In our previous article, we have discussed why you need to start a blog for your company if you haven’t already. In this one, we take it a step further. We discuss the importance of SEO for your content. There’s quite a bit of misconception and misunderstandings when it comes to SEO. We’re going to take you through them. We’re going to show you how to optimize your content, and why it’s essential for you to do so. SEO will most definitely improve a website’s overall searchability and visibility, but what other real value does it offer? Why is SEO so important? Read on to find out
First things first, what is SEO?
SEO stands for Search Engine Optimization, which involves the process of increasing the quantity and quality of traffic to your website through organic search engine results. There are three components to that previous sentence:
1) Quality of traffic: You can attract all the online visitors in the world, but they need to be coming to your page for the right reasons. For example, if you sell Apple computers but Google is sending people looking for the fruit, Apple, to your website, that would be of no use. You need to attract visitors who are genuinely interested in your products. That’s what we meant by “Quality of traffic”.
2) Quantity of traffic: Once you have the right people clicking through from those search engine results pages, the more the traffic, the better it is for your company.
3) Organic results: Organic traffic is any traffic that you don’t have to pay for. Having content out there in the internet and having search engines find them on their own, without any payment from your side for visibility is organic. That’s the difference between search engine optimization (SEO) and search engine marketing (SEM).
How does SEO work?
To answer this question, you must know first know how search engines work. When you type out a query in a search engine, seeking information, here’s the process of what happens: Google (or whichever the search engine you’re using) has a crawler that goes out and gathers information about all the content they can find on the Internet. The crawlers bring all the information back to the search engine to build an index. That index is then fed through an algorithm that tries to match all that data with your query. Basically, when you ask Google a question, Google searches the internet and uses its algorithm to find answers as close to your question.
SEO involves the act of optimizing your content in such a way that it is easier for search engines to find them with the intention to make them among the first results to be displayed whenever somebody does a search that might be related to your content.
The importance of SEO:
1) SEO’s most obvious benefit
The biggest importance of SEO is that it helps drive traffic to your website, which in turn drives business. By increasing the visibility of your digital presence, you’re getting free publicity when your content is being ranked high on search engines. This directs potential customers to your website who might eventually buy your services or products.
2) SEO builds trust & credibility
The goal of any experienced SEO is to establish a strong foundation for a website with a clean, effective user experience that is easily discoverable in search, thanks to the trust and credibility of the brand and its digital properties. Establishing a brand as an authority takes patience, effort, and commitment.
3) Good SEO also means a better user experience
Everyone wants better organic rankings and maximum visibility. Few realize that optimal user experience is a big part of getting there. Google has learned how to interpret a favorable or unfavorable user experience, and a positive user experience has become a pivotal element to a website’s success. Customers know what they want. If they can’t find it, there’s going to be a problem. And performance will suffer. This is one of the most unseen importance of SEO.
4) SEO impacts the buying cycle
Customers almost always do their research. That’s one of the biggest advantages of this internet world from a buyer perspective. Using SEO tactics to relay your messaging for good deals, groundbreaking products and/or services, and the importance and dependability of what you offer customers will be a game changer. It will also undoubtedly impact the buying cycle in a positive way when done right. Brands must be visible in the places people need them for a worthy connection to be made. Local SEO enhances that visibility and lets potential customers find the answers, and the businesses providing those answer.
5) SEO Is cheap
Technically, it could be free, but SEO is relatively cheap in the grand scheme of things, and the payoff will most likely be considerable in terms of the brand’s benefit.
Conclusion:
Implementing strong, quality SEO on your website and digital properties is always going to be beneficial to your brand and your marketing efforts. It’s considered a “new age” marketing technique, but it’s critical to your brand’s web presence in this day and age, especially as available data and rivaling competition continue to increase and grow. It’s the age of the SEO, and if you haven’t been doing it, you must keep up with the competition.