Search engine optimization should be a top priority in your digital marketing strategy. Depending on who you ask, the major search engines control anywhere from 60% to 90% of all traffic on the Internet. Without visibility on Google, Yahoo and Bing, you may as well not be on the Internet.
Moreover, working within the major search engines structure provides higher ROI than perhaps any single marketing activity. In short, SEO drives digital growth. Are you including it in your business marketplace?
SEO and Brand Awareness.
Whether your company is a young upstart or an established brand, you need to solidify your market position in the digital space. Search engine optimization is one of the best ways to do this.
The major search engines are highly trusted websites. People believe the results that they get from Google. If you are on page 1 of Google results for a keyword that is relevant to your prospects, you will get a higher clickthrough rate, their engagement and higher conversion rates. However, all of it starts with brand awareness.
People tend to trust brands that they see more often. The higher that your digital profile ranks within the major search engine results pages, the more ubiquitous your brand becomes. If you want to supercharge your ubiquity, run an effective search engine optimization campaign beside a paper click campaign or other paid advertisement rollout. This is usually very effective for seasonal sales or short-term bumps.
SEO and ROI.
One of the major reasons that brands with million-dollar budgets focus on organic search listings is the great ROI. If brands with million-dollar budgets are trying to rank in organic listings, how much more does your business need this to happen? If you can begin to earn the trust of the major search engines, your brand sticks in its market position for much longer. Pay to play advertising campaigns may cause things to happen more quickly, but they burn out just as fast.
Organic search listings are trusted almost 90% more than paid advertisements. This translates to almost double the amount of clickthroughs on an organic listing as
Moreover, working within the major search engines structure provides higher ROI than perhaps any single marketing activity. In short, SEO drives digital growth. Are you including it in your business marketplace?
opposed to a front-page ad. Imagine what you could do with a conversion rate that was twice as high – how much more would this mean to your bottom line?
SEO and Mobile.
Now is the time to future proof your brand against dynamic marketplace movement and market saturation. Companies are invariably moving into the mobile space, and if you do not solidify your place there now, then you face additional competition the longer you wait.
Literally hundreds of companies make their way into the online space every day. These companies do not even have to be in your market niche – they can create digital noise that keep your target audience away from your website. It is best to learn search engine optimization in the mobile space now while the market is at its most open.
SEO and Globalization.
With the proliferation of global mobile technology comes a globally connected marketplace. If you have a legitimate presence in the digital space, then you have a legitimate chance at expanding your brand across the world. This is a far cry from the days of brick and mortar, when companies competed for neighborhoods one block at a time.
With the proliferation of three PL services such as Amazon, you also have the ability to connect with your global customer base in a very personalized way. All of it starts from search engine optimization. As long as you can target your audience properly and maintain your position for selected keywords, you can very well be delivering products to people on the other side of the world on a daily basis.
SEO and Analysis.
The major search engines also give you unfettered access to customer data. The doors are closing on this as well, however. For instance, the Google Keyword tool is now hidden behind a paywall – it was completely free for many years.
Even if you are just learning about the power that search engine optimization gives you, you still have the ability to gather more data than ever on your customer base. The major search engines allow you to cull statistics detailing your most popular pages, your most relevant keywords, bounce rates from organic listings, demographic information from your clickthroughs, clickthrough rates, and many other relevant statistics. From the statistics, you can determine your most effective marketing techniques. You can focus your efforts on the techniques that work best and completely eliminate those that do not.
SEO and Reputation.
If you are not managing your reputation online, someone else is. Even if you have not thought of creating a digital presence, it is likely that you have one already. Take a chance – Google your business name. If you are a legitimate competitor in your area, it is possible that one of your rivals may have taken your Google Business listing right from under your nose. There may be online reports of your business on Google or Yelp. Everyone is moving in the online space these days. You cannot afford to lag behind.
If you are not able to find any information about your brand, consider yourself lucky. In most cases, bad news travels faster than good news – the reputation that you allow other people to manage will likely be more negative than a reputation that you manage yourself. Take the time to learn about how search engine optimization can bolster your reputation management efforts. You always need to put your best foot forward when it comes to selling, and this includes how you sell in the digital space.
SEO and Conversions.
When all is said and done, search engine optimization brings home the bacon. The algorithms in the major search engines are geared towards connecting people with businesses that are most relevant to them. It’s like having your own marketing team working 24 hours a day, seven days a week on your behalf. All that you really have to do is understand the system that has been set up for you.
Because search engines are trying to bring people the most relevant results, once you become a relevant result, your conversion rate will naturally increase. You will find yourself spending much less in marketing for a much better result. Over time, you can actually automate your marketing process using the major search engines. You will need to learn the basics of how to choose keywords, how to respond to a dynamic marketplace and how to keep up with the constant changes in search engine algorithms. All of this can be learned, however. Plenty of businesses have done exactly this and seen a great deal of success.
The points above are only a few of the reasons that search engine optimization helps to bolster your marketplace. As SEO gets even better over time, you can expect even better results from investing in the technology. Look to the major search engines to help connect you with the people who are most likely to buy your products. Trust in the system, and the system will begin to trust in you. When you have this relationship solidified, you can worry much less about your competition in the marketplace.