SEO is one of the most used terms in the world of marketing. SEO’s inequitable classification as a kind of transformation over the past decade has caused many otherwise savvy business people to diminish its importance as part of a good, solid marketing plan for small, mid-sized, and even large businesses. Many continue to ask why SEO is important for businesses.
I find this tremendously disastrous because SEO is a very viable marketing outlet that can bring your business more qualified leads, and customers and can have a better return on investments (ROI) than traditional forms of marketing like print ads, and out-of-home (OOH), and TV commercials.
Like any other marketing method, SEO grows gradually. Let’s discuss each of these attributes.
Visibility and Branding
When people search for your products and services, you obviously want to appear as high in the search engine rankings as possible, but the reasons for this are more than just because you want them to click through to your website. In fact, there is a certain amount of value in simply appearing in search results for terms directly related to your business.
For instance, most searchers don’t just simply search once, click on some websites, and be done with it. Instead, they search, click on some websites, edit their search terms, search again, click on some websites, further hone their search terms, search again, and so on.
People unconsciously trust search engine results. If Google places Starbucks in the top spot of a search, then it must have earned that place and it must be good. The user then tells all his friends on Facebook and Twitter that he’s going to Starbucks and he invites them, leaving the link for them to click as well.
User Experience and Insights
SEO is ultimately about providing the user with the friendliest, fastest, best experience possible. A search engine wants to provide the user with what they are looking for, and when it can do that, both parties are happy. A happy visitor will become a returning visitor.
If your website is properly optimized, it will increase your search engine visibility, usability, and credibility, all of which increase traffic to your site. Now that you are enjoying higher numbers of visitors, Google Analytics (which every website should have set up) can track valuable information about your visitors. Find out what browser they use, what keywords, the technology they use, their geographical location, the days and times they are most active, how much time they spent on a page, and so on.
This information will help you discover your target market, hone your advertising, and determine strategies based on facts rather than just educated guesses. The better you know your customers, the better service you can provide, and the higher the ROI.
Best ROIs in Advertising
SEO rewards your business for its efforts at a higher rate than pretty much all traditional forms of offline advertising – the same can be said for almost all types of internet marketing. The reason for this is because SEO is an inbound marketing strategy; that is, it allows you to market to people when they are looking for the products and services your business provides.
You don’t have to interrupt their favorite TV show, you don’t have to take up space on a page where they are reading a news article. You just show up when they are looking for businesses like yours.
