8 Advantages of SEO for Increasing Business
Businesses can gain a lot from search engine optimization (SEO) when it is implemented strategically, such as higher website traffic and more qualified prospects passing through the sales funnel. Fundamentally, SEO can increase your company’s organic visibility, which means it won’t cost you anything. Gaining a rudimentary understanding of SEO will enable you to create content that appeals to and ranks highly, reaching your target audience in a way that best suits their needs. You’ll see more engagement and business growth if you comprehend and put SEO best practices into effect.
If you’re interested in learning more about SEO, you can apply these ideas to your own business or launch a new career with these essential skills by enrolling in an instructor-led digital marketing bootcamp.
SEO: What Is It?
Any content creator can use a set of techniques called search engine optimization to raise the ranking of certain web pages in search results. This increases the likelihood that consumers will see and interact with the content when it appears closer to the top of the first page of any search engine site. By using these strategies, you may improve website visitors, which will boost your brand awareness and earnings. It’s crucial to remember, though, that SEO is a continuous process. For your company, producing new content and updating old material should be done in a way that is optimized for search engines.
Google is the search engine that most people use, thus SEO places a lot of emphasis on ranking well in its search results. In fact, from 2018 to 2019, Google accounted for more than 95% of all smartphone searches. In the hyperconnected world of today, users of websites anticipate finding what they’re looking for in the first few results. Your website should strive to rank in the top ten results in order to increase traffic; the higher up your page appears, the more click-throughs you will probably receive.
Best practices for photo captions, linkages, website speed, and online social interaction are all included in SEO. These free digital marketing tools can help streamline the process of website optimization, even if there are numerous variables involved.
The Top 8 Benefits of SEO
You can raise corporate revenue, build brand awareness, and even enhance your firm’s trustworthiness with the correct SEO plan. Regardless of your sector or size of business, the eight distinct advantages of implementing SEO into your marketing plan are listed below.
Benefit 1 of SEO: Increases Website Traffic from Organic Search
Search engine users that discover your website through an algorithm are considered organic traffic. Your website needs to be efficiently optimized in order to direct this traffic. The intention is for Google to identify your website as providing the most pertinent responses to search queries.
With the appropriate SEO approach, your company can compete for some of the 63,000 Google searches that are conducted every second. Concentrating on the keywords that are relevant to your company and the content you wish to provide to your audience is one of the finest methods to increase your SEO.
Every website is scanned by Google’s web crawlers for particular keywords, user-friendly layouts, and overall reliability. The best responses to each question are determined by these bots using this data. For instance, when writing a piece about accounting software for NGOs, consider the terms and search terms that readers will use. Google will give your post a higher ranking for relevancy if you carefully address the topic and accurately use the keywords “accounting software for nonprofits” in your content.
SEO Advantage 2: Cost-Effective Lead Generation
One of the least expensive ways to increase your web presence is through SEO, which is an inbound marketing strategy as opposed to cold phoning, sending unsolicited emails, or running adverts. When used effectively, SEO enables you to reach customers who are interested in your goods or services, have found your post or listing through relevant search phrases, and visit your website. These leads are therefore primed and prepared to commit.
Most activities on the internet begin with a search. According to Imforza, a platform for online branding, 93% of all online encounters begin with a search engine. In the meantime, organic results account for 70% of the clicked-through results as opposed to sponsored advertisement spots. While print advertising and other outbound marketing strategies have a close rate closer to 1.7 percent, SEO leads close a transaction 14% of the time.
Furthermore, SEO is perpetual. Well-managed SEO may continuously drive high-quality traffic to your website over time, in contrast to paid online ads that cease generating traffic once the campaign is concluded.
Although implementing SEO at your business may take some time, there’s a good chance it won’t cost extra for advertising, which raises the possibility of increased sales. An SEO-focused digital marketing bootcamp can assist you in developing a thorough plan for raising your organic presence.
Benefit #3 of SEO: Raising Brand Awareness
While you want to be seen as a leader in your field, you also want your audience to regard you as a pertinent source of solutions. How can you be sure that people will notice your brand among the 1.88 billion websites on the internet? One of the greatest ways to achieve this is with an SEO plan.
Having a Google first page ranking raises your profile and authority. There should be more clicks on your content after you’ve optimized it to fit search queries. This will raise your levels of engagement and credibility. Your SEO strategy’s momentum might set off a series of actions that increase brand awareness.
Remember that having your brand recognized isn’t enough; people need also understand what your brand represents, how it may benefit them, and what services it offers. Providing searchers with useful, comprehensible, and reliable content is the goal of content marketing. Their trust in you to answer their inquiries might easily translate into sales.
SEO Benefit 4: Gets You Ahead of the Competition
Every industry faces rivalry. You should research your rivals’ SEO tactics in the same way that you would their print marketing methods. You can find out what keywords your rivals rank for, how much content they have, how they build links, and much more by visiting websites like Moz and SEMrush. You may develop a plan to outrank your rivals after you focus only on the keywords that are most pertinent to your sector.
Finding opportunities where your rivals fail (such employing a term for which they don’t rank) is one method to achieve this. Find opportunities where you can improve your SEO for that word or phrase to get more exposure in Google searches.
Benefit No. 5 of SEO: Your Website Is Mobile-Friendly
Every day, more searches are made on mobile devices. Sixty-one percent of searches were made using a mobile device by Q2 2021. However, what effect does that have on businesses? You run the risk of losing over half of your target audience if your website is not mobile-friendly. Furthermore, a website that has been optimized for mobile devices will naturally rank higher on Google than one that has not. Even if your website could appear fantastic on a PC, businesses now have to create and maintain a mobile-friendly digital presence because of the wide variety of brands and designs of mobile devices, which drastically alters load times and screen sizes.
Several pointers to improve a mobile device’s user experience include
Adjust button sizes so that they don’t interfere with your content by being either too large or too little to be seen or touched.
Keep it brief. A mobile device’s screen has less space than that of a PC.
Avoid using pop-ups that impede navigation and are distracting.
No matter the size of the screen, use a responsive template design.
SEO Advantage 6: Fosters Credibility
It takes time to develop consumer trust in your brand, even with a solid SEO approach. Invest in high-quality material to establish yourself as a reliable source of current information for your readers. Customers’ perceptions of your company may be enhanced as a result, raising your ranking.
When evaluating a website, Google considers more than just the keywords you use; it also considers the frequency and authority of your audience interactions. Even if they decide not to make a purchase from you in the end, Google takes into account how you assist your website visitors. Google ranks webpages based on three factors: expertise, authoritativeness, and trustworthiness (EAT). That means that if your content isn’t helpful to your readers, it doesn’t matter how frequently you utilize a term.
Although engagement requires time, it should be rewarded with increased market share and search engine rankings. You can facilitate communication with your visitors by including areas that allow comments, Google maps, and contact pages. Encourage constructive dialogue and offer insightful criticism. Make content that readers will want to share because they will find the lessons valuable.
Benefit 7 of SEO: Enhances All Other Marketing Techniques
Your SEO approach may achieve unprecedented success if you combine paid, inbound, or outbound marketing with organic search engine optimization. Since content is crucial, it’s a good idea to maintain a library of written materials so that you can produce marketing materials that address pertinent issues and offer helpful information. No matter how a potential consumer found your company in the first place, their trust may grow if they see your listing on the first page of Google.
Keeping an eye on your SEO also allows you to spot emerging trends in the sector. You’ll discover what information individuals find most important, when popular search keywords change, and what deters people from making a purchase. You should be able to identify pain areas when you closely watch SEO and Google rankings.
If your company also does paid search advertising, and your organic search engine rankings are strong and your paid ad appears in the top Google results, your website may show up more than once on the first page of search results. Organic search results come just underneath sponsored adverts.
Benefit 8 of SEO: Draws Customers to Your Physical Store
SEO isn’t limited to internet companies. Google (or another search engine) is usually the first place people look when they need a new clothing or a place to eat. Google’s “near me” search function leverages a user’s location to identify the service that most closely matches their query. Google reports that 76% of users who conduct “near me” searches on their phones will visit the store within a day, and 88% will do so within a week. That’s a significant number of new clients that the correct SEO approach could bring in!
Make sure your company can be found online if it has a physical location. This can assist draw more customers to your store. Make sure Google is aware of your location and the services you offer in order to drive more customers to your physical store.
How to Learn SEO
Digital marketing and SEO are widely available as courses, videos, and websites. For example, you may learn the fundamentals of SEO and how it can help your business by using these free digital marketing job tools.
To get the most out of your SEO marketing, you should also become acquainted with keyword research tools. Services that are free or need a subscription are also offered. Select the one that best suits your budget and company objectives. Although Moz and SEMrush have already been discussed, there are more systems such as Keywords Everywhere and KeywordsFX from WebFX.
A comprehensive search engine optimization approach is typically taught at Berkeley’s Digital Marketing Boot Camp. You will learn how to create advertising campaigns, increase lead generation, establish your online identity, and optimize your website for natural search traffic in this class. For individuals seeking an organized course taught by experts in the field of digital marketing, this bootcamp is excellent.
At Berkeley’s Digital Marketing Boot Camp, students are usually taught a thorough approach to SEO. In this course, you will learn how to build your online presence, generate leads, optimize your website for natural search traffic, and construct advertising campaigns. This bootcamp is a great option for anyone looking for a structured course taught by professionals in the field of digital marketing.
Why Your Business Needs SEO
You require an SEO strategy if your company has a website. A well-known SEO tool called ahrefs reports that 91% of all websites do not receive organic traffic from Google searches. If you oversee marketing for your organization, this figure may seem intimidating. How will you expand your organization’s buyer journey and discover new markets if search results aren’t bringing in any new business?
Whether you own a multimillion dollar software firm or are a freelance repairman, SEO is critical to your business’s sales, credibility in the marketplace, and online reputation. Right now, someone is looking for your stuff online to become your next client. They will do business with a company they find online if they are unable to locate you.
In addition to boosting revenue, your company needs a new or updated SEO strategy if any of the following objectives are met:
- Increased subscriptions
- A rise in online traffic and consumer confidence
- creating a precise client profile
- A way to promote deals and promotions
SEO’s Advantages for Small Businesses
SEO has clear advantages, even if your goal isn’t to reach a global audience. 46% of searches are for local information, according to Social Media Today. Your audience is online even if they might be across the street.
Use Maps and Search to find your business by using the free Google My Business feature. In Google search results, your listing may show your address, business hours, client testimonials, and services.
Compared to larger firms, small businesses have lower margins and lesser budgets, so every marketing dollar matters. An excellent return on investment is offered by SEO. It doesn’t need you to outspend your rivals or place pricey web advertisements or bid on keywords. With minimal financial outlay, a small business may actually rise to the top of Google’s search results page with a clever SEO plan.
SEO Careers
Gaining knowledge of SEO can make you a competitive applicant in the modern digital environment. Businesses understand that their clients are on the internet, and being easily found and having the authority to entice users to click through to your website are two of the finest ways to expand your business and boost your bottom line. While many firms are searching for workers with the skill set to expand their internet presence, small enterprises might handle their own SEO.
Berkeley Digital Marketing Boot Camp is an excellent place to start your SEO career. You’ll have the chance to acquire abilities that businesses find vital in just eighteen weeks. Digital advertising, automation, optimization, and marketing strategy are among the subjects addressed.
Those with experience in SEO can pursue careers in
- Advertising, Promotions, and Marketing Managers
- Search Marketing Specialists
- Market Research Analysts and Specialists
SEO Job Outlook
After receiving management and SEO training, you have access to a large range of employment choices. Due to the fact that SEO is now necessary for almost all businesses, there is a growing need for these positions.
For instance, it is anticipated that the sector of advertising, promotions, and marketing management will expand by 10% by 2030, resulting in around 31,000 new positions annually. In general, these experts generate interest in a business both online and off, knowing how to expand a digital following; the reason for their anticipated rise is the growing necessity to replace employees who retire, change careers, or leave the workforce altogether.
By 2030, job opportunities for search marketing strategists are expected to rise by 22%. The industry anticipates, specifically, 96,000 yearly job vacancies throughout that period; this trend includes positions for analysts and specialists in marketing research. The SEO sector has a promising future because even highly educated experts need to regularly renew their training to stay up to speed with trends and changes in Google’s ranking algorithm.
