- 17-09-2024
Being online is not a trend, but a necessity and search engine optimization (SEO) supports this effort of businesses. In The 4 Building Blocks of a Strong Digital Presence, Tom Cochran wrote that if a business does not have a digital presence today, it does not exist.
This is true. Due to globalization, all customers expect businesses to be online.
Your target market is not simply the customer across the street, but also a potential customer who is thousands of miles away from you. Obviously, this depends on the business you operate , but even to localize your online business, you need to optimize it online.
Internet users will only increase in the future. In 2015, there were 3 billion internet users worldwide. People search for infinite number of answers on search engines, local directories and websites like wikiHow. Their trust of the internet has increased markedly, and if you want your business to grow and get more sales then you need to be available with a solution for your target market whenever they have a problem.
SEO for Online Business
SEO has several benefits, but the way you plan your strategies and execute it determine your success online. Note that there are good and bad practices of SEO, and the path you choose greatly impacts your business. Search engine optimization has many benefits, but the four most important ways in which it helps you are:
1. Improves Page Ranking
It improves the ranking of your business on search engines. Around 60% of all online users do not go beyond the first page of search engine results page. The higher you are on the SERPs, the more chances you have to be on the face of your potential or existing customer. Your rank determines the amount of organic and direct traffic you will receive.
2. Retains Visitors Longer
With internal linking, SEO can help you invite and engage your visitors longer. When people have a problem at hand, they type in a long phrase, sentence or question in the search engine bar. You can be the first preference of your customers by using long-tail keywords. This will help you decrease the bounce rate of your website or blog. It will also help you guide your visitors to your landing page.
3. It is Cost Effective
Instead of spending thousands of dollars on advertising your business using the traditional methods, you should use SEO. Erica Machin, SEO Expert, explains that search engine optimization is a great inbound-marketing strategy, which can generate you 61% more leads than cold calling. The traffic you receive from doing SEO is more valuable than the one you get from paid marketing.
4. Let’s You Stay Competitive
In a world where millions of businesses from around the world are based on the internet, it is important that you stay competitive. You do not want to be a stagnant business, do you? SEO helps you with this. SEO experts and agencies are updated about every minor and major changes search engines make to their algorithms. This knowledge aids them in optimizing your online business and adapting it to match the changing atmosphere.
These were just some of the advantages that SEO has for your business. There is much more that SEO has to offer and if you want a strong online presence then you must start utilizing it.