Search engine optimization has reached new heights this year. Even traditional businesses realized that they must accelerate the shift to digital when consumers shifted en masse to the internet.
With SEO, you can understand and reach customers at key moments in a cost-effective manner.
The majority of brands and businesses know (or believe they know) that they need SEO to drive traffic to their digital properties, plus the benefits they will receive from the SEO work being implemented on their behalf.
SEO certainly improves a website’s searchability and visibility, but what other value does it provide?
Why is SEO growing in importance the way it is?
There are 10 reasons why businesses need SEO, regardless of the industry or size of their business.
Contents
1. Most of the traffic to a website comes from organic search
Organic search is an essential part of most businesses’ websites’ performance and is vital to converting users to customers.
There is no doubt that Google holds a significant share of the search market compared to companies like Yahoo, Bing, Baidu, Yandex, DuckDuckGo, and many others.
Nevertheless, not every search engine contributes to a brand’s visibility. Simply put, most of the search market is owned by Google.
Although it’s a clear-cut leader, following its guidelines is crucial.
However, the remainder of the market is also valuable to brands. For brands in niche verticals where voice, visual, and vertical search engines are essential, this is especially true.
It also happens to be the world’s most popular email provider, with more than 1 billion users, since Google is the most visited website in the world (and in particular in the United States).
Over 2 billion people access YouTube at least once a month, making it the second biggest search engine. Digital marketing can help you to increase your visibility and hence increase organic traffic.
In fact, at least one-third of the world’s population with internet access visits Google daily to get information.
Ranking highly as a trusted resource with Google and other search engines is always in a brand’s favor. Brands get there with quality SEO and a high-quality website.
2. Building trust & credibility with SEO
Any experienced SEO will aim to build a beautiful, functional website that is easy to locate in search thanks to a brand’s trust and credibility.
When it comes to search engines like Google, many factors go into establishing authority.
Along with the factors mentioned above, authority is accrued over time as a result of factors like:
- Natural links.
- Optimized on-page elements and content.
- Positive user behavior.
- Machine-learning signals.
Establishing that authority will do more for a brand than most, if not all, other digital optimization strategies.
Unfortunately, building trust and credibility overnight is impossible just as it is in the real world. Authoritative power can only be earned and built over time.
To achieve successful results, Google’s E-A-T guidelines must be followed.
Building a brand as an authority takes time, effort, and commitment, as well as providing a quality product that allows customers to trust the brand.
3. Understanding the consumer’s voice is best done through SEO
Understanding macro market shifts and consumer intent in granular detail is what SEO tells us about customers.
Our SEO data and formats – spoken or written – convey clear signals about intent and user behavior.
It does this in many ways:
- Analytics data and AI insights.
- SERP analysis.
- Search query data.
4. Better SEO also means a better user experience
Every marketer’s top priority is the user experience. Organic ranking and visibility are important to everyone. Nevertheless, few realize that a great user experience is essential to achieving this.
A positive user experience has become crucial to the success of a website, and Google has learned how to interpret a good or bad user experience.
Marketers in all industries will need to adhere to Google’s Page Experience Update, part of their longstanding focus on the customer experience.
Their needs are clear to them. A problem will arise if they aren’t able to find the document. There will be a drop in performance.
Google has become one of the most successful answer engines in recent years, providing the most relevant and pertinent data directly on the SERP (search engine results page).
With fewer clicks, users will easily and quickly find the information they are looking for.
Positive user experiences are essential ingredients in quality SEO in order to boost a brand’s visibility.
5. Enhanced engagement, traffic, and conversions with local SEO
A fundamental component of small- and medium-sized businesses’ success has become local search due to the rise and dominance of mobile traffic.
The goal of local SEO is to optimize your digital presence for a specific area to let people discover you easily, making your business more accessible to them.
The focus of local optimization is to create a viable medium to deliver a brand’s messages in specific locations like neighborhoods, towns, cities, and even states.
An SEM professional optimizes a brand’s web content, including local citations, high-quality backlinks, and listings within relevant sectors within relevant locations in order to achieve this goal.
The Knowledge Graph panel, Google My Business listing, and social media accounts of a brand are good places to start optimizing engagement locally.
Additionally, depending on the industry, user reviews on Google should also be strongly emphasized, as well as reviews on websites like Yelp, Home Advisor, and Angie’s List (among others).
6. SEO and the buying cycle
Real-time research is a critical component of SEO, and it is becoming increasingly important.
SEO tactics can help you convey attractive discounts, innovative products, and a commitment to customer satisfaction and dependability through messaging.
Furthermore, when done properly, it will have a significant positive impact on the buying cycle.
For a meaningful connection to be made, brands need to be visible where people need them. Local SEO enables potential customers to locate the businesses providing the answers to their questions.
7. Best practices are constantly updated and the system is constantly improving
Implementing SEO tactics on websites and across digital assets is a good thing for a brand.
Yet, if the site isn’t continually re-evaluated over time and it has been engaged for a short time (budget constraints, etc.), it will reach a point where its growth is no longer possible.
Search is constantly evolving (basically at the discretion of Google) and consequently, businesses must monitor for changes to remain relevant and on Page 1.
Brands that are proactive and monitor for algorithm changes are always going to benefit.
Every year, Google changes its algorithms thousands of times. Getting too far behind will make it difficult to make up ground.
SEO professionals ensure this is avoided.
8. SEO helps you understand the web environment
The World Wide Web is an environment that is constantly changing, so staying on top of the changes is a challenge.
In addition to keeping up with SEO, it is important to keep track of major changes in search.
It is always beneficial for those brands to understand the web environment to include tactics used by similar local businesses and competitors.
9. SEO is Very Affordable and Profitable
Yes, it costs money. Of course, everything good has an end, don’t you think?
SEO is relatively inexpensive in the grand scheme of things, and the payoff will be substantial for a brand’s bottom line.
A business investment, not a marketing cost.
The example of SEO implementation will hold up for years to come. In addition, if we pay more attention (and invest in) it, it will only get better.
10. SEO is PR
SEO helps build long-term equity for your brand. A good ranking and a favorable placement help elevate your brand’s profile.
People search for news and related items and having a good SEO and PR strategy means your brand will be seen.
Having a good user experience on your website means your messages will be heard, and your products or service sell.
SEO is no longer a siloed channel, so integrating with content and PR helps with brand reach and awareness alongside other results.
Conclusion
Over the last few years, SEO’s role has grown significantly.
Search engine optimization helps consumers when they are in need, and implementing robust, quality SEO on a brand’s website and digital properties will benefit brands and their marketing campaigns.
In addition to its challenges, SEO has the potential to help businesses succeed in the future by helping to future-proof their success and consolidating their web presence.
Author Bio:
Sajid Hussain is a senior content specialist at TechNerds with proven digital marketing experience under his belt. He harbors a passion for writing on a diverse range of topics related to futuristic technologies, innovation, and digital marketing to educate and inspire his readers.
