It can be difficult to decipher between all the different online marketing methods that you can use. Some might be attracted by social media, while others may want to look at paid traffic. But one method that remains a mystery to many is SEO. It can also be very intimidating at first. However, we’re here to tell you that if you don’t have a solid SEO strategy in place, you might be missing out on one of the most powerful tools you could use. Here are a few reasons why.
SEO Attracts High-Quality Laser Targeted Traffic
One of the things people need to understand about traffic is that the source plays a huge role in how well it will convert. For instance, a click coming from someone who may have seen your content on Facebook will not hold the same weight as traffic coming in from someone who read one of your articles and wants to learn more.
The difference here is the level of commitment and intent. And there are not many sources of traffic where the intent is higher than organic results. People who visit your website after finding it on a Google search will usually have one intention: learning more about you so they can buy. This is why SEO traffic is so precious.
Not only that, but you can tailor it to meet their exact expectations. You can target high intent keywords and focus on them. You can tailor your on-page content around some of them without being obvious. You will then start seeing a surge of highly converting traffic if done right. SEO is one of the only truly organic marketing methods you can use. It’s more than marketing. It should be something all responsible website owners do.
You Can Go Big or Small
The good thing about SEO is that you can start improving it by making a few simple things. You can start looking up what meta tags and descriptions are, for instance. You could add some content to your site, and review your keyword usage. You could take care of duplicate content and broken links.
On the other hand, you can also go for a full-blown campaign with brand mentions, blogger outreach, and syndication. You could also work with a firm like Vudu that will go through your entire website and see if they can spot some issues.
Firms like these will also be able to build a consistent content marketing strategy for you that will increasingly improve your visibility and help you build a foundation for the future. Content never truly goes away, and some pieces could start gaining traction at any given time, so continually investing while monitoring results can only benefit you in the long run.
You Don’t Have to Pay for Ads
This also means that you don’t actually have to continue paying to get results with SEO. You can stop for a while and still get some dividends. That is the beauty of it. If you have a solid base with lots of content on and off-site, then you will continue to get traffic. Sure, you might have to update your content and invest time or money on fresh content from time to time, but once it gets going, SEO is truly the gift that keeps on giving.
SEO Gets More Traffic than Pay Per Click
Pay Per Click, or PPC often gets touted as the best way to get instant visibility on search engines. While it is true that you can bypass a lot of the barriers of SEO, PPC results really can’t compete with organic results. Not to mention that some people will absolutely refuse to click on or even acknowledge ads.
As a matter of fact, it is estimated that over 70% of all searches end up with people clicking on a search result on the first page. And this is with ads appearing at the very top. This means that a lot of people have developed a blind spot for ads. However, people will always respect the relevant search results. After all, they wouldn’t be conducting searches if they didn’t.
SEO as a PR Tool
Another thing about SEO is that it can be used in conjunction with PR and vice versa. You can use SEO principles to help press releases or announcements get more traction and visibility. Or you can use PR to generate brand mentions that will end up benefiting your site’s results instantly and increase the number and variety of inbound links.
Improves Local Outreach
Local SEO is now becoming vital for new businesses. More people than ever will only visit a local establishment if it’s visible online and if it has favorable reviews. And these numbers will only continue to grow with time. Then there’s the growing number of voice searches. It has been estimated that half of the searches will be voice-conducted and that 40% of all adults use voice search at least once a day.
What makes voice search relevant for local businesses is that a wide number of these searches are local in nature. By optimizing your website for some of the queries people would use to find an establishment like yours, you could suddenly start getting recommended in those searches. This is especially important for people who own restaurants, or emergency services like plumbing or electricians.
SEO is also one of the only areas where you can compete with big companies in your field. A chain restaurant might dominate global results, but if your brand has a small local cult, your results will be showing up right next to theirs in local searches and you won’t have to spend nearly as much on brand recognition.
Conclusion
SEO is not only one of the most important, but one of the most profitable, online marketing methods that you can use to promote your website and brand. That’s why it’s essential that you learn as much as you can about it and don’t hesitate to speak with professionals if you need any help.