Search engine optimisation (SEO) is a powerful yet hotly disputed marketing strategy. On one side of the fence, you have those who insist SEO has had its day. On the other, you’ll find those who argue there isn’t a single more effective or important promotional technique than SEO.
Opinions are one thing – facts are something else entirely. Take a look at the evidence and it’s immediately clear that without SEO, you’re guaranteed to fall behind your competitors. Contrary to popular belief, SEO is anything but optional.
For clarification, here are seven reasons why you should make an investment in SEO, ignoring the cries of naysayers along the way:
The main goal of SEO is making your website easy for both users and search engine robots to understand. SEO helps the engines to figure out what each page is about, and how it may be useful for users. If you want to help your business in reaching this goal, here are 7 reasons why you should invest in SEO:
- Organic Search Is the Primary Source of Website Traffic
Organic search makes an enormous contribution to the performance of every website. For some time now, Google alone has occupied somewhere in the region of 80% of all global search traffic. What’s more, close to 95% of all online experiences begin with a web search. That’s 95% of all web traffic you’ll be turning your back on, if you don’t focus on boosting your position in the rankings.
These days, website quality alone isn’t enough. Instead, it’s about how prominently you appear on page one. If your competitors outperform you in the SERP rankings, it’s game-over.
- SEO Builds Trust & Credibility
An effective SEO strategy helps build a sense of trust and credibility for your website. In order for an SEO campaign to succeed, it needs to be bolstered with quality backlinks from authoritative sources, high-quality website copy, excellent overall user experience and more. In essence, SEO focuses on the various elements that come together to create an outstanding online experience for the end-user.
It’s not simply a case of forcing your way to the top of the rankings with a spammy SEO strategy. Instead, it’s about creating a credible and authoritative website, which naturally fulfils the requirements of the major search engines. Something that demands significant commitment and investment, but will nonetheless pay dividends long-term.
- It’s Cost-Effective
In the right hands, a quality SEO strategy has the capacity to deliver an exceptional ROI. Not only this, but a bespoke SEO strategy can be tailored to suit all requirements and budgets from top to bottom. Both for small and large businesses alike, SEO is a cost-effective strategy with the capacity to deliver impressive returns.
It’s simply a case of establishing your objectives for the strategy, in order to tailor its implementation accordingly. SEO can be used to achieve a variety of things, without becoming prohibitively expensive.
- Reliance on Search Is Growing
Every hour of every day, thousands of new websites appear from all over the world. Negotiating such a complex online space has never been more difficult, which is why consumers worldwide have become reliant on search engines. The larger and more complex the web becomes, the morereliant we will be on companies like Google to show us the way.
Hence, an investment in SEO isn’t a risky investment in a here-today, gone-tomorrow fad. It’s 100% guaranteed that we’ll be relying on search engines indefinitely, so it simply makes sense to focus on SEO.
- SEO Can Deliver Long-Term Gains
Get it right with your SEO strategy and you’re looking at an investment with the potential to deliver long-term gains. With most promotional campaigns, it’s a case of generating a quick-fix for a finite period of time. With SEO, it’s the exact opposite.
By implementing and continuously optimising an effective SEO strategy, you stand every chance of maintaining your prominent position in the SERP rankings. Just as long as you meet the requirements set out by Google, you’ll hold onto your position and maintain your competitive edge. Best of all, SEO returns invaluable analytics about your performance, making it surprisingly simple to take things to the next level.
- Outsourcing Is Easy
Bolstering your SEO performance with the help of an experienced team really couldn’t be easier. Whether you’re looking to outsource some or all SEO responsibilities, it’s as easy as making it quick phone call. Best of all, the days of binding yourself to service providers with obligatory long-term contracts are over.
Even if you’d simply like to test the waters with professional SEO involvement, it’s never been easier to do so. Organise a consultation, discuss the available options and discover what strategic SEO could be doing for you right now.
- Your Competitors Are Already Doing It
Last but not least, it’s entirely likely that your closest competitors are already using SEO to their advantage. If you currently fall behind your rivals in the SERP rankings, it isn’t by chance or coincidence. Instead, it’s because they’re doing something to attract the interests of the search engines that you aren’t.
The overwhelming majority of proactive businesses now invest heavily and continuously in SEO. Until you do the same, you cannot expect to perform at the same level.