What is SEO and How It Can Help Your Business?

What is SEO ?

SEO also referred to as Search Engine Optimization is the process of increasing the visibility of a website on SERPS (search engine results pages). There are many factors that need to be taken into consideration as a part of your SEO strategy.

It should include consideration how search engines work, which search engines are being used by your target audience, and what your customers are searching for. The goal is to improve the relevance of your website so that it is indexed and well positioned by the search engines.

Search engine optimization is not only having a lot of content. It also includes making sure your website is well structured with user friendly interface. It’s about making sure that you not only have content, but that it’s the right content. When “ranking” a website search engines take the quality of content and the structure of a website into consideration.

Search Engine Optimization isn’t something you do once and then you are done. The playing field is constantly changing as the search engines refine the way they work. The goal of a search engine is to deliver the most relevant results possible to the searcher.

Why is SEO Important?

90 out of 100 people use the internet to shop.

Search is the onset. bookmarks is outdated along with customer loyalty. Today’s consumer is in charge. They know what they’re looking for and they know how to find it.

If your business website is not on the first page of results it’s practically invisible.

• 97% of US internet users shop online 
• 70% of all click-through traffic in Google’s search results go to the #1 position on the page
• Organic search results are a compliment to a paid search campaign 
• Improve search engine position 
• Drive qualified traffic to your site 
• Increase conversion 
• Reduce Bounce Rate 
• Engage Customers 
• Be recognized as an authority in your niche 
• Promote your local business 

How Search Engine Works

Before we begin explaining how SEO can actually help grow your business, allow us to first explain how search engines work, and how each site is ranked accordingly. You just need to remember three things: Relevance, Importance, and Popularity. 

Relevance

How applicable or appropriate is the website to the consumer? Is it something that will help them get the answers that they need?

Importance

Does it offer crucial information or content? How good is the content?

Popularity

How much traffic does this link get as compared to others ranked in the same page? Why are more people visiting this site than the other?

If you think about it, these three are very simple and make so much sense. It represents Google’s goal of bringing good, quality content to the searching public in just a click of a button. SEO is a long-term investment that is definitely worth the costs. Though it takes a while to actually propagate (3 to 6 months, depending on how competitive the keywords being targeted are), the key results improve website traffic, lead generation, and even conversions (particularly for e-commerce websites).

The processes of Search Engine Optimization can sometimes be complex, but to give a rough breakdown of how it goes, it’s always important to start with the first step: Keyword Research. Google keyword planner tool can help with keyword research, using keyword planner tool you can see the estimated traffic that a potential keyword can get. The more frequent a keyword is searched, the more competitive it gets, and the more effort should be exerted in order for your site to rank when that specific keyword is used.

How Can SEO Help Your Business?

Increased Traffic

Top positions on the search engine result pages receive a majority of the impressions and clicks, so ranking in these top positions can result in significant traffic increases for your website. SEO also focuses on creating informative and keyword relevant title tags and meta descriptions, which show up in the result pages. Having optimized tags and descriptions helps to increase click through rate, which also promotes increases in qualified web traffic.

ROI 

SEO provides traceable and quantifiable results, regardless of whether you are an ecommerce or non-ecommerce site so there are no qualms when it comes to ROI. SEO agencies are able to track nearly every aspect of their strategy, like increases in rankings, traffic and conversions. Comprehensive analytics also provide the ability to drill down at a granular level and see demographic information and other engagement metrics for individuals who have interacted with your website. 

For Ecommerce sites, SEO Companies can see which paths users take in order to complete a sale, all the way down to which keyword they used to search for you prior to purchasing. For non-Ecommerce sites, you can attribute values to your lead conversions, like a 'contact us' form fill-out, and calculate the value of your SEO strategy that way.

Cost Effectiveness

SEO is one of the most cost-effective marketing strategies because it targets users who are actively looking for your products and services online. SEO's inbound nature helps businesses save money as opposed to outbound strategies like cold-calling. While cold-calling can still be an effective strategy, the leads generated cost 61% more than leads generated by an inbound strategy like SEO. And since SEO also targets users who are actively searching for products and services like yours, the traffic resulting from SEO is more qualified than many other marketing strategies, resulting in cost-savings for companies.

Increased Site Usability

In an effort to make your website easier to navigate for the search engines, SEO simultaneously helps to make your website more navigable for users as well. SEO consists of rearranging the site's architecture and links to make pages within the website easier to find and navigate. This not only makes it easier for search engines to crawl your site and find pages, but also makes it easier for users to find information on your website as well.

Brand Awareness

Since top position rankings result in significant impressions, having your website in these top positions on the result pages translates to more exposure for your website. Plus, being on the first page for your targeted keywords not only helps users to associate your brand with those keywords, but it instils trust, since businesses on the first page are generally perceived to be more trustworthy. The more your pages and content rank in high positions in the search engines, the more chances you have for users to see your content and associate with your brand.

Conclusion

The statistics don’t lie. Everyone is always searching for something, and what better way to take advantage of this than to show up just when they need you most? Being on the first page of Google works. Being ranked high gives back your investment. And the most effective way you can reach the first page of any search engine is through Search Engine Optimization.