Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) is a methodology of strategies, techniques, and tactics used to increase the number of visitors to a website. The goal of implementing SEO is to gain the highest search engine ranking positions (SERPs).
In this blog, we will explain to you how your business cannot afford to neglect your SEO.
More visibility in search engines
With a good mix of on-page and off-page SEO, you will show up higher in search results when users search for specific keywords. It’s great having a fancy website but if no one can find it, you may as well not have one. If you do not show up when you type in your own business name, then you have a real problem!
Higher brand credibility, people trust Google
When you show up higher in organic search results, you have earned those results and the users will know that you haven’t directly paid to get there. Anybody can show up at the top of the paid advertising section just purely by using a large budget and a well-written Ads based on Google’s Ad guidelines. The webpage relating to the Ad may not be what the user is wanting. With organic Google searches, it only lists the most relevant results and the more relevant results the higher up it shows.
More sustainable
With good SEO, the Google ranking will not just disappear after you stop paying for SEO, unlike AdWords. The work that your agency does for you should last for a while, but your competitors and Google algorithm updates will begin to erode your rankings. A good SEO agency will undertake a setup project on your website to get everything the way it should be and then charge a monthly retainer to keep on improving your rankings or maintain your current position.
You only pay for labour
When you hire an SEO agency on a monthly retainer, you are just paying for the “labour costs”. You will get a certain amount of hours per month allocated for work on your SEO. This may include link building, content creation or on page/technical SEO.
If you use paid advertising, you will pay for “labour costs” + ad spend. Usually, agencies will charge the same hourly rate for both SEO and PPC, this is why it is important to choose the right method for you.
Results are permanent
With Google AdWords, you can switch advertising campaign on and off. With SEO, once it is set up you do not need to worry about turning anything on/off. Results are there 24/7 365 days a year. To maintain results, you will need to implement a content marketing strategy as well as any on page/technical tweaks.
People are more likely to click on organic results
When consumers land on the search results page and see sponsored links, they acknowledge that businesses have paid to be there. It may not be as trusted because the potential consumer knows that the more you pay overall, the more likely you are to get ranked higher consistently (although there are lots of factors that go into paid ranks, bigger budgets will obviously beat competitors long term for competitive keywords.
On organic results, you get more space to write a longer meta description and it gives the reader chance to really see if you are worth clicking on. If you are, then this will help with your Click Through Rate (CTR). With a higher CTR, Google will reward you with better search engine rankings.
Definite increase in traffic
The higher your ranking in Google then the more traffic you will get to your website. According to a study, web pages that rank number 1 get 33% of clicks on Google and 92% of people only visit page 1 of search results. From these statistics, you can probably tell how important it is to rank well in Google.
Your competitors are doing it
If your competitors are doing SEO and you are not then you are already at a disadvantage. They will be getting more clicks to the website, leads, conversions and sales.
There are lots of channels of marketing and simply ignoring one can be a costly mistake. The good news is that once you have an optimised website, it is just a case of keeping it updated and pump it with high-quality content and backlinks leading to your website.
Conclusion
SEO is just one form of marketing. To be highly trusted in your industry, you must consistently show up high in search results when people type in different search queries. You will become more memorable and raise your website authority if you are beating your competitor’s results.
Who said that SEO and Paid advertising can’t be used together? We like to use hybrid campaigns to retarget customers either through Facebook Advertising or Google Display Ads. Just because people haven’t converted through organic traffic initially, doesn’t mean they won’t further down the line!
As an agency, it is our job to find out exactly what you need. You may need one or the other. Or you may need one and a bit of the other. There is no one size fits all. It is different for your niche, company size, location and other factors.
Don’t overlook good SEO!!
If you would like to take the first step into getting better rankings in Google, then book a Free 15 Minute Call and we can answer any specific questions you have.
