When your business depends on your website for leads or sales, your site has to have a prominent position in the search engine results page. This is business 101 yet most companies are slow to invest in SEO despite it being a game-changer for top retailers. When busy consumers are looking for a product or service, they use Google; your website has to appear near the top of the SERP to get noticed… Period!
More Traffic… and Good Traffic
Very few businesses can survive without search engine traffic. In a B2B environment Social Media doesn’t cut it. Despite empty promises and the prayers of marketing agencies across the world, inexpensive and high conversion traffic for B2B businesses just does not exist through Facebook. LinkedIn is failing miserably at their attempt to reach an audience that goes beyond self-serving posts and profile updates driven by job seekers.
Q2 hedge fund letters, conference, scoops etc
I have yet to meet a business owner or CEO that has hired a service providers through Facebook. Research is completed through Google searches and decisions are made through specific and targeted searches rather than accidentally spotting an advert in a news feed. Build a business based on marketing where users spend time searching for you rather than interrupting social experiences. Decision-makers find what they need on the first page of Google; only about five percent venture further. In fact, the top three websites in the organic results get the vast majority of clicks. Be where you need to be to speak to your audience.
Local Traffic
Even if you have a local business which depends on foot traffic, you still need SEO. Consumers will use their mobile device to find a place to eat, workout or get a haircut. A firm offering local SEO will help your business have one of the top positions in a local search, complete with a map, a click-to-call phone number and reviews of your service.
Even national businesses should establish a local presence. There is power and consumer trust built through a tangible location and allowing your business to accept reviews and feedback.
Get Qualified Traffic
Rather than focusing on keywords, focus on solving a query. Google is very good at understanding the intent of content without stuffing keywords onto pages and jamming bad SEO onto the web. Write content that solves a problem, provides a solution and ultimately fulfills a user search query. That web site that ultimately answers the query in the best possible way is rewarded with more traffic, higher ranking and increased conversions.
SEO is a Good Investment
When someone clicks on your organic link from a search engine, you don't have to pay for the lead. If you run a pay-per-click campaign, you will pay each time an individual clicks on one of your ads. SEO and optimized web design is almost always a better investment. You'll see long-term results from this cost-effective inbound marketing because your website will retain a prominent position in the SERPs and bring you free traffic as long as you keep adding fresh content to your website each week. PPC is expensive and costs are growing with fewer and fewer clicks. SEO is not a quick fix but investing in solid organic listings will benefit a business over the long-term.
SEO Enhances Your Credibility
If multiple pages from your website and other sources show up on the first page of the SERPs, people will be more likely to trust your business. “SEO allows a business to appear in premiere online publications generating targeted viewers and representing your company in a positive light”, says Dan O’Donnell, President of Crevand SEO. They don't want to spend their hard earned money with online business that could disappear tomorrow. Top listings instill confidence in consumers because it shows that Google chose your website over hundreds of other sites to list at the head-of-the-class.
SEO is time consuming, but you can hire an SEO firm to do all or part of the work. Firms often invest in tools which automate researching keywords, checking for broken links and other tasks so they can offer a fast, cost effective SEO.
