Paid advertising gives instant gratification and email lists can target return users – but what about users who are undecided or who haven’t heard of you?
SEO is needed by all businesses, and there isn’t a site which we see where we can’t at least help along with further data analysis or a complete SEO audit.
Even through algorithm updates that threaten to destroy SEO and wider digital marketing, it continues to grow. Even without the increase in online shopping and interactions brought about by the pandemic, internet traffic was increasing time and again.
Many people think they can get away without SEO or do the bare minimum to get by, but when your sink breaks you go to a plumber. So why not go to an SEO for your digital marketing?
Here are some of the reasons why SEO is important for your business and will remain so.
Organic Search Is (Nearly Always) Number 1
There are very few sites where the traffic generated through organic search results isn’t the main source of traffic.
Paid search is increasing as competition grows, and other channels give great returns, but for quantity it is nearly always the organic channel which keeps the numbers up.
It may not be the channel with the highest goal conversion rates or overall revenue, but it is the back bone of sites, allowing users to easily find where they were or to find you in the first instance. This also leads on to the next point…
It Works With Other Channels
All channels work together and attribution across sources can’t really be overstated. Users generally have multiple touch points to your site, and this grows exponentially for higher ticket items and services. Users probably won’t decide on a new car off the strength of one website visit!
Your paid, display, social, email and organic channels all work together in enticing in and bringing back users. If you rely on non-organic means, then you’re taking a risk by not covering this larger section (as mentioned above).
We often see keyword volumes around main search terms with branded terms appended to them, such as “washing machines currys” or “mountain bikes halfords”. This shows that users have the intent to return to your site and they want to resume that journey without having to start over.
Inversely, without the branded terms included, these terms can be optimised for and targeted. Then your other channels can come into play and retain the user and bring them back in nearer to purchase. Remarketing and email lists don’t originate there, and more often than not they start as an organic session.
It Leads To A Better User Experience
As SEO has changed, the focus has shifted onto user experience. As Google and other search engines reward the good practices of UX, the benefits increase and give your site better chances at converting.
A site that looks nicer, loads quicker and gives clearer routes to conversion is much more likely to rank compared to difficult to use ones.
This also leads on to your overall online presence.
SEO Is Your Online Presence
Your website is an extension of your brand, and your SEO standing is a further extension of this.
By making sure that users are directed well and have a good experience, you keep this trust and further the chances of conversions.
A bloated or hard to use website reflects on your company directly. A friendly and easy to use interface does the same. Presumably you’d rather think that users find you approachable and accessible rather than impossible to get hold of!
SEO Is Long Term
Some sites started their SEO journey recently, whereas some have decades of data to see how things have changed. More data gives better positioning, but it isn’t a magic wand to guarantee more traffic.
Old sites still get it wrong, but incremental change can give compounding results over the years.
The days of penalties for Black-Hat tactics such as spammy links are mostly behind us too. It is still possible to get penalties, but the search guidelines are clear and will only be built upon rather than being overhauled.
It’s Easily Quantifiable
Most marketing efforts result in estimates at best, but digital marketing through SEO can give highly quantifiable results.
Ideally you would have a benchmark set and a target, but you can easily see what pages convert, how well and what needs to be changed to increase conversions.
Nowadays SEO extends to the UX changes mentioned above. This ranges from tracking interactions to A/B testing and more. You can see where users click on telephone links, see what videos are played, follow user journeys and generally see where you can improve.
All of this is on top of the fact that you can easily know what money you spent, how many hours effort have been expended and the revenue numbers from conversions and goals.
It Engenders Trust
Trust has been a large factor in business, both B2B and B2C, for many years. Working online lowered this somewhat and many people saw interactions online as being inherently dangerous or untrustworthy.
This was partially true, but with security protocols and data protections in place, you are as safe online as you are in the real world.
This has led to increased trust – again pushed forward by people living more online through the pandemic.
You should make sure that you website reflects you and passes on this trust to users. Your friendly and competent team should be working with your website to give the complete package for your business.
It Pushes Out Competitors
Organic SEO is often described as a zero-sum game. This isn’t as true as it used to be, but there is still truth in it.
Discounting adverts. there is only one number 1 position and on search engine pages, so for every position you have, it means the competition does not.
This works the other way too, and you’d be naïve to think that your industry is free from any digital marketing interference. So if your competitors are doing it, you should be to at least keep up.
Summary
Obviously we’re going to say you should improve the SEO on your site and increase your wider digital marketing activities, but the last few years have really shown reliance on this.
No company can ignore their online presence. If you are doing, then might not actively lose customers, but you’ll make it that much harder to gain new ones!