Let’s be honest. SEO has got a bad reputation. If your company hasn’t already been burnt by a poor SEO campaign then you can bet that you’ll be receiving several calls a day from overseas companies promising to rank you at the toppermost of the poppermost. On top of these worries businesses have other concerns.
‘SEO takes too long and cost too much for my business’
‘Is SEO still relevant? Can’t I do Facebook/TikTok/Insta advertising instead to get clients?’
‘We’ll never catch up with our competitors’
‘Shall I have sushi for lunch?’
All very valid concerns and questions – and yes, go the sushi. You deserve it.
Maybe you have tried to take on the SEO challenge yourself, or perhaps you hired an SEO agency that outsources their work and doesn’t understand the local competitive space (or good SEO practices – Meowww).
While it might seem daunting, your business’s long term survival will depend on your ability to generate high quality leads consistently and SEO is without doubt one of the most effective ways to ensure your pipeline of leads and prospects are consistently full.
Here are 5 reasons why SEO is important and can help skyrocket your business to the next level:
1. SEO Delivers A High ROI
Yep, Adwords, sponsored social media and re-marketing campaigns can, sometimes, deliver instant ROI, but nothing beats SEO when it comes to delivering high-quality leads on a consistent basis.
Why is SEO the organic magic your business needs?
It boils down to the intent of your prospects. While it is true that immediate advertising costs on social media might be initially cheaper, the prospects you attract there are more likely browsers than actual shoppers actively looking to buy. When someone is actively looking to make a purchase, they will likely search for the specific product or service on Google. They’re savvy to online advertising so they will generally skip straight past the paid ad’s and go to the results that are listed on merit – organic listings.
These are active leads, ready to part with their hard earned money. They need little convincing because they’re looking for what you’re selling and they trust you because your site is ranking well.
If your website has been structured poorly and has a weak SEO rating it won’t be shown in Googles search results. Conversely a site that has been built with SEO in mind and has an ongoing SEO strategy will have more chance of being on page 1 of Googles search results.
What does this mean?
A constant stream of customers ready to buy with minimal persuasion needed. Sounds good yah.
An investment in SEO strategies may cost more initially but, done correctly, will yield long term results that far out strip any paid advertising. A good SEO company will help you get a return on your investment…..and then some more.
2. SEO Is Here To Stay
It has been over 20 years since SEO first came to the fore and it’s not going anywhere.
While SEO will constantly evolve, the core requirements of creating quality content, good design and quality backlinks will stay and only become more important. Smart businesses recognise the value in a robust website and keep up to date with the latest changes to SEO so that their online profile can continue to benefit from it.
Ask yourself how your competitors are winning new clients and continue to grow. It’s certainly not through the Yellow Pages. Establish a strong presence now and your business will reap the rewards for years to come.
3. Your Competitors Are Doing It
Unless your business is truly unique (Potato Parcel anyone?), you probably have hundreds or even thousands of competitors in the market trying to eat from the same pie as you. While it might seem the end goal of SEO is to get to the top rankings of page 1, it will take even more work to maintain your top rankings and continue to stay in front of your competition.
Google’s first page search results dominate more than 91% of all search traffic. That means unless you make SEO a key strategy in your lead generation, you are losing out on a wealth of potential clients. You can bet that if your competitors are flying high on Google it’s because they’re investing in an SEO strategy. This is a game you really don’t want to lose.
4. Establish Your Business As A Market Leader
Whether you are running a service or product based business, it is likely a portion of your business will come from networking or word of mouth. While the chances of closing such business are undoubtedly higher, what will your prospect or referral do when they’re next in front of a computer or phone? They’re going to Google your business online to see where it stands compared to the competition. It’s quickly become the ultimate indicator of a businesses status.
Even if your business is well established and your products are of superior quality, people still judge by appearances and we instinctively know that businesses that rank well on Google achieve this through merit, trust and social validation.
5. Fight With Bigger Brands On An Equal Footing
If you are running your own business, be it startup, family owned or mid sized, your competitors will likely include large corporate companies with deep pockets and crazy budgets to advertise on television, newspapers and other conventional media. While it is nearly impossible to fight with established brands conventionally using traditional marketing techniques, with SEO you can effectively dominate long-tail (specific search phrases) keywords and rank even higher than an established brand.
At Start Digital, we are SEO experts and have helped businesses big and small reach their sales potential by dominating the results in their respective niches.
To discover more about approach to SEO, drop us a line and we will share with you the latest strategies and tactics we have used to successfully and consistently rank our clients on page 1!