If any tool has dominated the marketing world in recent years, it’s SEO, but businesses are still catching on. Believe it or not, as many as 70% of businesses don’t even have an SEO strategy. Well, that’s great news for you, as it means less competition!
You may be thinking “if that many businesses pass it up, why shouldn’t I?” Luckily, we have the answer for you. Let’s talk about why SEO is important in 2022 and how you can get started!
6 Reasons Why SEO Is Important
If you’re unfamiliar with the term, search engine optimization (SEO) is the process of optimizing your content to rank higher (organically) on search engines like Google. Your website quality, content, authority, keyword usage, and user data all play major roles where your website appears on a given search if it appears at all.
Well, SEO is arguably the greatest driver of organic traffic, which is the traffic you don’t have to pay for. This leads to higher conversion rates, increased user retention, and building trust in your brand.
However, that’s far from all. Here are some of the key benefits of SEO.
1. Improving SEO Means Improving UX
User experience (UX) and SEO go hand-in-hand. Google’s job is to match users with appropriate websites based on their searches, and if they were constantly promoting low-quality websites, it would reflect negatively on their own UX.
Google uses 200 factors related to your company’s website to help determine your ranking, so proper web design is a critical element. Luckily, it comes with plenty of helpful “side effects”.
For example, by improving your website’s SEO value, you are almost certain to increase your UX by a near 1:1 ratio. By driving up UX, your users are far more likely to stay on your site for longer, make conversions, and return for more!
2. Boosting Conversions
We’re not only suggesting that SEO has higher conversion rates than other tools, but we’re also suggesting that SEO will help those other tools.
Remember, your website is the center of your entire digital marketing strategy. By improving the UX across your site, you’ll improve a user’s entire journey when they click on links from email, PPC, or social media campaigns.
You spend money every time someone clicks on one of your ads, so it’s important to do what you can to boost your conversions and secure a return. Can you think of another marketing tool that helps all of your other campaigns?
3. SEO Content Drives More Users
Of course, increasing your brand’s visibility is no small matter, but it’s important to understand how it’s done. When you launch an SEO strategy, part of it will involve content marketing. Most often, this is done with a blog of visual imagery.
Well, it’s important to remember that users seek information, not brands. If you have a regular website with a few standard pages (contact, services, etc.), how will anybody find you without a highly specified search? They won’t.
However, when you have a blog, you have the opportunity to have thousands of pages dedicated to any topic that may interest relevant users. Not only will this help build your brand’s visibility, but it will establish your brand’s role as an authority on a specific topic.
4. Building Trust
At the very beginning of a user’s journey through a Google search, 94% of people skip right over the search ads, favoring the organic results. When your website ranks highly for a relevant search, not only is it increasing your brand’s visibility, but also establishing a note of trust at the beginning.
Consequently, when users click on your website, they already believe in your authority on the information they seek. Starting with an initial note of trust will only help build customer retention and brand loyalty over time.
5. High ROI
The return on investment (ROI) with SEO tends to run high. Once you put the initial money and/or effort into your campaign, results continue to come.
Also, you can spend as much or as little as you want with an SEO campaign. You can teach yourself the skills you need to start ranking, or you can call in for professional help.
Just remember, it takes at least 4 to 6 months for an SEO strategy to work, so you can eliminate the guessing game with professional SEO help.
6. The Gift That Keeps On Giving
SEO is a lot different from email, social media, or PPC campaigns. Once you rank on the first page (especially in the top 3) on a relevant Google search, you could see results for years to come.
Unlike other campaigns, there’s no need to continue pouring money in over time. Once you’re there, you’ll have a much easier time staying there.
Ranking at the top of a relevant Google search with enough volume could easily be enough to keep your business afloat for years. When people find you, and not the other way around, they’re more likely to buy from you.
Not only that, but once you start ranking higher, your authority and visibility will also increase for other websites! Consequently, you’ll have an easier time building more backlinks from relevant sites, further solidifying your spot at the top.
Build Your Campaign Today!
Now that you know why SEO is important in today’s marketing world, there’s no time like the present to get started. The sooner you do, the sooner you will see your traffic start to grow! Stay up to date with our latest SEO news and feel free to contact us for any help with your campaign!