The Importance of SEO for Your Brand
Think about the last time you conducted a Google search; how far did you scroll through the results to find what you were looking for? Did you leave the first page of queries? Chances are that you didn’t- A recent study done by Search Engine Journal concluded that, after analyzing billions of search queries across the globe, over a quarter of Google searchers click on the first result that loads- the first organic result in Google has a CTR (click through rate) of about 28.5%. The first page of search results captures 71% of search traffic clicks and has even been reported to be as high as 92% some years. Since there are only 10 results that show up on a results page at one time, it is vital to make sure that you are properly utilizing SEO (Search Engine Optimization) best practices to make sure that your brand is getting seen. If you have further questions or are interested in getting started with SEO, do not hesitate to reach out to the media experts at Alpha Tango Media today.
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What Is SEO (Search Engine Optimization)?
Search Engine Optimization, simply put, is the process of improving your website and optimizing the content within to increase your visibility online. Applying SEO best practices to your web content boosts the likeliness that your product will appear on the results page when people are searching for products or services related to your brand. Bringing visibility to your web pages or content online makes it so that your brand is getting in front of prospective customers when they are in need, further driving sales and attracting attention to your company; this is highly important when it comes to marketing yourself online as SEO not only attracts customers to your brand, but also establishes your company as an authoritative source within the sea of information available.
How Does SEO Work?
Search engines like Google, Bing and Microsoft Edge utilize the help of bots, sent to scour websites and their content for information. Once the bots have gathered the information, algorithms deeply analyze the contents and determine the order pages should appear in the search results given a certain query. Unlike paid search ads, where marketers can pay to have their website show up as one of the first page results, organic search results are ranked algorithmically by the search engines themselves. These results cannot be influenced in any way, which is why understanding just how these algorithms determine which information is relevant to a search is a difficult task; what are considered to be SEO best practices are constantly changing, making it harder to crack the code of getting your website to the front page.
How SEO Can Help Your Brand
The end goal of SEO is to get your brand in front of more customers while they’re surfing the web. Making sure that your company appears as a search result will not only improve the quality and quantity of traffic to your website, but it also aids in the process of converting searchers into customers. Read on to learn how implementing SEO best practices into your online marketing efforts will help you drive sales and grow your business.
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Increases Traffic
Because the goal of SEO is to have your brand come up in related search queries, SEO excels at guiding consumers to your website and related pages. According to Lyfe Marketing, over 50% of all traffic around the web entered websites through clicking on them in organic search results; the first page sees over 90% of that traffic. This is possible through the algorithms discussed earlier, as they make sure that your content is featured in relevant searches, promoting your brand to people who are already in need of a related product or service. We’ve learned that users rarely leave the first page of results following a query, which is why it is so important to obtain a naturally high placement on search engine results pages. Evidently, having your brand appear as close to the top on the results page increases brand visibility, driving consumers to your site and increasing overall site traffic.
Builds Trust and Credibility
Google is a highly trusted source. In fact, according to Search Engine Journal, Google is considered to be more trustworthy than the news or other traditional media outlets and publications. This trust stems from the user’s ability to conduct their own research, and provide credible information from a number of various sources. This tells us, overall, that consumers place a lot of trust in these search engines to recommend and provide a plethora of trustworthy resources following a query, and if your brand comes up as one of the first results, this instills a feeling of confidence into searchers about your brand. Once again, the bots discussed earlier collect information from sites that they deem to be authoritative and correct in their field, further exemplifying your content as respected and influential within related spaces. Lastly, you cannot pay to have your website rank higher than your competition in organic search, meaning that having your website appear as one of the first results indicates that it got there naturally due to the integrity of content within.
Shortens the Sales Cycle
Having your brand come up in related search queries gets you in front of users already ready to buy; you don’t have to convince them that they need your product or service, just that they should work with you over your competition. This cuts the sales cycle in half, as users will find you organically and have all the information needed to make an informed decision and complete a conversion on their own. This takes the sales-pitchiness out of the exchange between you and your consumers.
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Research
According to research done by WPP, up to 80% of people will research a product or service online before committing to a purchase, highlighting the importance of ranking on organic results pages. If there are many competitors that are listed more highly than you are on a results page, chances are they are winning over a lot of potential customers. As we have already learned, the higher your website is ranked following a search query, the more credible and trustworthy your brand comes across as well – meaning that while conducting initial research prior to a purchase, your company will come across as more dependable than the competition being one of the first results.
More Affordable than Paid Advertising
You cannot pay to have your website rank higher than your competition in organic search; paid search, the alternative, can be very expensive as it is on a CPC (cost per click) basis. The more expensive keywords in AdWords and Bing Ads, according to Verizon, can cost as much as $50 per click to keep your brand at the top. Alternatively, and for a much more affordable price, you can employ the help of digital marketers and SEO to boost your brand. Sure, you will have to pay marketers for their SEO services, but they are much more affordable than other related services. Plus, the payoff is well worth it, for all of the reasons stated above; increased credibility, site traffic, sales, and enhancing your overall presence online. Don’t look at SEO as a cost, but more as an investment to strengthen the abilities of your existing brand and website.
Discuss Search Engine Optimization (SEO) With the Experts at Alpha Tango Media Today
Search Engine Optimization is a vital part of every brand’s marketing strategy. Without it, your company may not be getting the traction it needs online. If you need assistance with optimizing your content for the web, do not hesitate to reach out to the experts at Alpha Tango Media today.