Did you know, 61% of marketers believe that Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) is the key to online success? That’s right, and there’s a long list of reasons why it’s dubbed the most effective way to increase online brand awareness, drive high-quality website traffic, and to generate conversions. In this blog, we will investigate why SEO should be an essential element in your quest to build an effective and profitable online presence.
OVERCOME COMPETITION
On Google – the most popular search engine – the higher you rank amongst the search engine results pages (SERPs), the more clicks and traffic your site will generate. This means that, by ranking highly for keywords that are popular in your market, you are increasing the likelihood that new and existing customers will have high visibility of your brand and convert into traffic to your website – all before considering the competition.
BOOST LOCAL PROMINENCY
In a landscape that was dominated by big players with even bigger budgets, Google found a way to give smaller businesses a chance to capture a local and highly lucrative audience. This was by giving preference to businesses that were in close proximity to the user. Today, 48% of Google searches feature a local intent, where 72% of users who carried out a Google search visited a store within five miles of where they were searching. That’s an impressive benefit towards small and medium businesses.
GENERATE MORE LEADS AND CONVERSIONS
Typically, SEO generates the highest conversion rate in contrast to other online channels such as social media, paid search, and email. But why? Well, from boosting your website’s visibility to facilitating a more user-friendly website, if you implement a strategic keyword plan, you can attract an audience of the highest relevance. This means they’ll be more interested in what you have to offer, thanks to the accuracy of your SERPs listing in accordance with the keywords they have searched.
A COST-EFFECTIVE METHOD FOR BRAND AWARENESS
SEO, an inbound channel, is one of the most cost-effective marketing strategies because it targets users who are actively looking for your products and services online. In other words, you aren’t approaching users on the off chance they might want to buy from you, which tends to be the nature of outbound strategies (i.e., email marketing, display advertising).
Over time, SEO grows in effectiveness; and according to the Search Engine Journal, it might take years to see an improvement in search ranking and to benefit from high-quality search engine traffic. However, with diligent effort, SEO will pay off – becoming a sustainable solution for acquiring and retaining customers, while boosting your brand reputation.
CONCLUSION
Ultimately, search engines are the backbone of the internet, and remain one of the most powerful and popular tools online. So, as marketers, we must understand and take into consideration how requisite the likes of Google are for achieving online success. Afterall, 93% of online sessions start with a search engine, so it’s key to build visibility where your customers are.
If you would like to learn more about search engine optimisation and how we can help you achieve a strong online presence amongst your competition, be sure to get in touch: digital@houston.co.uk.
Written by – Bijan Shahrezaey, Digital Account Manager here at Houston
References:
https://www.safaridigital.com.au/blog/seo-statistics-2019/#content-marketing-seo-stats/
https://firstpagesage.com/seo-blog/conversion-rate-by-traffic-source/