’re providing to your brand. Consider your competition, when you can outrank them on the search engines, you’re more likely to get the clicks and traffic from organic searches. With an integrated online marketing program that also includes online advertising, social media and local search efforts, you can take up even more valuable real estate on the search engines and dominate your competition.
- Demonstratable ROI – Unlike more traditional marketing tactics, SEO provides traceable results. We can show you an increase in search visibility, organic traffic, and what actions that traffic takes on your website. While an SEO program does take time to begin generating results, it is a long term solution to increasing the effectiveness of your website.
- Increased performance of other marketing strategies – On its own, SEO can be a solid investment in marketing your brand. When integrated with other strategies, though, your brand can truly dominate. Optimizing your:
- Advertising landing pages can increase your quality score and lower your cost per click charges.
- Social media channels can result in even more search visibility for your brand, pushing your competition even lower on the results pages.
- Website for local search will drive more local traffic to your website and ultimately your store or business!
- Content increases its effectiveness, letting one blog post or web page provide qualified traffic for years.
- Cost effectiveness – Inbound marketing strategies like SEO often save businesses money because we’re focusing on the users who are already actively searching for your brand, products or services. Cold-calling can be great, but when you’re more focused on targeting the potential customers who are already actively looking for what you have to offer, you can convert them more quickly, leading to more sales or leads in less time.
When we were founded in 1998, SEO services was the foundation of all we did. Though we have expanded to offer a wide variety of online marketing services today, we still believe that almost every brand can benefit from an SEO program. Search engine optimization complements and benefits all other online marketing strategies and can be the difference between good marketing results, and great ones.
Let’s talk about your brand, the better we understand your goals and resources, the more strategic we can be in recommending a strategy that will work best for you. While SEO isn’t right for every brand, it holds incredible value for most. We’d love to learn more about your business, and talk about how SEO can help you generate better results!
