If you came to read this article from Google, Bing, Yahoo, or any other search engine out there, then the answer for “how does SEO help businesses” is right in front of your eyes. Obviously, this answer is too simple and straightforward, yet considering that Search Engines have become such a default part of our everyday digital life, many of us don’t pay much attention to the significance of their presence.
In fact, I would go as far as saying that SEO, in some sense, forms our lives and the way we learn new things. This might sound a bit over the top, but if you think about how many times we use search engines in our everyday life, it is not too over-exaggerated. Try to remember how many times today you searched for something. Weather? Where to go on vacation? Hairdresser? Best apple pie recipe? How to manage stress at work? What dog food is the best for pugs? How will Brexit affect the UK economy? Best steamer? Romantic St Valentines day presents for her? Maybe I didn’t guess all your search queries, but the point is clear.
You might think that all those examples aren’t good enough to explain why SEO is essential for businesses, and yet all (or 99%) of websites you visited are businesses that are monetising their traffic in one way or another. Almost 93% of all online user journeys start with search engines. Today, there are 4.54 billion internet users.
Over 3.72 billion users start their online research with search engines daily. To top it off, the average internet user makes more than one search per day, so we come to mind blowing statistics of 3.8 billion searches per minute or 5,472,000,000,000 searchers per day! I think we can stop our calculation here. But what do those numbers mean for a business?
Reach Your Target Audience
Search engines (and Google in particular) are the biggest advertising arenas in the world. SEO is the most efficient approach to get in front of your target audience and stably expand your reach. As long as your product or service has any demand, there is someone looking for you on Google.
The most complicated part here is to be able to analyse your target audience based on their search behaviour to come up with the most suitable and effective website optimisation strategy tailored to the needs of your potential customers. Additionally, you will have to consider your overall website power against you search competitors so that you are optimised for the correct terms. But as long as all elements are there, search engines are the best place to be found.
Showcase your expertise and value
An ultimate SEO strategy for your business would cover all areas of your website from technical performance to fully optimised content. SEO is the only area of digital marketing that allows you to expand your content and share additional information with users on your own terms. This means that aside of straightforward optimisation for the main target terms, you can provide information that can gain you trust and allure potential customers to choose your services based on their intent. As a professional, you were definitely asked questions related to your industry, pricing, general approach, etc. Part of search engine optimisation is to research broader target areas that can be covered on the website so that users can find you on any stage of their journey even if they didn’t search specifically for the services you provide.
Cost-Efficient Lead Generation through SEO
Search engine optimisation is a long-term strategy and generally requires some additional upfront investment. However, unlike many other forms of online advertising methods, SEO tends to accumulate power over time, meaning that you will require less efforts to achieve new rankings in the long run. Essentially, unlike many other forms of advertising, SEO lead acquisition costs per conversion will also go down over time.
To illustrate this, let’s compare SEO growth to PPC. In SEO you are most likely to require relatively stable on-going investments. Search engine optimisation is focusing on growing your website through additional content as well as increasing your organic rankings, which accelerates traffic growth with every new page multiplied by every new organic position. To put it simply, you will need to be investing the same but getting more. In paid advertising however, your results directly represent your budget, therefore in order to get more you will have to invest more, which is logical but not always sustainable.
You Are Your Own Boss
SEO is the most controlled method of advertising because it is based on your own asset – your website. Of course, Google rules it all, but when it comes to content, optimisation, presentation, and messaging, nothing can compare to the level of detail you can go into on your own website. You chose the design, CRO elements, wording, style, feel, interactive elements, commenting or review options, and more. All your data and traffic insights are secured and available only to you. A well conversion rate optimised website is the most powerful tool to acquire new users at any stage of your business growth.
As Long as Search Engines Exist
In recent years, SEO as a marketing topic was replaced with the new trendier forms of online advertising such as social media and influencer marketing. However, it is critical to understand that SEO didn’t lose it’s position, it simply moved from innovation to a marketing staple that should not be overlooked. The use of search engines stably increases at around 10% each year, which taking into consideration the numbers we mentioned in the beginning of this article, is an enormous growth to help your business prosper.
