Why SEO is Important for Your Online Presence
Using SEO strategically can shore up your marketing foundation
Almost everyone who runs a business and has a website has heard of search engine optimization or SEO.
Simply put, SEO allows your website to get found by people who are most likely interested in you. It allows users to find your site when they are looking for information that pertains to your business. And that’s important: ignoring the search engines means you are simply sending your prospective customers to the competition. In short, SEO as part of your online presence and digital marketing strategy should be a high priority.
Creating a solid foundational marketing strategy is one of the most important things you can do as a business owner. Designing and building a stable foundation for your sales and marketing ecosystem will create the base you need to tell the world who you are and why they need your products or services.
Having a well-thought-out digital presence (your website) that includes means it becomes your homebase for everyone around the world who may find you. In fact, all of your marketing and sales efforts should direct users back to your website.
So, what is SEO and why is it important?
To understand SEO is to understand how people can find you when they use a search engine.
Like most of us, you’ve probably put in a word, phrase, or question into Google and gotten a list of pages that might (or might not) have the information you’re looking for. When you look at the results, you have an opportunity to choose from sites that the search engine has deemed has the type of info you searched for. The sites that come up first probably didn’t get there by accident. Typically these top websites have data and SEO that make it easy for a search engine to find them.
SEO isn’t really mysterious. As Moz explains it, SEO is about “understanding what people are searching for online, the answers they’re seeking, the words they’re using, and the type of content they wish to consume.”
Finally, If you know the answers to the questions your customers are asking, it allows you to connect with the people who are searching online for the solutions and products you offer.
Keywords and Content? Yes!
While keywords are important, they don’t hold a “magic bullet” to get rankings. What IS important to understand is what words and phrases your audience is searching for…and then writing about that.
In a nutshell: Your website content should help quickly and clearly solve a problem (or answer a question) that your prospective and current customers might have.
Content doesn’t just have to be a web page full of words (although that is not a bad thing if they are fantastic words!)You can use videos, infographics, white papers, how-to guides and checklists as well. What’s most important is that you are offering valuable content that your customers want and need!
SEO Can Help In Generating Leads
Just as your CRM (customer relationship management) tool and your branding efforts work toward finding and attracting qualified leads, so does SEO. It’s important to make sure all elements of your marketing foundation are working in sync.
By using SEO to rank higher for specific search queries, your brand will be seen as more credible and you’ll be improving your brand awareness at the same time.When you attract more leads with SEO, you are reaching people who already have shown an interest in your product or service. In the end, that will help generate sales.
SEO Is A Long-Term Effort In Your Digital Marketing Strategy
When you have one of the top ranking results for queries about your business, you don’t need to spend as much money on advertising or paid search.
Most sites have some issues that can be easily fixed. One way to find out what problems your site might have is to create a free account on Ubersuggest or Semrush. There’s a paid version as well, but if you only have one site to review, a free account can help you find out what problems exist on your current site and also how to fix them.
Achieving good SEO can take up to six months or more of steady effort. But the good news is that once you’ve done the initial work, it doesn’t take a lot to maintain your effort. You do need to keep tabs on where your site is ranking for the most important searches for your business. It’s also not a bad idea to keep tabs on your competitors either.
Long term, using a smart SEO strategy will help you achieve your branding and online presence goals that you have laid out in your marketing roadmap.
If you need some help with knowing where to start or where you need to shore up your marketing foundation, take our quick, free quiz to get a snapshot of the situation.
It’s important to identify where you need to focus your energy and to create an achievable plan to allow your business to move forward.
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