In the internet age, generating leads is about more than putting out a few ads. Traditional outbound marketing no longer represents the full picture. You need to give your leads a reason to come to you. You need to make yourself as visible as possible in search results. If not, you'll miss out on a vast portion of your potential customers! With SEO solutions tailored to your business, you can drive high-quality organic traffic to your site.
What Is Search Engine Optimization?
Search engine optimization (SEO) is the process of improving the quality and quantity of traffic to your website through search engines. It's the science of augmenting a website to increase visibility when users search for products/services. More visibility translates to more business. SEO targets unpaid traffic rather than direct traffic or paid traffic. Search engine optimization is generally measured by the placement/ranking of a site on search engine results pages (SERPs). Good SEO practices support the image and trustworthiness of your brand, aid in developing a stronger connection with your audience and help you convert high-quality leads into loyal customers. Between 70% and 80% of search users are focused on organic search results and 51% of overall traffic to business websites comes from organic search. Considering how many leads this amounts to, it's easy to see why SEO is the highest inbound marketing priority for 50% of marketers.
What is SEO strategy?
SEO strategy is the process of shaping a website's content to improve the likelihood of appearing high in search engine results. It's the steps you follow to maximize the opportunity to gain organic traffic. Having an SEO strategy helps you stay on track when creating content for your site, ensuring that what you create is actually what users are searching for. A one-size-fits-all SEO strategy will disappoint. SEO must be driven by specific, actionable business goals particular to your company. To create an effective strategy, you need to know:
- How your business is currently performing in search results
- Who your biggest competitors are and how they're ranking
- What conversion goals you need your organic traffic to move towards
- Who you want to reach/your target audience
- What products and services you want to showcase
Marketing is inseparable from strategy. It's crucial that every aspect of your business' marketing plan is driven by smart and savvy decision-making. SEO is no exception. You need to understand your goals and transform them into clear objectives guiding your content, keywords, social media, and other factors that drive organic traffic.
What are the benefits of SEO?
Search engine optimization is crucial if you're looking to create long-term brand awareness, expand your target audience(s) and earn more revenue. The following are some of the benefits of SEO for your business:
- SEO generates more traffic: People are constantly searching for goods/services/information on the internet. It's estimated that Google processes approximately 63,000 search queries every second, translating to 5.6 billion searches per day and approximately 2 trillion global searches per year. Organic traffic (the number of visitors coming from search engine results as opposed to paid sources of traffic) makes up a significant percentage of search engine traffic. If you rank well on Google search engine pages, you'll receive consistent, passive traffic. Organic visibility, leading to increased website traffic, is a huge benefit of SEO.
- SEO improves the user experience: Try reading an article with the same keyword repeated in almost every sentence. Not a great experience! A good user experience is synonymous with good SEO practices. High bounce rates tell Google that the web page is not valuable for the user, often resulting in lower rankings. A robust site structure and easy navigation are factors that increase search engine ranking while simultaneously creating a better user experience. Good SEO practices actively improve the user experience.
- SEO yields a high return on investment: SEO results take time but eventually deliver an impressive return on investment. Leads from search engines have a 14.6% close rate, while outbound leads (cold-calling, direct mail, etc.) have a 1.7% close rate. Search engine visibility directly correlates to boosted web traffic and increased revenue.
- SEO boosts credibility: Google ranks a website based on a variety of on-page and off-page elements (created content, website speed, mobile usability, etc.) Users trust Google to deliver relevant valuable content at the top of their search engine pages. 75% of people never scroll past the first page of results. If your site ranks high on SERPs pages it's likely considered high-quality and trustworthy.
- SEO decreases advertising costs: A well-planned SEO strategy costs less than paid advertising and is more precisely targeted. Additionally, ranking high on the first page of SERPs may provide your business with the option to decrease your spending on other forms of advertising.
- SEO supports content marketing: Creating original, high-quality, useful content that contains text, images and video helps your site rank higher in search results.
- SEO maximizes PPC campaigns: Pay-per-click (PPC) and SEO work well together. Ranking at the top of paid search results and organic rankings gives users many opportunities to find your website. Also, SEO data can be used to inform and optimize your PPC strategies.
- SEO gives you a competitive edge: Page one of the SERPs garners 95% of all traffic from an average search. If you wish to compete against similar businesses, SEO is essential.
- SEO targets every stage of the buying funnel: SEO draws prospects interested in your goods/services. It attracts users with intent, no matter what stage of the buying funnel they're in, and connects with every type of target audience.
- SEO helps you rank better in local searches: Since nearly 80% of local searches on mobile lead to conversions, SEO strategies are a great way to attract local users who are ready to buy.
- SEO provides 24/7 promotion: SEO takes advantage of searches occurring every second, promoting your business 24/7. You can reach users whenever they're looking for you, rather than only during work hours.
- SEO gets quantifiable results: With Google Analytics you can track changes in ranking, conversion, bounce rate, time on site and website traffic. You can see every user's journey (pages engaged with, keywords searched, actions taken, etc.). These real-time numbers help you understand the impact of your investment and monitor your SEO strategy.
- SEO is a long-term strategy: SEO efforts compound over time, leading to increased results. Implementing well thought out SEO strategy (content creation, on-page optimization, etc.) results in remarkable long-term results.
Generating leads for your business requires more than a few ads. You need potential customers to find your site through search engines. Organic search traffic is effective because users are actively searching for your product/service and the information you provide. It's important to make your company visible in search results, providing users with a reason to come to you and giving them the incentive to continue coming back. Search engine optimization is the process of improving the quality and quantity of traffic to your website through search engines.
Interested in SEO for your business? Need help with your digital marketing strategy? Call CAYK at (403) 456-0072 or email [email protected]. Allow us to be your very own marketing department! Let CAYK's knowledgeable, digital-first consultants boost your visibility and improve your ranking on search engine results pages. Allow us to garner the placement you need and deserve. If you want the best digital marketing team in your corner, Contact us today. We'll help you take your business to the next level.
