If you own a business, the moment you decide to open up a website for it, everybody will start telling you that you need SEO. What many people don't tell you, however, is what SEO is and why it is so beneficial for your business.
In simple terms, Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is the practice of increasing traffic to your website through organic search results. If done right, SEO will improve not only traffic quantity but also quality, meaning you get a much better chance to turn visitors into clients.
Now that you understand what SEO is, you probably figured out that, if done right, it can improve your websites' overall visibility on the internet, but what other things make SEO such an essential tool for all businesses nowadays?
To convert organic search into website traffic
There are many ways people can stumble upon your website. Maybe they saw an ad somewhere, or someone mentioned your business, and they decided to check it out. But one of the primary ways to drive traffic to your website is through organic search.
Organic search means people look for something on Google or other search engines, and they get a number of results they can click on. If you want to draw organic traffic to your website, you need to ensure your website ranks amongst the first in search results.
A good SEO company will know how to use a number of strategies to help get your website to the top of the list.
To establish your business as an authority in the industry
As I mentioned before, the goal of SEO is to optimize your website so that it ranks as high as possible in search results. People tend to trust websites that appear first in results more because your ranking is seen as validation from Google. This means that your website is trustworthy enough for Google to list it at the top, and your business will start to be perceived as an authority in the industry.
Establishing yourself as a trustworthy business is extremely important if you want to attract customers and build credibility. This way, people that are not familiar with your products or services yet will have more reasons to believe in the quality and value of your business.
To improve user experience
A well-optimized website won't just rank high in search, but will also provide a good experience for users. When someone goes on a website, and they can find everything they need in the simplest way possible, this will add to their perception of the brand.
Google changes and improves its algorithm frequently, learning how to identify websites that will provide excellent user experience and favoring them in detriment of poor-designed sites. After all, Google's primary goal is to provide people with the best possible answers to all their questions.
It would help if you kept in mind that Google indexes almost every piece of content on your website, from text to photos, and links, so every aspect needs to be taken care of.
To keep you up to date with algorithm changes
As I mentioned above, Google's algorithm changes periodically, to provide more accurate results for users. A new website will probably be done considering the current algorithm, but since it changes so often, optimization needs to be a regular job, if you want to keep your rankings. If you are doing business on another platform such as Amazon, their algorithm might be a different game from Google. Here are some Amazon SEO tips that might help you to better understand about the different aspects of SEO on different platforms.
Monitoring algorithm changes and periodically updating your website will help you stay ahead of the competition and keep your website on page 1. But if you fall behind, it will cost you quite a significant amount of time and money to bring it up to date. On the other hand, periodical updates will only cost you a fraction of the price.
Because it makes for good ROI
Speaking of money, SEO is one of the most profitable ways to draw traffic to your website. Paid ads can be useful, but they can only be run for a limited amount of time and if you want to keep them up, the costs can be quite high.
SEO can be expensive, but it does make for a good return on investment because it is not just a marketing strategy. It is an actual investment that you will benefit from in the years to come because once a website is up, the only thing you need to do is evaluate it from time to time and retouch some things to fit the new algorithm changes.
It can open the door for new business opportunities
Once you establish yourself as an authority in the business, a whole new window of opportunities will open. A good website will drive traffic and make your business thrive. This will quickly be observed by others in the industry and bring new collaboration opportunities.
Partnerships with other brands or influencers in the industry, opportunities to attend events, and build up your network, as well as preferential prices from vendors, are just a few of the benefits. The better your brand values are transferred into how you present yourself online, the higher the chances of becoming a big name in your field of business.
