Search Engine Optimization, which is commonly referred to as SEO, is an essential part of any marketing strategy. It describes the methods you can utilize to make your website and content visible to users of a web search engine. The sites you see on the web when you make a search query do not appear by chance but are calculated by Google to be the most relevant and useful pages for that particular query or keyword. companies utilize SEO to help Google figure out which website should rank best and are worth showing. Essentially, SEO helps companies to optimize content to be discovered through a search engine’s organic results, which improves businesses’ rankings in search engine results and ultimately translates to higher leads and sales.
SEO vs SEM
SEM might be another term you will come across often as you research on ways to boost the visibility of your company in search results. SEM, also known as ‘search engine marketing’, is distinctly different from SEO. SEM is often considered as an umbrella term that refers to any action you take to earn placement in search engine results. This includes paid and organic strategies, thus SEO and pay-per-click advertising (PPC) both fall under SEM.
Understanding the differences between SEO and SEM will make you more discerning towards methods that target paid tactics, and it is up to you to decide whether those are methods that you want to invest your time in reading.
Every business needs to invest in SEO, as it is the best way to boost your online visibility and reach a targeted and dynamic group of consumers without paying for ad space. If you’d like to seek help from a professional SEO company, try Detroit SEO. Below are five SEO benefits that you can leverage on which will greatly improve your business.
1. SEO Targets Quality Traffic
As an inbound marketing strategy, one of the greatest benefits of SEO is its customer-centric approach, which works to attract people to your website with the customers’ goals in mind. Gone are the days of traditional methods such as cold calling, interruptive advertisements, and spam emails that can be aggravating and off-putting for many people.
Rather than in-your-face marketing for consumers sitting in front of the TV or tuning in to the radio, SEO’s inbound marketing nature works to make information more accessible and helpful to consumers. They focus on users who are dynamically searching for your services and products online. When users feel prepared and are interested to find out more about your business, it will then be easier for them to find your website. This will translate into better sales and leads for your business. Evident in HubSpot’s latest State of Inbound report, the results showed that 59% of advertisers agree with using inbound practices as they helped to produce the highest quality leads for their sales teams.
2. More Clicks!
As compared to PPC, SEO is free and potentially gets more clicks. Studies indicate that 71.33% of searches on Google led to an organic click on page 1, while page two and three only received 5.59% of clicks. The remaining clicks go to PPC or an attempt at a different search. Nobody knows the underlying reason behind this statistic, but it can be logically concluded that most users have great trust in Google’s algorithm and believe in what Google thinks will be the most useful and valuable information to them.
3. Zero Fees For Ads In SEO
High-quality content on a website is highly critical for search engine visibility. More often than not, analyzing and writing valuable content calls for an investment — either in the form of time by creating such content by yourself, or enlisting the help of a digital marketing agency. However, investing in quality content at the beginning would serve you well in the long run. It would lead to higher traffic to your site, and there will no longer be any constant costs required to get this influx of traffic to your site.
Always remember to constantly update your site and improve it from time to time as competitors might choose to target the same keyword. It is important to keep abreast of new changes. Regardless, investing in SEO is one of the most cost-effective strategies as you do not have to pay to maintain your spot in search results. This is a significant contrast from PPC advertisements, which include a cost whenever a user clicks and visits a page.
4. Improving PR
You might perceive SEO and PR to be two completely different marketing strategies, but both go together like peanut butter and jelly. When you combine both and utilize them together, you will get the maximum results that you see from each one of them individually.
What then, is the greatest connection between both SEO and PR? The answer lies in link building.
The main part of any SEO strategy is earning links from reputable websites, which involves identifying opportunities for coverage on news publications, industry blogs, and other similar sites. Influencer outreach and publications play a vital role in any marketing strategy, and it is one area of expertise that your PR counterparts know and understand well. Hence, both SEO and PR can help each other achieve the same business goal by utilizing link building research to come up with ingenious and refreshing ways to promote a brand. This way, valuable content can effectively reach potential consumers and clients, boosting your overall traffic.
5. Staying Ahead Of The Competition
SEO has been widely perceived to be a must of any marketing strategy. According to a report from HubSpot, growing one’s SEO and organic presence online remains the top priority of 61% of marketers. As such, it would not come off as a surprise if your competitors have already taken measures to increase their rankings in search results with search engine optimization strategies.
Invest In SEO Immediately
In order to stay ahead of the competition, investing in your own SEO strategy will prove beneficial to you in the long run. SEO may not be a very effective strategy in the short run but it boosts long-term returns, and with consistent effort to remain relevant and up to date with informational content, the more your optimized content will rank highly in search engines. And the more probable it is for users to chance upon your content and relate with your brand.
Hiring an SEO expert is an investment in your company's online success!
