Did you know that Google experiences 3.5 billion searches daily? 1 in 3 people uses their smartphone to search for products right before visiting a store. This showcases the immense potential search engines have. If you don’t have a proper SEO strategy in place, there is a high probability that you will miss out. You are bound to lose business to other similar companies. After all, why would someone choose your service when they haven’t heard of you? And today, search engines are the ultimate platform to find products and services.
A lot of people think that SEO implementation is a one-time business. The fact that Google changes its algorithm 600 times means that you must develop an ongoing SEO strategy. Are you still not convinced about the importance of implementing SEO? Well, here are seven reasons why you must change your perspective.
1. Your competitors are doing it
Do you think branding is enough to get you the sales and awareness your product needs? Let’s say you invest heavily in logo design services. You come up with a catchy tagline and a great positioning. Is this enough to stand out from the crowd?
The problem with solely taking this approach is that your competitors are likely doing it too. Another thing most companies are doing is using SEO. A study conducted revealed what marketers, in general, think about SEO. According to the results of the survey, a staggering 82% people believed that SEO’s effectiveness to the overall marketing campaign is increasing. A different study pointed out the fact that 61% of the marketers think that improving one’s SEO strategy should be the top priority for inbound marketing.
The results of both these studies point in the same direction, i.e., your competitors are taking SEO seriously. And if they are taking it seriously, then it means that if you don’t do anything, they are bound to rank high on search engines than you. This, in turn, will lead to you losing your market share to them.
2. Organic searches continue to be the primary source of website traffic
The world is going digital. There is no way around it. You can’t survive in today’s market without having an online presence. While conventional methods of marketing will still work, you can’t take digital marketing lightly.
Within digital marketing, SEO is critical. This is because organic searches are one of the leading sources of website traffic. The more people you get to your website, the higher the chances you will have of converting them into potential customers.
75% of all searches are conducted on Google. This means that if your brand doesn’t appear in the organic search results in Google, your website won’t get the traffic it needs to increase its sales.
3. Search Engines help in grabbing market share
You might think that just because organic searches are growing your website traffic doesn’t mean you need to target them. After all, what if websites and online platforms themselves aren’t that important for customers?
Well, they are. Over 90% of customers today look at online reviews of a product or service before they decide to purchase it. Even if they visit a store to do so, the fact remains that search engines do come into the equation at a crucial point during the buyer model.
Your business needs to be present when potential customers look for relevant keywords. If you don’t have an SEO strategy in place, this won’t happen. After all, people only use four words per search and the chance of your website being naturally optimized for it is low.
4. SEO allows you to build your credibility, which drive sales
One thing that potential customers look for in a brand is credibility. You see a lot of information on the internet. Sifting through it and ensuring that it is the right one can be quite a task. This is why you will find most people to be doubtful about the brands they find online. They might feel that the brands lack credibility and authority.
The good news is that online platforms themselves have the answer to this problem. Brands can work on improving their credibility and establishing authority by making a few changes to their content. All of this comes under SEO strategy.
For instance, something as simple as backlinking your content to authority websites can help in relaying to your customers that you deliver factual information. However, know that none of the SEO tools can help you establish credibility overnight. This is a slow and lengthy process. Hence, you must commit to employing an SEO strategy for the long-run.
5. It is highly cost-effective
Regardless of whether you are a small business or a big one, the chances are you wouldn’t want to spend more than you have to on marketing efforts. Compared to other types of online marketing, SEO continues to be the most cost-effective of the lot.
This is because the return on investment from SEO is better, which decreases your fixed cost. This doesn’t take away from the fact that PPC and social media advertising is essential. However, if you wish to increase your efficiency, SEO will prove to be your bedrock through it all.
6. Local Searches are becoming game-changing
SEO doesn’t just mean adding a few keywords here and there. Now, SEO strategies employ local SEO methods to attract the right kind of customers to your website. Local SEO is considered to be crucial for the success of your marketing strategy. If you don’t focus on optimizing your content based on your region, you will miss out on clients. SEO does this for you. Ignoring SEO means ranking low when people search for businesses near them.
7. SEO is the present
You might have heard of phrases like “SEO is the future,” and “Digital marketing is the best form of marketing for tomorrow.” Well, tomorrow is today. The future is now the present. Everyone is doing it. SEO has never been more critical. Getting serious about SEO wouldn’t allow you to gain a competitive edge. Instead, it will enable you to survive. This is why there is no avoiding it at today’s time.
Conclusion
Implement SEO. Save your business from getting lost in the crowd.
Alycia Gordan is a freelance writer who loves to read and write articles on healthcare technology, fitness and lifestyle. She is a tech junkie and divides her time between travel and writing. You can find her on Twitter: @meetalycia