It’s not just a buzzword (acronym); it’s the key to your company’s sales engine
Look, it’s not 2009 anymore. We all know SEO is important. You might even think your website is search-engine-optimized. But do you care about SEO? Do you know why you should?
Well, lucky for you this blog you clicked on is all about why you should care about SEO. Here are a few good reasons.
Your visibility depends on it
Did you know that the first three organic search engine results account for 40% of all clickthroughs? If that doesn’t encourage you, then maybe this statistic will scare you: 30% of all results on Pages 1 and 2 don’t get clicked on at all. In the immortal words of Ricky Bobby, “If you’re not first, you’re last.” If you want to win the click, you have to be in the top three rankings, end of story. Page 1 isn’t good enough. “If we build it, they will come,” is not good enough. If you’re not first, you’re missing out on customers. Make the investment of time and resources, and get to the top of that list.
Your web traffic depends on it
…and therefore, your sales cycle. Whether they’re there to make a purchase that day, schedule a demo or appointment, or learn more about your products and services, people need to be able to find you online. And they need to have a good experience (more on that later). The first step in the process of them having a good experience is being able to find you. If your website isn’t performing as well as it should, or if you’ve seen a dip in web traffic over the last three to six months, it might be time for an SEO tune-up.
Your authority depends on it
Authority is a newer concept in the world of digital marketing and SEO. Essentially, it’s a gauge of how trustworthy, knowledgeable, and accurate your site is. Obviously, those are brand components that are super important to your customers; hence, they are important factors in your site’s SEO matrix. Authority is a complex algorithm, but some of the things that influence it are:
- The age and longevity of your site (favoring older, more established sites)
- Number of backlinks
- Number of unique backlinks
- Frequency of page updates
- Usefulness of links
- And more
Additionally, if you show up in the top three results, your customers will automatically understand that you’re an “authority” for what they need. You begin building trust right away, no matter what stage of the funnel they’re in.
Your visitor experience depends on it
You only get one shot to make a first impression, right? SEO, done properly, can help you make a great first impression. Remember, you’re shooting for the top three search engine ranks. If you’re there, you’ve already got your customers’ attention. The links should be easy to understand, relevant, and authoritative. From there, it’s up to your web dev and design teams to wow them with the experience they’re looking for.
And, as a bonus, if you’ve spent time working on your site’s SEO, chances are you’ve been working on your site. Any effort you spend to improve your site will improve your visitor’s experience. It’s a symbiotic win-win for you and for them!
Well, do you care yet? We didn’t spend too much time on how to improve your SEO (you can find that here[link to 5 Ways to Rank Higher on Google]), but hopefully we’ve given you some reasons to reevaluate your SEO mindset. It’s not all hard numbers and algorithms; remember, you’re trying to reach real people with real needs. Understanding the realities of SEO can help you keep it real. Real effective, that is.
