You may be wondering why you need SEO for your business? Well if we take in to account that 93% of online experiences begin with a search engine, you can see how important it is!
Before we dive into the 12 reason why your business should be using SEO, let us take a further look into what it is. SEO stands for search engine optimisation.
SEO is an inbound marketing technique that helps increase the organic search engine traffic to your website. Organic traffic refers to traffic that has found your website, through a means in which you have not had to pay for them to do so.
Organic search results are determined by the search engine that you are browsing. Each search engine will have its own set of algorithms on how it will rank content.
So now you have a basic understanding of what SEO is, lets explore why you need it…
Why you need SEO for your business
1) SEO helps create the perfect marketing strategy
What is the perfect marketing strategy? A question that each marketer has likely contemplated at some time. The truth is marketing is not an exact science. To achieve as close to the perfect strategy as possible we advise utilising as many methodologies as possible. This way your strategy will be a well-rounded as it can be.
Both inbound and outbound marketing can have positive effects for a company, techniques such as SEO, PPC, email marketing and social media management all have an important part to play. SEO is a brilliant tool that will help your business develop whilst benefiting the rest of your strategy.
2) SEO maximises your websites potential
Your website is the gateway between a business and a potential customer. SEO allows you to maximise its potential.
Your website should be a mixture of design and functionality. A clear SEO strategy allows you to be clear and concise with the functionality of your site. Features such as mobile compatibility, short click paths and short URL’s will all help in a positive manner.
3) SEO Increases visitors to your website
SEO optimises your site to help you appear closer to the top in search engine results. By appearing closer to the top of the search engine results, your site will naturally increase it organic visitors.
Organic visitors are the best type of visitors to have as well due to it being a much more sustainable source. The increase in visitors should theoretically bring in more relevant visitors due to the keywords your target. This will then lead to more relevant leads and a better conversion rate.
This by nature increases lows you to attract more organic website visitors to your site.
4) SEO builds your websites credibility
A credible website is vital. This statement is true for the design and viewership for a customer, however it also applies to Google.
To be successful on the internet your website needs to have something called domain authority. Domain authority is essentially a ranking score of how likely your website is to rank on Google. The higher your domain authority the better. SEO is a methodology that helps improve your domain authority. Creating a site that is likely to rank increases your credibility across the web!
5) SEO = Target Visitors = Better Leads
SEO’s methodology includes creating targeted content that will delight your customer at each stage of the buyer’s journey (LINK TO BLOG). This is the ideology of Inbound Marketing.
This sort of approach is brilliant for your business because a visitor reading your content can be classified into different parts of the buyer’s journey. By identifying which customers are at the end of their journey, therefore being more likely to purchase your products or services, you have the possibility of having a more accurate lead scoring system.
The better your leads the easier it is for the sales team to convert them!
6) SEO improves user experience
An excellent customer experience is brilliant for your brand. SEO helps create the best possible user experience at each stage of the customer’s buyer’s journey.
Customers that have a positive experience with your business are much likely to recommend your services or products to a friend. The more customers you can get the greater success you will have!
7) SEO increases your brand reputation
“It takes 20 years to build a reputation and five minutes to ruin it. If you think about that, you’ll do things differently.” – Warren Buffett.
Your brand is your reputation. Strong branding can have substantial effect on the success of your business. By follow SEO practices you are ensuring you protect your image to the public.
8) SEO is for the long term
SEO is all about natural, organic growth. This is brilliant compared to paid advertising. It means that if you run out of budget you will not lose your visitors!
Having a sustainable form of traffic to your site helps progress your business, offering a strong base of reliable customers to work from.
9) SEO is not expensive compared to other marketing
Compared to other marketing techniques SEO is a cheap option. Unlike PPC where you need a large monthly budget SEO can be applied whilst keeping cost down.
Simple SEO techniques can be deployed by an inhouse marketer to improve the performance of a website.
10) SEO is measurable
The problem with outbound marketing techniques is often that there is no way to track the ROI and direct performance of a campaign. This is because you can not determine which customers came from which ad.
SEO allows a completely measurable and data focused approach to marketing. You can track the performance of the work you do and calculate the ROI on the money you invested into the strategy. Having something that is quantifiable allows you to sleep easier at night!
11) SEO lets you capitalise on your competition
SEO tools like SEM Rush (Link to competitor) are great at allowing you to check up on your competition and potential steal some market share. It is always great to get one up on a competitor!
Due to SEO being all about the data you can understand what keywords your competitors are having success with and target them yourself. You can also steal external sites linking to a competitor to boost your domain authority.
12) SEO is at the cutting edge
SEO is a marketing technique at the cutting edge of technology. Many marketers are transitioning to the inbound marketing methodologies because customers no longer want to be sold to like in the past.
Investing in something that will only develop will help create a stable foundation for your business.
For further insights and guidance, we invite you to explore our blog at 07hm.co.uk/blog. Here, you’ll find a wealth of information tailored to the needs and challenges of SMEs navigating the digital landscape. Additionally, if you have specific questions or need personalised advice, don’t hesitate to reach out to us via email at info@07hm.co.uk or telephone on 01702 410663.
