Six Reasons Your Business Needs An SEO Strategy

Search engine optimization is a term that's thrown around a lot by today's digital marketing professionals. You've probably heard the term SEO before. And you've probably had people tell you that it's important to your online success. But have you ever wondered why? What is it that makes SEO so appealing to so many website owners? The truth is that an optimization strategy is a must-have for businesses looking to get the most out of their website. Here are six things to consider when deciding whether to add SEO to your marketing plan.

1. Everyone is looking for information online - including your customers.

We live in the age of the internet. Having access to unlimited information in the palm of your hand is affecting consumer behavior across all industries. According to a study by Forbes, 82% of consumers do research online before making a purchase decision. That's an impressively large majority.

Ignoring this trend is no longer an option for a business that wants to stay competitive. If your website isn't showing up in search engines, you're missing out on website traffic, which leads to information requests, phone calls and paying customers.

2. The ROI from SEO is exceptional.

All businesses, large and small, want to stretch their marketing budget as far as it can go. Why waste time and money on a strategy that doesn't help your company's bottom line? If you keep in mind that SEO is a long-term plan for online growth, implementing optimization will get you your money's worth and then some. According to Search Engine Journal, SEO leads have an average closing rate of 14.6%, while normal outbound leads (like direct mail or print advertisements) close at just 1.7%. That's nearly nine times greater. And if you ask marketing professionals directly, a recent study shows 73% of in-house marketers and 76% of agencies worldwide said SEO provided an excellent or good return on investment. If you want to make your marketing budget work for you, invest in SEO.

3. Your competitors are already doing this.

It doesn't matter if you're the very best accountant in your city. If another firm in your area has a great SEO strategy in place, they're almost certainly showing up above you in search results. That means they're getting online attention that could be going to you. Even if you're lucky enough to be on the first page without any optimization in place, don't count on it forever. SEO tactics aren't going away anytime soon, and you need to develop a strategy of your own to keep another website from overtaking you.

4. You can give your website, and therefore your business, greater authority online.

The goal of a search engine is to show their users the results most relevant to their search first; because of this, people usually expect that websites at the top of search results will be the most useful or important. In fact, a study found that 92% of all search engine traffic goes to links on the first page, with a whopping 33% going just to the very first organic search result. The closer you can get to being that top result for a search relevant to your business, the more value and importance users will associate with your brand, and the more likely they are to click through to your website.

5. It's not a quick-fix; SEO is always changing.

It's a common misconception that optimizing a website once will create lasting results. While altering some data that search engines look at may help initially, it is by no means a long-term solution. SEO is constantly changing. Since its creation, many of the key metrics used to dictate search engine rank have changed several times. Additionally, all major search engines frequently adjust their algorithms to give their consumers the most relevant results possible. Effective SEO strategists stay on top of all those changes and make adjustments in the long term.

The downside to this is that many people don't have the time to stay up to date on the constantly changing aspects of optimization.This is especially true for small business owners who often have a lot on their plates. That's why it's recommended to have a dedicated, experienced agency to manage SEO for your business. An agency will always be up-to-date on the SEO strategies that are currently the most effective. This allows you to stay focused on other things vital to your business's success.

6. Simply put: it works.

There's a reason most business owners don't typically choose to set up shop on the outskirts of town - there aren't any customers there. A business that is hard for people to find isn't going to generate any sales. This same idea holds true for business websites. You need website visitors, and SEO is the most effective way to increase traffic in the long term. When correctly implemented, optimization can increase the number of people who click through from search results to your website, your website's user experience, the quality of the traffic that's being sent to your site and the amount of people that call you, contact you or purchase your products.

This is only the tip of the iceberg. SEO is important to staying relevant and garnering more traffic for your website. Any business looking to be truly competitive in the online marketplace should consider search engine optimization as a crucial part of their marketing mix.

Ready to start working on your SEO strategy? Contact 360 PSG today to get started.