Is SEO Part Of Your Marketing Strategy?
More and more businesses are choosing to invest in digital marketing activities now that the online world is playing such a huge part in our everyday lives. From shopping to socialising, consuming news, and choosing who to vote for in elections, the internet shapes the lives of billions of people around the world.
Businesses should be visible online to capture these audiences especially for companies targeting local audiences. They need to have a great looking, fast, and fully-functioning website, a social media presence, and solid organic performance on Google that can generate targeted visitors. SEO to increase organic search presence has become one of the most integral parts of a business’s marketing strategy, and if you’re not already doing it, now is the time to consider what you may be missing out on and what there is to gain. This is the reason businesses speak to an SEO company like RAD SEO.
As a marketing department, you may already know you need to invest in SEO. It is not always easy to present this value to the business decision-makers that are looking for quick marketing gains and not a long term strategy.
Here are 7 reasons to invest in SEO
Everybody Uses Search Engines
Unless you are 100% certain of the web address you would like to visit, there is a pretty good chance that your subconscious will lead you to Google. According to internetlivestats.com, there are 3.5 billion searches per day on Google, so you can imagine how important it is for your business to not only be indexed but to be prominent by keywords and brand in the rankings.
When you consider that 60% of all organic clicks go to the top 3 results, it pays dividends to have a strong presence when people use search engines to find a business, product or service. Anywhere on the 1st page for targeted keywords will still gain traffic.
You learn as you go
Google’s algorithm is updated regularly to keep short-cutters in check but more importantly to provide the most accurate results for each of our personalised searches. Industry experts are constantly left scratching their heads as to what will happen next, there are small algorithm updates on a daily basis and occasionally larger core updates.
Many of the basics of SEO will stay the same but there is a lot that can change that needs to be monitored to understand where to make changes and improve performance. This can be infuriating for some, but exhilarating for others. If you are prepared to carry out SEO yourself, you should be prepared to expect fluctuations and learn from mistakes to create the best performing tactics and SEO strategies. Otherwise, this is where companies like RAD SEO come in to help the consultancy and planning and in some cases manage the SEO activity.
You get rewarded for doing it right
The aforementioned Google algorithm changes are designed to prevent the webmasters who try to manipulate the rankings to get ahead of the businesses who invest wholeheartedly in sticking to the guidelines and achieve their results based on creating a great website, useful content and legitimate backlinks.
For example, according to Quicksprout, if a post is greater than 1,500 words, on average it receives 68.1% more tweets and 22.6% more Facebook likes than a post that is under 1,500 words. Therefore it pays to create great content for yours and other industry-related websites so that Google and co. will see you are an expert in your niche and reward your hard work with better search rankings.
Chances are that ALL of your competitors already are
Here’s a little test for you: Type in your service and location (local or national) into your search engine of choice and take a look at the first 10 businesses that appear on the first pages. Chances are that these are some of your main competitors, and there’s an even better chance that they have already invested in SEO.
Take a look at their website content and social media channels and learn from them. What are they doing well, and what can you do to improve on your own rankings based on what you find?
You improve your local standing
In the grand scheme of things, your business will be a drop in the search engine ocean, and that is why it has become increasingly more important to adopt local SEO into your marketing strategy.
Small and medium-sized businesses can struggle to make an impact nationally or only offer local services. So streamlining SEO tactics to a local town, city, and community can provide lucrative results and help you become the business of choice in your area.
The world has gone mobile
You can become lost if you step away from the online world for more than five minutes, we are now all connected in so many ways. For example, mobile technology has come on leaps and bounds since the text-and-call bricks of the late Nineties.
In a little over a decade, smartphones and tablets have taken over and now account for more than 60% of search engine traffic. That’s why you need to ensure that your website is optimised for mobile devices and that your email and social media channels are managed because smartphone technology has made businesses accessible 24/7, its worth noting 50% of mobile users who conduct a local search will visit that store within 24 hours.
You make lasting connections
Links from external sites are still a key part of SEO. When sourced legitimately, links are still the best way for businesses to earn the trust of the search engines and to show quality. Your business can achieve links from reputable sources in a number of ways, including interviews, holding events, media connections, local and industry publications, sharing infographics, publishing videos, written guides and much more.
Most importantly you need to create great content that people will want to share and link to. Not only will your search engine rankings be more likely to improve, but you may create useful and lasting relationships with many sections of your local community.
Think outside the box and aim for the best possible quality in every area of your online activities and search engines will often reward you for your efforts. Now go and talk to your boss and get started with SEO.
