SEO is a practical marketing tool to help businesses stand out online, meaning the use of SEO has a higher Return On Investment (ROI) than other forms of marketing like TV or print advertisements.
Understanding SEO also enables businesses to make their own modifications to content so they can be more relevant and accessible to their audience. In addition to quality landing pages and content, SEO can boost business visibility, branding, traffic, offer high ROI, credibility and insight into customer behaviour.
SEO Benefits: Visibility and Branding
For small business owners, SEO is about viewers finding their website reach high ranking on search engines such as Google; which means potential customers are more likely to click through to their business site. Undoubtedly this is the primary objective of the SEO system but there are also other advantages that aren’t so instantaneous.
There is an advantage in simply coming up for any search related to your business. So if somebody starts a search but begins to modify their keywords they repeatedly see your brand. Because very few searches end with the first page the more a potential customer sees the name of your business, the more likely they are to form a trust relationship with it and the more mindshare you engage the viewer in.
SEO is an Inbound Marketing Strategy
So while the beauty of SEO is that it is cheaper and the results are surer than other traditional marketing avenues, there exists a special bonus: it is an inbound marketing strategy.
Traditional advertising methods, such as billboards, TV ads, and pamphlets, are all about convincing you that you want or need something you haven’t given any thought to before. However, SEO is a way of getting noticed once the consumer has made up their mind that they need your services. In this way half of the battle is already won.
For SEO marketing it is just an issue of standing out to the willing customer. Of making them think you are the right choice in comparison to others for a specific task. So if you know you are good at what you do then ranking well enough to be chosen is equivalent to passing on a favour to the customer. To not use SEO to match you and your customer up, means there’s the chance they’ll choose somebody not nearly as good, which is a lost opportunity for both of you.
Traffic from SEO Rankings Matter in Terms of Credibility
When the average consumer sees a business ranked highly on Google, they trust that business as credible and strong. This is to say that a successful SEO strategy can lend even brand new businesses the aura of legitimacy and credibility that only a couple of decades ago would have taken years to establish. This is part of the reason that start-ups are now given the scope to succeed like never before.
While traffic alone isn’t going to cover the overheads, those who do browse your website and know about your brand will most likely buy from you sooner than somebody that hasn’t heard of you before.
Make use of Social Media
Because of the nature of social media and the greater level of scrutiny businesses undergo from consumers who educate themselves on prices and logistics before they buy, businesses now have the opportunity to attract potentials and convert them to paying customers through social media engagement. Being a part of this consumer conversation being exchanged through social media is as good as advertising. So, all you need is one viewer to mention your business name and it is onscreen for all their friends and their friend’s friend to see and remember.
Are you ready to elevate your business to another level?
Feel free to talk to one of our digital strategists today. We are more than happy to help! Contact us now.