Thanks to the Internet, today’s market is more connected than ever. But this also means that the competition is more fierce than it’s ever been.
This makes standing out from the crowd more and more difficult, especially for small businesses. Luckily, there is a way forward. SEO can give you the edge you need to stay competitive and even thrive.
What is SEO?
Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is a set of techniques you can use to improve how well your website ranks among search engine results.
This is usually done by optimizing keywords, text, and images. The goal is to help Google bots better understand what your website is all about and how well it can help with what the users are searching for.
The Importance of SEO
Considering how big of a role Internet plays in our daily life, it’s clear that staying visible is your number one priority. This is especially true for smaller businesses that can’t compete with the marketing budget of large corporations.
There are a number of ways SEO can help your business stay competitive and at the forefront of your customers’ minds.
More Visitors and Better Experience
Arguably the main benefit of using SEO is that it helps grow organic traffic to your website. By this, we mean traffic from users who ask a question on Google, see your website in the search results, and click in hopes of finding the answer.
This added traffic directly translates to more engagement and, ultimately, more sales. This increase is especially easy to see with smaller businesses using local SEO.
Local SEO is aimed explicitly toward engaging local customers. This is usually done by changing the content to show the local business address, engaging in link exchange with other local businesses, and focusing on customer reviews.
An added benefit of using SEO is the fact that your website invariably becomes faster and easier to use. This, in turn, improves the user experience, making sure visitors return to your website time and time again.
More Customers and Sales
We already talked about how beneficial SEO can be for increasing the number of visitors to your website. What we didn’t mention is exactly how this increase can affect your sales.
Improving your SEO rank and increasing your visitor base doesn’t just result in more exposure. Keep in mind that people tend to look online for options when deciding on a product or service to buy. If you optimize your website for the right keywords, you will attract the attention of far more potential customers.
It’s hard to exaggerate the effects of SEO on sales. Over the last two years, “Where to buy” + “near me” mobile searches have grown over 200%. And when done right, SEO can help you achieve a 14.6% conversion rate.
Improves Brand Image and Authority
Considering how many people use Google to research products and companies, it’ easy to see why you would want to be at the top of the search results page.
A high SEO rank ensures that customers have an easy time finding your business. This directly affects your brand awareness and image, making sure that your company is the first thing people see when searching for the products you offer.
It speaks to a level of authority and trustworthiness, showing that plenty of people took the time to visit and research your website, Tree Frogs Social’s automation service can help with this.
Integrates Your Online Marketing
In general, SEO works best when combined with other types of online marketing. Marketing methods such as email campaigns, content marketing, social media, and others all integrate well under the SEO umbrella.
Social media is an especially important piece of this puzzle. By claiming and investing time in your company’s social media profiles, you are engaging a whole new community of potential customers. Visitors from social media websites add to your SEO rank just as much as organic traffic.
Once you’ve integrated all of your marketing efforts (including SEO) towards the same goal, your results will be greater than the sum of their parts.
A Cost-Effective, Long-Term Strategy
SEO might look expensive to implement, but it actually proves to be a better ROI in the long run when compared to more traditional marketing methods.
It’s true that in many cases, using SEO will need an upfront investment. This usually comes in the form of hiring an SEO expert or taking Calgary SEO Services to take a look at your website and make the necessary changes.
But it’s essential to keep in mind that using SEO means playing the long game. By building your brand presence and authority through SEO, you will steadily increase the number of visitors to your website.
Eventually, this increase will exceed what you could gain by more traditional marketing methods, to the point that your investment will be returned many times over.
Final Thoughts
SEO offers a number of benefits toy our business, including more website traffic, better brand image, and improved sales. It’s also a cost-effective marketing strategy that will bring impressive results in the long run.
The best part is that it’s pretty easy to start. All you need to do is find an SEO company in the USA, and you’ll be well on your way to taking your business to the next level.