In today’s highly competitive market, SEO or Search engine optimization is more essential than ever before. At the same time, it is one of the most confusing issues in the marketing world. In short, SEO is a method to improve a site so that it will be displayed closer to the top in the search results of Bing, Yahoo, Google, etc. SEO is a must-have feature for every web property. Search engines help millions of people looking for solutions to their problems or for answers to their questions. When a person performs a search on any search engine, the order by which the results are shown is based on multiply algorithms. They analyze a number of factors to decide which website should be displayed in the 1st place, 2nd place, etc. So if you have an online store, blog, or website, SEO techniques can help you get high ranking and, hence, meet the business objectives. SEO is a viable marketing tool that can attract more clients and leads. It is not a magic. However, it provides a credibility, high ROI, web traffic, branding, and business visibility.
Why is SEO so important?
So let us discuss why SEO is essential for your business:
- SEO puts your website ahead of the competition. Say, two websites are selling the same services. In this case, SEO optimized website is more likely to have more clients and, hence, more sales.
- SEO increases search engine traffic
- SEO is useful for the social promotion of a website
- SEO increases the website’s reliability as users usually trust search engines
- Good SEO practices improve the usability and user experience of websites
Optimizing a website for search engines will increase your chance to rank higher and give your website a serious advantage over non-optimized websites.
SEO gives you insight into your clients
As mentioned above, SEO generates traffic which is tracked by Google Analytics. These metrics and data are valuable as they give you insight into your clients: the times of day/days they are most active, how they browse, what they are looking for, the region they live in, the language/devices they use, etc. This information allows you to make well-weighted decisions regarding your business.
SEO provides high ROI
SEO allows you to just show up when people are looking for businesses like yours. With this feature, you’ve won the battle before it even begins. It. In other words, SEO rewards you at a higher rate than the majority of traditional forms of offline ads.
SEO brings traffic
Of course, traffic itself cannot make you any money. However, it is better to do business in a crowded place than it is to set up store in a desert, isn’t it?
SEO provides credibility
In the people’s minds, your website’s ranking is actually a vote of confidence. They may not realize it, however, top search position makes you more credible in their eyes.
SEO is good for branding
If your website is continually displayed in search results, you will gain more mindshare with each potential client. These people are likely to trust you and stay loyal to your brand.
Generally, there are 2 main components of SEO:
- On-site optimization
There are simple tools you can use to improve the credibility and usability of your website and increase your search engine visibility. For example, title tags, high-quality content, images. Also, the website’s structure is also crucial for SEO purposes.
- Off-site optimization
Besides on-site SEO, there are off-site SEO methods or things you can do outside of your website. It is also known as a website promotion or link building. Incoming links impact your website’s ranking (either negatively if the links are link farms, paid links, etc., or positively if they come from trusted and credible websites). Guest posting for links and high-quality content are two possible ways to get natural links which in turn will give you traffic and good rankings. Good content is always the most important factor without or with SEO. To conclude, SEO is a technique to optimize your site so that search engines will give you higher rankings and “read” your website better. A proper SEO approach will drive more traffic to an online store, blog, or website, gain more clients, make sales and meet your business purposes.