11 Reasons Why You Need SEO or Search Engine Optimization For Your Business Website

A SEO strategy is essential for a business website to attract online visitors & leads from the search engines.

SEO or Search Engine Optimization is a marketing strategy of optimizing websites to improve their rankings in search engines. SEO helps to increase the quality and quantity of organic or free traffic that your website receives from the search engines.

When you search on Google, you go to Google.com and type in a keyword that describes the product or service that you are looking for. For example, if I were searching for a restaurant in Plano, I would type in “restaurant in Plano” into the Google search bar.

Google then searches its index of millions of websites, and returns a list of relevant results in its Search Engine Results Pages (SERP). When you click on one of the links, you will go directly to that website.

It is estimated that Google alone gets more than 70% of search traffic. Your website needs to rank well on the Google search listings so that customers can find you when they search online for your products and services.

The Google search ranking algorithm is extremely complex and keeps changing. There are over 200 factors that Google considers for ranking a site on their search results. Your business website needs to be optimized for SEO to rank in the top pages of Google.

Even the best designed website will not get any traffic from the search engines if it is not search engine optimized.

SEO or Search Engine Optimization helps to improve your website’s rankings in competitive search engine listings on Google, Bing and other search engines.

Here are the top reasons you need SEO or Search Engine Optimization for your business website.

1. SEO Helps Your Website To Be Found When People Search Online

Search engines are the most important source of new visitors to websites.

It is estimated that 85% of customers begin their search for new products and services on the internet.

There are millions of websites competing for search rankings for each keyword. Your website needs to be SEO-optimized to come up in the top pages of Google search results.

To illustrate the large number of online searches taking place every day, here are the statistics from Smart Insights, Search Engine Statistics 2017:

  • Number of online searches per day worldwide: 6.58 Billion.
  • Number of online searches per day on Google: 4.46 Billion searches
  • Number of searches per day on Bing: 873 Million searches

As you can see from the sheer volume of online searches taking place each day, your website needs to compete with millions of other sites to get to the coveted top pages of Google search results for your keywords.

Search engine optimization of your website will improve search rankings for keywords that are related to your business.

Without SEO, your website will be lost among millions of other websites and may never be found when customers are searching for your products & services.

2. SEO Helps improve Search Rankings

Your website needs to be in the top pages of Google search listings to attract customers. The websites that get the most traffic are on the 1st page of Google for the chosen keyword.

According to Smart Insights, Search Engine Statistics 2017,

  • For online searches on desktops, 46.8% of CTR (click-through-rate) comes from the top 3 positions on Google search results pages.
  • For online searches on mobile, 58.97% of CTR (click-through-rate) comes from the top 3 positions on Google search results.

Search Engine Optimization of your website for relevant keywords will help improve its search rankings on Google.

3. SEO Helps Attract Targeted traffic To Your Website & Increases Leads & Sales

SEO helps attract visitors to your website at the time they are searching for your products and services. Since these visitors are already interested in your products or services, they are more likely to convert to leads or customers.

When your website is optimized for SEO, targeted traffic is directed to your website based on search keywords which are relevant to your business.

SEO is based on keywords and keyword selection is very important. Search Engine Optimization of your website includes optimization of technical factors such as meta tags, urls and links; as well as optimization of website content and images.

Customers who are searching online for products and services using relevant keywords will see the search listings for your business. When they click on the search listings, they will be sent directly to your website.

4. SEO Helps Attract Local Customers

People search every day for products or services near their location. These are local or “near me” searches.

Local Search marketing is very important for local businesses. When customers search for a product or service in their local area, you want your business listing to be shown on Google.

According to Google research studies conducted in 2014,

  • 4 out of 5 people search for local information on search engines
  • 50% of people who searched for local information on smartphones visited a store within 1 day, and 34% of those who searched on a computer.

SEO optimization of your website should include local city information in your meta tags, content and headings. This will help your website to rank in Google search listings when local customers are searching for your products or services.

You should also list all your business information in “Google My Business” at https://www.google.com/business/

5. SEO Rankings In The Top Pages Of Google Builds Trust, Credibility & Brand Recognition

High SEO rankings builds trust and credibility. When customers see that your website is ranking in the top pages of Google for a product or service, it increases trust and credibility.

Getting high SEO rankings takes time and effort. Being listed in the top pages of Google also helps with brand recognition.

6. SEO Increases ROI

Just like your website, SEO should be viewed as an investment not an expense.

SEO is a cost-effective method of inbound marketing with significant gains. It is affordable marketing on the search engines. It is much less expensive than print or TV advertising.

You do not have to pay Google or other search engines for your website to rank on the search results. In fact, SEO helps to increase the free or organic traffic that your website gets from the search engines.

There is a cost to SEO because you have to pay a SEO consultant to optimize your website for SEO and monitor performance. However, that cost is much less than traditional methods of advertising.

Your return on investment with SEO will be much higher compared to expensive TV or print advertising.

7. A SEO Strategy Provides Long Term Results

Once your website is optimized for search engine optimization, it will take a few months to start ranking on the top pages of Google.

SEO is not a one-time effort. Search Engine Optimization is a continued effort because Google’s search ranking algorithms change continuously, and so do the number of competing websites.

You will need to have an SEO consultant continually optimize your website and monitor performance against competitors. But with continued effort and optimization, you will see long term results with SEO.

8. A SEO Strategy Is Essential To Digital Marketing

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is an inbound marketing method that should be part of your digital marketing strategy.

Inbound marketing attracts targeted customers to your website. It is a lower cost method of marketing compared to traditional outbound marketing methods such as expensive print and TV advertising.

Search Engine Optimization works together with other inbound marketing methods. Other Inbound Marketing methods include paid search marketing such as AdWords, content marketing, social media marketing and well-designed landing pages on your website.

9. SEO Helps You Outrank Your Competition

SEO helps you leave your competitors behind.

When people search for a product or service, they will click on the links that appear in the top pages of Google search results. If your business is on the top pages, you get the clicks and the visitors, not your competitors.

10. SEO Helps To Improve User Experience

Search Engine optimization of your website helps to improve user experience for your customers.

By providing good SEO titles and meta descriptions about the content on your web page, you can guide visitors to the information that they are looking for.

Once they arrive at your website, a well-designed and professional website will further increase conversions & user experience.

Improving user experience for customers increases the likelihood that customers will convert into leads, request more information or make a purchase.

11. SEO Has Measurable Performance & Results

SEO performance is measurable. You can use Google Analytics and Google Search Console to track keywords used, where your website traffic is coming from, and the top landing pages. You can track your top referral sources of traffic and determine if you need to increase your marketing efforts in specific areas.

You can also set up and track customer conversions based on performance goals. This can help you optimize your website and landing pages further to attract the right customers to your business.

Conclusion

Search Engine Optimization of your business website is very important. You may have a great website, but without SEO, your website will not be found by customers when they search online for your products or services. Remember that you are competing against millions of other websites to be found by customers.

SEO is an investment that will maximize the potential of your website. It will require some ongoing cost and effort to maintain high search rankings. Your website needs to have search engine optimization to attract your target customers and increase search rankings, leads and sales.

Search Engine Optimization is a method of inbound marketing that can help you promote your small or medium business in an affordable way. It is much less expensive to use SEO to attract target traffic and gain brand recognition than traditional outbound marketing methods like radio, TV or print advertising.

Search Engine Optimization of your website provides long term results and a high return on investment compared to traditional advertising methods. SEO should be part of the online marketing strategy for your business from the start.

If you need help with SEO, you can contact us at Gold Mango Design LLC, Plano, TX.

References

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Gold Mango Design LLC. helps small and medium businesses reach more customers with web development and digital marketing. Our digital marketing services include Responsive and Mobile Friendly Web Design, WordPress Web Development, Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and Google Ads Marketing. Contact us at Gold Mango Design LLC, Plano, TX.