Top 8 reasons why you should invest in Search Engine Optimisation
As a business owner or manager, you’ve probably come across Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) and wondered if it’s worth investing in for your business. There’s a lot of information out there, some of which suggest that there are a some simple ‘fixes’ you can do to boost your rankings. But there is a lot more to SEO than meets the eye.
So why do you need SEO for your website?
When conducted properly, SEO is actually one of the most reliable tools for increasing your digital brand presence and driving people towards your website. This is because you are generating organic visitors, rather than paying for them for an instant response.
SEO builds over time, which means it takes a little longer to take effect. Despite this, you get higher quality site visits which increase the likelihood of conversion. Not only that, but you are building your brand over time which produces a loyal base of customers.
Without SEO your site isn’t going to rank well in search engines – Google is a heavily competitive world. Research reveals that 75 per cent of searchers will not click beyond the first page of a Search Engine Result Page (SERP). If you want your business listed on that primary page, you need to prioritise your organic search. But you will need a concrete strategy to get results.
In this blog, we will tell you exactly what an optimised site can do for you and why you need SEO for your website.
8 Reasons why you need SEO for your website
1. SEO is the best way to generate traffic to your website
Organic search is often the leading factor that drives customers to your site looking for your product or service. If a customer is at the purchasing or even researching, stage of their buying process then it’s likely they will come online and type in what they’re looking for. Google will respond and provide you with the sites that meet your search terms the best.
However, Google and other search engines are constantly changing their algorithms to fine-tune and make sure it is the most reliable sites that get higher in their rankings. That’s why, to master organic search, you need to stay up to date with the latest SEO trends and algorithms as well as providing quality content on your site. SEO provides both back-end technical and on-page implementation, ensuring Google’s bots can read the site and identify its purpose easily. Giving you optimal chances of ranking for the keywords your customers are searching for.
Conducting an SEO audit can help you to see how your website is performing currently. It can also show you areas where you may be able to make improvements to generate more traffic to your site.
2. Traffic earned via SEO leads to a higher conversion rate
The more traffic you have on your site, the higher your odds of conversion. And, as SEO is driven by people, you can assume that every single user you acquire through organic search was searching for the keywords that were relevant to your website.
Aka - they wanted to find you.
To turn your new visitor into a sale you need to take into account the elements beyond keywords. Internal linking, UX and navigation, page load times, website design and layout and most importantly relevant and engaging content will all help to generate leads and conversions for your business.
By getting all these elements right, you’ll increase your chances of conversions. Equally, if you are providing content that your visitors are ready, and therefore, spending more time on the site then you’ll be increasing your kudos points with search engines further which will increase your click-through rate and decrease your bounce rate.
A watertight SEO strategy that considers the entire journey of your consumer is what will get you the conversion, so you need to think of the entire picture when your approach SEO for your website.
3. SEO adds credibility to your brand
As you increase your authority online (aka what search engines view as the quality of your website), search engines will recognise you as an expert in your field and you’ll move up the rankings. Everything from optimised images to meta tags and descriptions, to on-page content, demonstrates that you are not only relevant for your audience but that you are providing high quality, engaging content for them too. This helps inspire trust in your businesses, and trust is what builds relationships that lead to sales.
To ensure that you get the best results for your brand and your stakeholders, you may want to enlist the support of an SEO marketing agency. There are lots of elements to consider when you start working on the SEO for your website, so it’s important that you get it right and remain consistent, whilst also being in line with the changing algorithms.
Overall, having a solid strategy, providing relevant, engaging and updated content along with all the technical implementation ensures that you’ll be doing well in your rankings.
4. SEO is cost-effective
Of all the digital marketing methods you can employ to promote your brand or services, SEO brings you the most value.
If you’re clued up in SEO, you can execute your SEO strategy easily without investing in an agency. Tools such as Google Analytics, Google Console and Google Keyword Planner can also help you do some research around your keywords and how your site is performing.
But even if you do invest in an expert to conduct your SEO services, SEO provides great value to your site. This is because you’re driving higher quality leads organically to your site. Often people want a quick fix to get their site to “number 1 on Google”, but SEO is so much more complex and longstanding than that.
It can take around 3-6 months for an SEO strategy to start showing real results, and that’s because you’re building up your brand presence in the right way – rather than paying for clicks. PPC and advertising can work but you’ll constantly be adjusting your plan and budget, so you don’t overspend. For a long-term guaranteed increase in visitors to your site, SEO is more cost-effective over time.
5. SEO is a long-term investment with tangible results
As we mentioned in the previous point, SEO can take a few months to start showing real results, but over time your visits will keep increasing – every month. Investing in ads on Google or social media can be a good quick tactic, but in heavily competitive industries, ads can be costly and require constant refinement as you monitor and adjust your budget.
SEO strategies can run on an ongoing basis, and it’s not only beneficial for your search results but also works for your customers. Whilst Google is crawling your site for relevant keywords and quality factors, your customers are benefitting too.
6. An optimised site provides the best experience
When you invest your time into an SEO strategy, you’re also investing in a content strategy. You’ll be sharing more information on your site, creating relevant web copy and landing pages and posting engaging blog or news posts consistently.
As a result, you’re not only more likely to be found on Google, but your visitors are likely to stay on your site and take in all that lovely information.
SEO can build relationships, create engagement and in turn, create customers that purchase your product or service. The more comprehensive your SEO strategy is, the better the browsing experience for your customers.
7. Local search SEO
For smaller companies, SEO can be even more rewarding as you can target your local area relatively easily. How many times have you Googled ‘restaurants near me’ or ran a location-specific search? Whichever businesses popped up on the first page are on top of their SEO.
Ranking for local search SEO can help get people to your door by utilising your location in your content, but also have a solid Google My Business strategy, as well as getting yourself citations and business listings with your address.
To rank for local search SEO, you will want to optimise your website and content for mobile devices as well as think about voice search and answering queries. Local search SEO is often less competitive, so gives you a higher chance of reaching your local customers and generating leads.
8. SEO is much more than tech
SEO doesn’t stop at keywords, metadata, alt text or any of those jargon terms that SEO experts talk about. These are important factors in getting your site to rank.
However, organic search is as much about people as it is about technicalities. You need to understand what your target market is thinking about, what they want to learn about, and how they make purchase decisions.
If you’ve implemented all the right SEO tactics technically, then great – you’re onto a good start. But a solid SEO strategy that lasts and produces real results is one that constantly provides updated content, relevant webpages, blogs and information that helps their audience.
For a real SEO strategy to work, the keywords here are quality and relevant. Teaming up with an experienced SEO marketing agency ensures that your business gets the maximum visibility and exposure that keeps your customers at the heart.
We hope that our pointers have helped you see what SEO can do for you. If you need help with your SEO services, strategy or implementation, give us a call on 01794 725 454 or make an enquiry and we’ll be happy to help.
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