If you’re running a business, it’s important to make sure that you’re doing everything possible to optimize your website and improve your search engine rankings.
SEO is the most practical and cost-effective way to reach customers and generate more traffic. Many brands and businesses know that they need to improve their SEO strategy. They talk about it; they spend money on it.
SEO will certainly improve a website’s visibility. But do you know why your business needs SEO?
Why is it that important?
I list these 10 reasons to create some clarity. Regardless of your business, you need to understand why you need SEO to take your brand to the next level.
1. Organic Search is the Source of Your Website Traffic
No matter what business you’re in, organic search should be a primary focus when it comes to your website traffic. It helps you reach customers, increase traffic and visibility.
As you may already know, Google is the most visited website in the world and owns a large portion of the search market than competitors like Yahoo, Bing, Baidu, Yandex, DuckDuckGo, and many, many others.
So, many marketers mainly focus on Google, but you should consider other search engines as well.
A solid SEO strategy will help you rank higher in search engine results pages, which will ultimately lead to more website visitors.
2. SEO Builds Trust & Credibility
If you want to build trust and credibility with your target audience, you need to make sure that your website is visible and easily found online.
After all, your primary goal is to be an authoritative website that your customers will trust.
People are more likely to trust a brand that shows up in the search results when they’re looking for information related to your products or services.
Plus, authority is accrued over time as a result of aspects like internal and external links, user experience, and optimized on-page elements and content. It won’t be built overnight. You need time and consistency.
3. SEO Helps You Understand Your Consumer
From understanding macro market shifts to user intent, SEO helps you know what your customer wants and feels.
You need to know your target audience if you want to convert them into customers. Part of understanding your consumers is understanding what they want and need.
SEO can help with that by providing insights into how people are searching for information related to your business, products, or services.
This data includes things like the type of language they use, what kind of questions they’re asking, and what kind of information they’re looking for.
You can also learn about the intent behind certain searches – whether someone is looking to buy something, learn more about a topic, or compare different options. All of this data is valuable when it comes to marketing your business effectively.
4. Good SEO Means a Better User Experience
A good SEO strategy will result in a better overall user experience for your website visitors.
Why?
Because part of SEO is making sure that your website is easy to navigate, fast, and mobile-friendly…
In other words, all the elements go into a good user experience. A website that’s difficult to use or takes forever to load is not going to keep people on your site for very long. And if they can’t find what they’re looking for easily, they’ll likely leave and never come back.
On the other hand, a website that’s well-optimized for search engines and provides an excellent user experience is more likely to keep people on your site and encourage them to convert into customers.
5. Local SEO is a Fundamental Part of Businesses
The importance of local SEO is increasing every day. It is critical for any business that wants to be found online.
After all, 97% of consumers use the internet to find local businesses. And, if your business doesn’t show up in local search results, you’re missing out on valuable opportunities to attract new customers.
Local SEO helps you to improve your online visibility and make it easier for customers to find your business when they’re searching for products or services like yours.
You can stand out from your competition and build credibility in your community.
In other words, Local SEO is essential for any business that wants to be successful online.
6. SEO is Constantly Improving
SEO is an ever-evolving field. As more and more businesses realize the importance of SEO and invest in it, the landscape is constantly changing.
What may have worked a year ago might not work today. This is why staying up-to-date on the latest trends and best practices are important.
Fortunately, there are plenty of resources out there (including this blog!) that can help you do just that.
7. Understanding SEO Helps You Understand the Environment of the Web
If you want to be successful online, it’s important to understand how the internet works. And a big part of that is understanding SEO.
The world of the web changes constantly, and new technologies emerge for people’s sake. While people’s needs for research engine algorithms change, new trends gain importance.
Keeping up with those changes will make you stay on top of the game. Therefore, you must try to understand SEO and follow the updates and trends.
Yet, if you just want to use old-school techniques, you’ll be one of the dinosaurs that nobody gives attention to anymore.
8. SEO is Very Cost-Effective
One of the best things about SEO is that it’s extremely cost-effective. In other words, implementing and maintaining a good SEO strategy doesn’t cost a lot of money.
In fact, SEO is often one of the most ROI-positive marketing strategies out there. And unlike many other marketing strategies, you can often see results fairly quickly with SEO.
Sure, it costs money. And, of course, it takes time.
The amount of time it takes to see results depends on a variety of factors, including the competitiveness of your industry, the quality of your website, and the strength of your SEO strategy. But if you’re patient and consistent with your efforts, you will eventually start to see results.
9. SEO is PR
SEO is not just about getting your website to rank high in search results. It’s also about getting the right kind of attention from the right people.
And one of the best ways to do that is to get featured in publications and online media outlets.
A lot of times, these publications and outlets will link back to your website, which can help improve your search engine rankings. But more importantly, it can help increase brand awareness and get more people talking about your business.
10. Organic Search Drives More Sales Than Paid Search
Organic search traffic has a much higher close rate than paid traffic. In other words, people who find your website through organic search are more likely to buy something from you than people who find you through paid advertising.
Why?
Because organic search traffic is more often than not people who are actively looking for what you’re selling. They’re already interested in your products or services and are simply trying to find the right business to buy from.
Paid traffic, on the other hand, is often people who are just casually browsing the internet and happen to come across an ad for what you’re selling. They may not be actively interested in what you’re selling and may not even be in the market for it.