With so much competition for the first page of search engines, SEO is a vital component of every digital marketing strategy. SEO is short for Search Engine Optimization. In the past, that simply meant inserting keywords to enable Google and their contemporaries to discover the site and, depending on the quality of the keywords, include it in their search results. Although this device still plays a role, it's no longer the only vital component of SEO. Webmarketing is not a job for amateurs. Competition for that front page of Google, Yahoo, and the others explains why companies are increasingly turning to professionals to manage their campaigns like instaon.io. The business that uses search engine optimization to its limits is the business that has the edge over its competitors.
So what are the advantages of SEO?
User-friendly websites
Search engines no longer look for keywords alone. As they scour the internet analysing and evaluating billions of pages, they focus on the quality of those pages. A poorly designed website goes down the rankings, making it difficult, if not impossible, for the site to be included in the first page of search results; a vital position for any business that's serious about promoting its brand. Consequently, SEO now includes the design and maintenance of a website's architecture to ensure it's more navigable and provides a better user experience. With so many great sites out there, users have very high expectations. The web pages that fall short don't get return visits.
Increased visits by potential customers
Unlike outbound marketing campaigns, like cold-calling, which are designed to find potential customers then encourage them to purchase; inbound marketing focuses on making the company attractive to consumers who are already on the lookout for the best company to buy from. Search engine optimization provides trackable and quantifiable results, enabling the company to refine its website to further increase traffic, search ranking and sales conversions. Analytics can also reveal demographic and engagement metrics. They can also track the path the customer took to get to the point of sale, including the original keywords they typed into their search engine. It's no surprise that 61% of marketers have stated that improving their SEO is a priority.
Improved conversion rates
We access the internet from multiple devices. Potential customers need to be able to interact with a site on their laptops, tablets, and phones with equal ease. Because of their improved architecture and focus on user experience, SEO-optimised sites load faster and are simpler to navigate. This makes for positive user contact with the site, which leads to improved conversion rates. Few customers make purchases from sites that confuse them and make interaction difficult. Consequently, there's a better return on investment if the website is capable of meeting or exceeding the customer's expectations.
Growing brand awareness
Studies have shown that customers are more likely to visit and trust sites that appear on the first page of their search results. Webpages that occur on the third page and beyond are virtually ignored. Therefore, any business using webmarketing to promote their brand has to be on that first page of search results. Properly managed and maintained SEO is necessary to reach that status. One way of achieving this would be with a PPC campaign which would involve the use of Google AdWords or an equivalent. This can take the form of ad placement on suitable websites or blogs. Targeted at the right demographic, they are a vehicle for driving traffic to the company's website as well as promoting the brand.
SEO has come a long way since the days of simply adding in a few keywords.