Why a business should invest in SEO?

What is Search Engine Optimisation (SEO)

Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) is the practice of increasing the quantity and quality of traffic coming from Search Engines free listings. In Australia, Google is the biggest Search Engine which retains almost 87% of the market share. Google uses over 200 rankings factors in its algorithm which updates over 3,000 times throughout the year.

How Search Engines Work

Search engines  scan, or crawl, different websites to better understand what the site is about. This helps them deliver more relevant results to those who are searching for certain topics or keywords. Search engines scan a website to determine how easy it is to navigate and read, rewarding user-friendly websites with higher rankings on the Search Engine Results Page (SERP).

Search Engine Results Pages layout  (how search results are formatted and presented to users) keeps changing . In order at the top of the SERPs there are: paid search listings (which use a pay per click bidding model), featured snippets (pulled by third party websites), factual questions (how, what, when and where type of queries) and local businesses information. Results layout change greatly according to the type of queries.

Why a business should invest in SEO

There are several reasons why a business should invest in SEO:

1. SEO is a cost-effective marketing tool: SEO uses a pull marketing strategy approach since it targets users who are actively looking for your products and services online. Inbound leads brought by SEO traffic cost less than those achieved by outbound methods such as cold calling (which use a push strategy approach).
2. High ROI: research findings show that almost 50% of businesses said that organic search had the highest ROI, while less than 20% saw a good return on paid search.
3. SEO is a long term strategy: SEO lays the foundations for returns over the long-term. The increased traffic, positive user experience and authority status that SEO builds will help increase sales in the long term.
4. Competitive edge: Research suggests that the top 3 listings get on average 75% of all click-throughs. Google SERPs are populated by well-established websites with solid visibility on Search Engines for top ranking positions. Improving SEO rankings will shorten the gap between a business and its competitors, however to maintain a competitive advantage, SEO needs to be part of an ongoing digital marketing strategy.
5. Diverse marketing strategy: social media marketing is not enough. Social media is great for brand awareness and for customer service interactions. In general it does not lead to traffic to your website that drives actual leads and customers. Relying only on paid marketing activities is risky since these are short term strategies and once these stop, the traffic from these sources will also end.  Balancing paid and organic campaigns in both search and social, enable to build a long term grown.
6. Brand visibility: to compete in a niche market, a business brand needs to be visible and easily recognisable. Brand trust can be improved by increasing brand visibility on SERPs.