“Your brand isn’t what you say it is, it’s what Google says it is.” This quote from Chris Anderson, former editor of Wired, shows the impact of Google on a company’s online reputation.
When online gurus talk about search engine optimization (SEO), they typically talk in terms of “optimizing for Google search”.
Google is the most used search engine on the World Wide Web across all platforms, with 92.62% market share as of June 2019, handling more than 5.4 billion searches each day. Therefore, it is the most important search engine to consider while optimizing your website for SEO.
What is Search Engine Optimization (SEO)?
SEO stands for “search engine optimization. It’s the process of increasing both the quality and quantity of website traffic, as well as exposure to your brand, through organic (non-paid), search engine results.
What would you do if you need to replace your AC but are not sure which model to buy?
Or, what would you do if you went on a vacation and you need to know the most famous restaurant in that city?
Well, if you’re like most people, you’d simply pick-up your phone and search it on Google and get your answers.
These results are based on what Google thinks will be the most helpful information to you, based on the keywords you entered.
SEO is the study of understanding what people are searching about on the search engines, what words they are using, and what type of content they like to consume. Knowing the answers to all these questions will allow you to connect with the people who are searching online for the products/services you offer.
Importance of SEO or (Being on Top of Google Search)
We have listed below some of the biggest benefits of performing SEO on your website.
1. SEO Targets Quality Traffic
While paid advertising, social media, and other online platforms can generate traffic to websites, the majority of online traffic is driven by search engines.
Unlike traditional “outbound” advertising channels, like cold callings, spam emails, and interruptive ads, which involve reaching out to consumers whether they want to hear from you or not, the inbound strategy of SEO focuses on making it easy for your audience to find you while they’re looking for products/services you offer.
SEO also focuses on creating informative title tags and meta descriptions, which show up in the result pages hence increasing the web traffic.
2. Cost-effective
Google’s search engine rankings are based entirely on what its algorithm determines to be the best results for any given query. So, if the search engine is displaying your page in the top results to the users for a query, it can continue doing so for a long time as long as it remains relevant.
This inbound nature of SEO helps businesses save money as opposed to outbound strategies like cold-calling, spam emails, etc.
But you need to keep updating your website every few months, depending upon the content, so that it continues to be relevant and fresh.
3. SEO Gets More Clicks Than PPC
The first five organic results, on the 1st page of the search engine alone, account for 67.60% of all the clicks, and the results from 6 to 10 account for only 3.73%.
As noted by the CTR stats above, simply paying for PPC advertising is not enough. If you‘re like most searchers, you prefer clicking on organic results as opposed to clicking on paid ads.
Having placement in the organic results creates trust in the user, and when you are in the top 5 results, you are simply getting more of that traffic monthly.
4. SEO Increases Brand Awareness Through Effective PR
Since top position rankings result in significant impressions, having your website in these top positions on the result pages will result in more exposure and trust-building to the users.
You can use SEO and PR together through link-building strategy.
Since PR strategy revolves around getting prominent publications and influencers to talk about your company, one of the biggest parts of an SEO professional’s job is to identify opportunities for placement or coverage on industry blogs, news publications, and other relevant sites.
This link-building strategy will get your brand in front of the customers and also connect you with potential customers.
5. Stay Ahead
61% of marketers say that improving their SEO and online presence is a top priority.
With an effective SEO strategy, you can keep up and always stay one step ahead of your competitors within your industry.
To Sum Up
SEO has become an essential part of any marketing strategy.
We hope after reading this article you’ve realized that SEO isn’t just optional anymore.
However, we recommend you do your keyword research before writing your next blog post. Then, use your keyword data to optimize the basics, such as your title tags and descriptions to make it at the top of Google search.
And if you need any help with that, Contact us today!
