Building a business from scratch requires a ton of hard work. It's never an easy task to take an idea and turn it into a profitable venture.
The journey doesn't stop there, though.
The most challenging part of running a business is ensuring that it continues to grow as the years go by, long after you're gone. It takes overseeing business operations, managing the company's finances, and most of all, making sure that your company keeps up with promotions and adverts.
This isn’t even the tip of the iceberg of what needs to be done!
And since everything is changing all the time, it can be challenging to maintain any stability in a business, especially when things are migrating to the digital space. Although it's a challenge to transition from traditional business forms to a more technological scene, going digital helps the company grow and even cut costs.
For example, most traditional forms of advertising have been classic posters, billboards, leaflets, TV, and radio to get the word out when it comes to your product or server.
But we see now that digital marketing offers a new wave of opportunities, one that is global and more widespread than ever before.
Digital marketing is now a crucial part of creating successful businesses and something that can’t be excluded. Methods such as email marketing, social media marketing, and getting your website are fundamental to building a reputable online presence.
Once you've got your fundamentals down, you'll soon notice that having a website and social media accounts are not enough to bring in new customers every month. With all the competition out there, your business needs an edge.
This is where SEO comes to play. In a nutshell, SEO can help your website be seen by potential customers looking to find the best product for them and even convert users that are simply browsing the web.
It's complicated and can get confusing so we'll break it down for you. Why is SEO important for a company website to have? Can it help the business grow? How can it do so?
Keep reading to learn more about how impactful SEO is for a business.
Are you looking for a reliable SEO agency to take your business to the next level? Speak with us at Smarter Media today for more information on how to use SEO to your advantage.
Before learning about how SEO can help your business, we should first look into what SEO is.
SEO or Search Engine Optimisation is a process that allows a website to be found in various search engines, but mainly on google. It can help users find your webpage to grow your online presence organically.
This means that when someone searches for a particular product, service, or company name, your website is the first entry on Google.
SEO helps boost your website amongst an ocean of competition through keywords and phrases that have been extensively researched and those that are proven to get clicks. It's a cost-effective and efficient way to become more visible online.
Now that you know what SEO is, we can dive into how we can apply it to help any business grow.
Are you curious to learn how SEO fits into the picture?
SEO helps businesses grow in many proven ways. Here are some of them:
It's not enough to gain clicks to get clients, but it sure doesn’t hurt to let people know that you have available services.
But since most people (we mean billions) are online, building a website is an essential part of becoming visible to potential clients.
SEO can help you get visibility by directing thousands, if not millions, to your website. It makes it easier for them to find that a business like yours exists, and through SEO, people become more aware of your presence.
SEO leads the way when it comes to brand authority and to transform it into trustworthiness.
When your website ranks high in Google or any other search engine, it increases brand credibility. Although not an overnight success, SEO can help you climb the rankings. After all, not one looks at the 10th page of a Google search, right?
We've been going on and on about organic growth. But what does it actually mean?
SEO is there to create the type of growth you want to see: users that visit regularly and stay with the company as it grows. Organic growth allows your website to be easily navigable even with tons of products or services in stock.
Search engines dislike poor-looking website interfaces, and those take multiple clicks to where they need to get, so be sure to make it aesthetically pleasing as well!
Customers nowadays do their research when it comes to purchasing an item or availing of a service. They now compare and contrast various services and ultimately choose the best one in their eyes.
But how will they compare your product to others when they can't even find your website? SEO takes this problem head-on by providing them with the information they need, including your products or services.
More than that, SEO tactics can relay deals and reviews that customers are looking for.
When a user browses your website, the hope is to convert them into a client.
When a website lands on the top of the search results and stays there, it's almost a guarantee that people will click on it first. As more users visit you, the more engagement you get, leading to a higher conversion rate.
Make sure to incorporate a contact us page and leave your socials as well!
Local SEO is becoming more essential due to the sheer number of people using mobile devices. The majority of these searches also have local intent.
Local intent means that people are searching for location-specific entries.
For example, a user is searching for the best Italian restaurant in her home town by searching "best Italian restaurants". Local SEO will show her all the top-rated Italian restaurants that are near her location.
Using heavily researched methods, local SEO can direct people towards your business without actually searching for your business!
Now that you have your website down to pat, we now need to deal with helping it grow as the years go by.
SEO helps create lasting results. Many businesses fall for the lure of black-hate SEO (or basically cheating your way to the top of search engines) but have proven to harm the brand instead - it only lasts for a couple of weeks.
A good SEO campaign is both strategic and lasting. So you can't expect results in the first months, it's a slow, steady process. But once you gain momentum, your online presence will be undeniable.
Embarking on a marketing campaign is laborious, tedious, and, most of all, expensive.
Investing in billboards, commercials, radio placements, and more can cost a business a lot of money - and it takes up too much time to do so.
SEO provides a way for you to advertise your company better than traditional methods while remaining cost-effective. Although you have to invest in hiring an effective SEO agency, the results are genuinely long-lasting with your brand gaining traction over time at a significantly lower investment than traditional advertising methods.
Remember that SEO is important but is not without flaws. If you don't curb the risks and deal with SEO in a dishonest manner (or take a shortcut), your website pays the price.
These include not having a proper link structure, having too many coding errors, using black-hat SEO, duplicate pages, forms, and issues with language and semantics.
SEO is a complex system, often opinion based, with many things at play, meaning it's difficult to understand by those not experts in the field. More than that, SEO practices are constantly evolving, just as much as the internet evolves as well.
This is why it's best to gain the insights and expertise of an SEO professional or, better yet, an agency to apply cutting-edge practices that will benefit your website forever successfully. Lastly, always remember that SEO is not an easy task. It takes a lot of time and effort to create a successful website that people love coming back to. But with SEO, you create a lasting business that gets promoted and optimised all of the time. Invest in your company's growth today, through SEO.
Smarter Media is a digital growth agency using our Smarter Approach to help your business grow digitally. Working side by side with our clients, we use our 'Smarter Way' Process to create a plan that delivers results and our 'Smarter Promise' to do what we say we will. For a more comprehensive look at SEO, or to find out how you can achieve a better ROI with SEO & Paid Media working side by side, set an appointment with Smarter Media today!
