Search engine optimization (SEO) is essential for any business looking to gain an online presence and stand out from the competition. Not only can SEO help to increase the visibility of your business online, but it can also help you reach your target audience, drive more traffic to your site, and improve leads and sales.
What Is SEO?
SEO stands for search engine optimization and is the practice of optimizing a website and its content to improve visibility in search engines like Google and Bing.
The ultimate goal is to improve the position of your web pages in search results, thus helping your customers find you when they’re searching for your business, services, or products. This is called organic search. You might see it labeled as Organic in channel reports in your analytics platform (like Google Analytics).
Investing in SEO is essential for a successful website and online business. It should be your number one priority when planning your digital marketing strategy.
9 Reasons You Need SEO
- SEO is the most effective marketing channel
- Increase the visibility of your website
- Control brand PR (messaging and reputation)
- Establish your brand as an authority in your industry
- Improve user experience
- Boost leads and sales
- SEO is quantifiable, unlike traditional marketing efforts
- Meet customer expectations
- SEO is low-cost
SEO is the Most Effective Marketing Channel
According to a study by Bright Edge, Organic Search is the channel that delivers the most traffic to websites by a wide margin. In other words, if you want people to go to your website, read your content, and buy your services/products, SEO is your best bet.
In addition, B2B Companies generate 2X more revenue from Organic Search than any other channel.
Check out the average visits by industry. Organic traffic accounts for roughly 53% of that traffic.
Long-Term Effectiveness
Unlike most other marketing strategies, such as buying ads or paying for sponsored content, SEO can continue to pay off even after you’ve finished your campaign.
By focusing on creating quality content and using SEO best practices, your website can remain visible and relevant long-term. As an added bonus, the more high-quality content and backlinks you have pointing to your site, the more likely it is to naturally rank higher—meaning that the effects of your initial investment in SEO will continue to compound over time.
What is the effectiveness of SEO?
About 88% of marketers already investing in SEO plan to allocate more money or maintain the same amount this year. That’s a pretty clear sign of effectiveness, isn’t it?
If not, maybe this will help. Organic search (and referral traffic) are the largest and most effective sources of marketing ROI for brands.
A good SEO Strategy and implementation can help any type of business, not just massive corporations. I’ve seen small businesses, startups, and mid-sized companies massively benefit from it.
Increase the Visibility of Your Website for Free
Organic search is the primary source of traffic for most websites. By optimizing your content and making sure it contains relevant keywords, more potential customers are likely to discover your site, leading to an increase in sales or other desired actions. Since organic traffic is free, a solid SEO strategy is the most affordable marketing tactic a business can utilize for brand visibility.
An optimized website also has a better chance of appearing on multiple search engine result pages (SERPs), giving you greater chances of being found. This enhances brand awareness, making people more likely to trust and engage with your business, which brings me to my next point…
Messaging & PR
SEO plays a big part in enhancing a company’s public relations (PR) and messaging strategy. It not only drives organic traffic and improves search engine rankings but also contributes to building a strong and positive brand image.
Crafting a Distinct Brand Message
SEO encourages businesses to identify and emphasize their unique selling propositions (USPs). In the process, companies often refine their messaging to clearly communicate what sets them apart from competitors. This results in a well-defined and compelling brand message that resonates with target audiences. By honing their messaging, companies can convey their value, mission, and purpose more effectively.
Optimized Content for Storytelling
Storytelling is a powerful tool for engaging customers and creating an emotional connection. SEO requires the creation of content that not only answers users’ questions but also tells a compelling story. Whether it’s the story of a company’s origins, its commitment to sustainability, or its dedication to customer satisfaction, optimized content showcases these narratives, strengthening the company’s brand and PR efforts.
Enhancing Message Consistency
Consistency is key in brand messaging, and SEO enforces this by ensuring that the same message is echoed across all online platforms. This consistency extends to website content, meta descriptions, social media profiles, and directory listings. When customers encounter a unified message, it reinforces the brand’s identity and fosters trust, ultimately contributing to a positive and consistent public image.
Managing Online Reputation
A critical aspect of PR is managing a company’s reputation. SEO practices include monitoring and responding to customer reviews, whether positive or negative. By actively engaging with customer feedback, a business can show its commitment to customer satisfaction and a willingness to address concerns. It also provides the consistency mentioned in the previous section. This not only fosters a positive online reputation but also aligns with the company’s messaging of putting customers first.
Build Trust & Authority to Connect with Potential Customers
Speaking of consistency and messaging, establishing your brand as an authority in your industry will create a connection with you and your customers on a deeper level. Building that trust and credibility can also help you stay ahead of the competition.
If you work on optimizing your website in a way that speaks to your customers, it will eventually rank ahead of competitors in search results. This will give you an edge when it comes to attracting visitors and earning customers.
These are questions Google prompts you with to assess your content for helpfulness, reliability, and a focus on people. They want your content to be trustworthy so every time you create content on your website, make sure it passes Google’s content assessment:
So how do you establish trust with search engines like Google? I’m glad you asked!
Trust and authority are accumulated over time. Here’s how you can build it:
- Post content that shares what you know with the intention of helping people
- Offer information that is relevant and provides value to your ideal audience
- Help customers solve real problems they deal with
- Write in-depth content to exhibit your expertise
- Focus on a few topic areas. You can’t be an expert on everything.
- Earn high-quality, natural links, don’t buy them. Seriously.
- Design your website for people, not search engines
- Create content that’s available across all devices, platforms, and content formats
- Ensure pages and their elements load quickly and seamlessly
- Optimized on-page elements and content.
- Research and use keywords people use when searching
- Write useful title tags and meta descriptions
- Use descriptive alt text in images
- Choose file names that make sense to people
- Upload mobile-friendly image formats
- Ensure content is in HTML
- Format content with headlines, subheadlines, and lists
- Make URLs understandable, use hyphens instead of spaces
- Link to relevant content on your site where applicable
Keep in mind that building authority takes time, so be patient and keep chugging along.
Improve User Experience
Search engines prioritize websites that offer valuable and relevant content to users. By creating content that aligns with the interests and search intent of your target audience, you increase the chances of ranking higher in search engine results pages (SERPs). This means that when people search for information or solutions related to your content, they are more likely to discover your website.
Here are a few ways you can improve user experience on your website:
- Meet User Intent: By understanding the intent behind users’ search queries, you can create content that precisely matches their needs. When users find the information they’re looking for, it not only satisfies their immediate query but also builds trust and credibility in your website.
- Be Informative and Educational: High-quality content goes beyond promotional or sales-driven messaging. It focuses on providing users with valuable information, insights, or solutions to their problems. This establishes your website as a reliable source of information and helps your visitors achieve their goals.
- Make Content Engaging and Readable: Well-crafted content is not only informative but also engaging and easy to read. By using clear and concise language, incorporating headings, bullet points, and paragraphs, and utilizing media like images or videos, you can improve readability and keep users engaged.
- Answering Frequently Asked Questions: Anticipating and addressing common user questions or concerns in your content can be beneficial. By providing comprehensive answers to FAQs, you enhance the user experience by saving them time and effort. People appreciate that.
- User-Generated Content: Encouraging and facilitating user-generated content, such as comments, reviews, or discussions, can enhance the overall user experience. It fosters engagement, creates a sense of community, and allows users to interact with your content and each other.
Relevant and High-Quality Content
While SEO helps your content get discovered, it is the quality and relevance of the content itself that keeps users engaged and satisfied. By focusing on creating valuable content that addresses people’s needs, you can enhance both SEO performance and user experience, resulting in increased traffic, longer website visits, and higher conversions.
Easy Website Navigation
Good SEO practices include optimizing the website’s structure and navigation. This ensures that users can easily find the information they are looking for, reducing frustration and improving their experience.
Fast Page Load Speed
SEO emphasizes the importance of optimizing page load speed. Users prefer websites that load quickly, as slow-loading pages lead to lower conversion rates. By improving page speed, SEO enhances the user experience and encourages users to stay on the website.
Mobile-Friendly Design
Google found that mobile conversion rates are lower than on desktop. With the increasing use of mobile devices, SEO encourages website owners to adopt a responsive design that works well across different screen sizes. This ensures that users have a seamless experience regardless of the device they are using.
Clear and Descriptive Meta Tag
SEO involves optimizing meta tags, including the page title and meta description. These elements are the first bits of information people see about your website in search results.
Clear and descriptive tags provide users with relevant information about the content of a webpage, helping them make informed decisions about clicking on search results. Is yours the most relevant to their search query? Are they likely to find what they’re looking for on your website as opposed to other sites listed in the SERPs? Think about these questions when you’re optimizing these page elements.
User-Friendly URL Structure
SEO promotes user-friendly URLs that are descriptive and easy to understand. It’s also beneficial if you have a clear, hierarchical link structure to make it easier for users to navigate the website, improving their overall experience. Search engines love that too!
Think about it like a digital book’s Table of Contents. It’s organized in a way that makes content extremely easy to find and all of the links take you to the desired page. It’s structured in a way that’s clear what content is related to other content on that site.
Tips for a friendly URL Structure:
- Keep it Simple and Descriptive: Your URLs should be easy to read and understand. Use words that accurately describe the content of the page.
- Use Keywords: Incorporate relevant keywords in your URLs, but avoid keyword stuffing. Keep it natural and relevant to the content.
- Avoid Dynamic Parameters: Parameters like “?id=123” can make URLs look messy and confusing. Use static URLs that include meaningful words.
- Use Hyphens to Separate Words: Hyphens (-) are recommended as separators between words in URLs. They’re more readable and user-friendly compared to underscores or no separators (spaces).
- Keep it Short and Sweet: Keep your URLs concise. Long URLs can be overwhelming and difficult to remember. Aim for around 3-5 words in your URL. example.com/marketing-service
- Include Relevant Folder Structure: Organize your content into meaningful categories and subcategories using folders. This can help users and search engines navigate your site more easily.
- Avoid Stop Words: Stop words like “and,” “the,” “of,” etc., don’t typically add value to your URLs. Exclude them to keep URLs shorter.
- Use Canonical URLs: Implement canonical tags to avoid duplicate content issues. This helps search engines understand which version of a URL is preferred.
- Use Lowercase Letters: Stick to lowercase letters in your URLs to avoid case-sensitivity issues that can arise on some platforms.
Rich Snippets and Featured Snippets
SEO techniques, such as structured data markup, can help websites generate rich snippets and featured snippets in search results. These enhanced search results provide users with quick and relevant information, improving their search experience.
Enhanced Local Search Experience: For businesses targeting local customers, SEO helps optimize the website for local search queries. This includes providing accurate business information, such as address and phone number, and optimizing for local keywords. A better local search experience can attract more relevant users to the website.
By focusing on these SEO practices, website owners can improve their website’s visibility in search engines while simultaneously enhancing the user experience. Both aspects work together to attract and retain users, ultimately leading to higher engagement, conversions, and overall success.
Boost Leads & Sales
Search engines, unlike any other type of platform, allow us to reach people when they’re researching or ready to buy. In 2023, 4.11 billion people used the internet to buy consumer products. That’s an increase of 8.3% compared with 2021. That number will likely increase YoY.
- SEO is helpful for offline sales too. 81% of consumers go online to find information and answer any questions about the product/service before making a purchase. That data isn’t just referencing products either. We’re talking about services, too.
- If someone is researching your product/service and you don’t have the expected information available, they will buy from an equipped competitor.
SEO is Quantifiable
The best part about SEO? You can see and track your progress, so you know it’s working.
Whether you’ve hired a professional or are working on your own, you’ll be able to set up reports that will help you understand how the website is performing and if there are opportunities for improvement.
First, you’ll need to determine what key performance indicators (KPIs) are important to you. Then you can create reports to show you how they’re improving.
Common SEO KPIs
- Keyword Rankings: Tracking the positions of target keywords in search engine results pages (SERPs) to monitor improvements in visibility.
- Organic Traffic: The total number of visitors coming to your website from a search engine (not an ad).
- Click-Through Rate (CTR): The percentage of users who click on your link in the search results after seeing it. Higher CTR indicates effective title tags and meta descriptions.
- Conversion Rate (CVR): The percentage of visitors who complete a desired action, such as signing up, making a purchase, or filling out a form. It reflects the effectiveness of your content and website design.
- Backlinks: The total number of links from external websites to your site. They act as a vote of credibility and authority from other websites.
- Indexing Status: The number of pages from your website that are indexed by search engines. Ensuring all important pages are indexed is crucial for visibility.
- Revenue/ROI: Measures the return on investment from your SEO efforts, often through increased organic traffic and conversions. This could look different for every website.
- Crawl Errors and Site Health: Monitoring technical issues such as broken links, crawl errors, and duplicate content using tools like Google Search Console.
Now you can get started on the report setup!
Helpful Reporting Tools
- Google Search Console: This is the first, most useful tool in your SEO arsenal. It helps you understand your organic keyword rankings, learn about technical website issues, and a bevy of other helpful tidbits. You will also want to set up a Bing Webmaster Tools account. It’s the same type of tool but for Bing. Both are free.
- Google Analytics: This is a free tool that provides basic (or advanced) website analytics so you can see how many people visit your website, how they move through the site, if they perform certain actions, etc. It’s a must for anyone pursuing SEO improvements.
- Google Business Profile (previously Google My Business): If you have a physical location or own a local business, this free tool will help you see basic local search rankings and customer reviews, and manage your online presence.
- Looker Studio: This is another free reporting tool that brings all of your data together. You can connect all of your data sources and blend them for the most helpful report ever.
How Long Will It Take to See Results
It’s best to think of SEO as a marathon that’s worth running. This is not a quick-fix solution to all of your ranking problems.
It takes time. I’ve seen results in anywhere from 3 months to several years.
Success depends on:
- Goals: Your goals should be specific, measurable, and aligned with your overall business objectives. Consider what you want to achieve, such as increasing organic traffic, improving conversion rates, or enhancing brand visibility. Your goals will dictate the direction and pace of your SEO efforts.
- Knowledge/expertise: SEO is a dynamic field that requires a solid understanding of search engine algorithms, keyword research, on-page and off-page optimization, and the latest industry trends. Expertise can help you make informed decisions and implement best practices effectively.
- Time allocation: SEO is an ongoing process that demands consistent effort. Depending on your available time and resources, you may need to adjust your expectations for when you’ll start seeing results. Regularly allocating time to optimize content, monitor performance, and make necessary improvements is key.
- Efficiency: Use your resources wisely and implement strategies that will have the most significant impact. Prioritizing high-impact tasks, streamlining your workflow, and using SEO tools effectively can help you achieve your goals more efficiently.
- How long your website has been around: Although domain age is a minor factor, if your domain is new it can take extra time to see results.
- Consistency: Consistent optimization of content, link building, and technical improvements is crucial. Google values websites that provide valuable and up-to-date information.
- Competitors: If you are in a highly competitive industry with many well-optimized websites, it may take longer to surpass your competitors. Analyzing and understanding your competition can help you develop a strategy to stand out and compete effectively.
Remember that your success isn’t just dependent on you. It also depends on how much of the above list your competitors have going for them. If they’re nailing all of it, then it will be harder for you to rank.
Be patient and consistent. You’re building a community with trust, and that doesn’t happen overnight.
Meet Customers’ Expectations
In 2020, everyone and everything moved online. Businesses of all kinds created websites and new digital features so they could connect with their customers and make it easier for them to purchase. Here are just a few examples:
- Merchandisers moved all of their products to e-commerce stores
- Restaurants and grocery set up online ordering and curbside delivery
- Gyms moved all of their classes to online video
- etc.
It changed customer expectations forever.
Now, years later, we still expect our groceries to be ready at the curb and to browse our favorite store’s inventory online when we can’t shop in person.
Today, if your business isn’t online, it doesn’t exist.
It doesn’t matter if you sell a product or service. People want to learn about your business and if they can’t find you through a Google search, they will look to your competitor’s website.
Low Cost Compared to Other Marketing Strategies
One of the most enticing reasons to invest in SEO is that it carries a low cost compared to other digital marketing strategies. About 68% of online experiences begin with a search engine and 53.3% of website traffic originates from organic search results.
Cost of SEO
If you have a little bit of SEO knowledge, you can increase your website traffic with no cost except time. Don’t get me wrong, time is money, but a little bit of your time is less expensive than running ads or paying for more traditional forms of marketing. If you don’t have the SEO skills yet, there are plenty of courses and online resources that can teach you the basics.
Of course, there’s always the option to hire someone to do SEO services for you. According to ahrefs, a freelancer is typically more affordable than an agency, so if you’re a small business or have a limited budget, consider working with a freelancer. Between $501–$1,000 per month is the most popular monthly retainer rate for SEOs.
Cost of Advertising
Small businesses spend, on average, $2500 to $12,000 monthly on advertising. While most small businesses pay $10,000 on online advertising yearly, more than 37% spend less than this amount annually. The downside of advertising is that when you stop spending money, it stops sending traffic.
Cost of Traditional Marketing
Many businesses still use traditional forms of marketing. These can be helpful, but it’s hard to determine how many people saw your ad and if they came to your website or purchased anything.
- Newspapers/Magazine ads cost between $2,000-$160,000.
- Physical billboards cost from $750 to $14,000 a month.
- Direct mail campaigns can cost anywhere from $0.30–$10 per person.
- 1,000 Flyers printed on 8.5” x 11” (100# paper) costs $0.30-$0.40 per sheet.
- Local television stations: between $5 and $100 per 1,000 viewers for a 30-second commercial.
Put SEO Into Practice
Did you know you can do SEO on your own? I have so many tips for you to try:
- How to Improve Your Organic CTR for Free Traffic
- How to Boost Your Small Business SEO by Yourself
- 7 SEO Tasks You Can Complete in 20 Minutes or Less
Would you rather spend your time doing what you do best? Get in touch about my SEO Services.
