With over 85 percent of consumers taking to online search engines to find the service they’re looking for, just having a website is no longer enough. With more leads than ever being generated online, your business needs to act smarter and faster to pick them up.
According to a HubSpot study, 75 percent of internet users never scroll past the first page of the Search Engine Results Page (SERPs). Other than first page ranking, how else can Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) benefit your business?
- It increases the reach of your business
A by-product of increased visibility online is increasing the reach of your marketing efforts. SEO allows you to target a wider audience that is actively looking for your products or services and are therefore more likely to be converted into genuine sales or leads.
- It’s good for visibility and branding
Most searchers are likely to search once, click on a couple of websites, re-evaluate their search terms and repeat again until they’ve refined their search for their exact terms. In this, there is a massive amount of value in simply appearing in search terms that are directly related to your business. If you continually appear in all of these search results, then you are gaining more and more mindshare, or association, with each potential customer.
- It provides you with valuable insight into your customer’s behaviour
The data and metrics Google Analytics stores can give you an essential insight into your customer’s behaviour online; how they search, how they browse, the language they use, the technology they use, the region they live in, the days they are most active, the times of day they are most active. By collating and comparing customer data, you can gain a full picture of who exactly your primary customer is, which can inform your business messaging both on and offline.
- It has one of the best ROI’s in advertising
Unlike many forms of traditional marketing, SEO is not static. It requires constant adjustment in order to stay in compliance with Google updates and a competitive market. The hard data SEO rewards you with can be used to modify your approach immediately. It is measurable and flexible, allowing you to target new demographics and rectify weaknesses.
- It complements and integrates with other forms of marketing
Whether it is digital or traditional marketing, SEO can perfectly integrate with your other marketing strategies. Linking your efforts with content generation, social media, and PR, can boost your reach, and their market power, even further.
Now more than ever, being findable is as important as being visible, especially in an emerging market where Google and other search engines are fast becoming the first port of call for consumers. Multifaceted and complementary advertising strategies will matter most when re-evaluating advertising budgets in order to engage with the modern consumer.
