Why Every Business Owner Needs to Learn About SEO

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The way customers look for products and services has changed significantly in the last decade. Location and word of mouth still play a part, but 62% of customers start their search online. And 93% of online research starts with a search engine like Google. In order to get your business front and center in search results, you need to learn about SEO. Search engine optimization, or SEO, identifies keywords that consumers would most likely use to search for your product or service. Those words are then placed on websites, blogs and any other online resource linked to your business. There are numerous advantages to maximizing SEO, so every business owner should incorporate these strategies into their marketing plan.

Increase Visibility

With so many consumers using online searches, it is imperative that your business be included in the results. Ideally, you want to be as close to the top of those results as possible. This is where SEO comes in. The more your website includes specific keywords, the closer to the top it will be. It may be surprising to learn that most people never look at the second page of search results. SEO is the key to making sure your business gets maximum visibility online, which will drive business to your site.

Build Credibility

The internet has given people more options and resources than ever before. In order to make an impression, businesses need to appear credible online. Better yet, they should be a resource for consumers. The more relevant information you can share, the more of an authority you become. When customers are ready to make a purchase or hire a professional, you’ll have a leg up on the competition. Helpful tips and informative articles can be posted directly on your website, filled with keywords, to increase traffic. Another popular strategy utilizes blogs. Blog posts use SEO and keyword links to connect the consumer to your company. If you don’t have the time to spend writing blogs online, which many business owners don’t, there are content subscription services out there to do it for you.

Analyze Results

Another benefit of incorporating SEO strategies into your marketing plan is the ability to precisely measure how well it is working. With tv commercials and print ads, you can only estimate effectiveness by looking for correlations between sales and advertising campaigns. For example, there is no way to really tell if a commercial was the reason your sales went up. Most likely, some of those sales would have come in regardless of the commercial. When you incorporate SEO strategies into marketing plans, there are online metrics available to clearly identify what works and what doesn’t. Some common metrics include organic traffic, click-through rate and keyword ranking. By looking at which postings, keywords and pages get the most activity, you can constantly adjust your strategy to keep reaching more people. You can also measure the percentage of traffic turned into actual sales.

Pay Nothing

It seems unbelievable, but using keywords and search engine optimization is completely free. There are obviously services and programs which you can pay for to make it easier, but you don’t have to. For example, think back to the last time you searched for something on Google. At the top of the page, you see results with the word “Ad” in front of them. These are businesses that paid to be at the top of the search results. When the business stops paying for that space, the website will no longer be at the top of the list. However, directly underneath those results are websites that earned a place utilizing SEO. As long as the site continues to monitor and enhance searchability, it will remain close to the top of search results. No fee is required.