The modern world is heavily reliant on the internet. From social media to search engines, everyone uses the internet to find information online. The ease and convenience that it has brought to our lives is unparalleled. Thanks to advancements in technology, you can do a quick Google search right from your smartphone. Whether you’re on the lookout for a specific solution, or just looking for the answer to a burning question — the results will show up instantly.
That’s why it’s so critical for every modern business to have their own website. However, it’s not good enough to just have your own website. You need to have a website that can attract visitors and bring internet users to you, otherwise no one is going to see your website in the first place — no matter how much money you spend on it. The key to driving organic traffic to your website is ranking highly on search engines like Google.
The techniques used to rank highly on Google is known as Search Engine Optimization or SEO for short. It’s an extremely complex, but important concept that all businesses need. The problem is that SEO can be incredibly competitive, and if you don’t rank in the top three results of a Google search, you’re losing out on at least half of the active users on a Google search. Keep reading to understand more about the benefits of SEO, and how you can get your website to rank higher in a search engine.
Increasing Your Website Traffic
Increased website traffic is one of the key benefits of investing in SEO. SEO, or search engine optimization, is the practice of optimising a website to rank higher in search engine results pages (SERPs). This optimization aims to increase the visibility of a website by getting it to rank higher on search engines such as Google.
One of the ways that SEO drives traffic to a website is by improving its ranking in search engine results. By ranking higher in the SERPs, a website is more likely to be seen and clicked on by users. This increased visibility can translate into a significant increase in website traffic. More traffic going to your business’ website, means more potential customers.
There are many real-life examples of businesses that have seen significant increases in website traffic through SEO. For example, a business specialising in handcrafted jewellery saw its organic traffic increase by 300% after implementing an effective SEO strategy. Another business, a provider of financial services, saw its organic traffic grow by over 400% after focusing on improving its SEO.
Higher Search Engine Rankings
Ranking highly in a Google search is critical — especially in today’s age where a Google search can be done with ease using a smartphone. Studies have shown that the top ranking website on a Google search will receive an estimated 33% of total clicks. On the other hand, ranking in second or third results in just 15% of total clicks. That’s more than a 50% decrease in the amount of visitors to your website — all because your website ranks in third place.
If you rank on the second page of a Google search, your organic traffic will decline dramatically. The second page is like a desert in terms of active users. Studies have shown that only 25% of Google users will click through to the second page of Google. For example, if your keyword gets 1000 searches per month, you’re only reaching 250 search users if you’re on the second page — and that’s an estimate! For a business, reaching the entire 1000 users can make a huge difference in sales and revenue.
Overall, there are many factors that influence search engine rankings, including the relevance of a website’s content to the search query, the quality of the website’s backlinks, and the website’s overall user experience. By investing in SEO, businesses can improve their search engine rankings by addressing these factors and optimising their websites to rank higher in the SERPs.
Ranking higher in search engines results in better brand awareness. People are more likely to notice your brand if it’s the first result in a Google search, and this will ultimately improve your brand authority and increase sales and revenue.
Cost Effective Marketing
When compared to other forms of advertising and marketing, the cost of SEO can be significantly lower, and have more value than other forms of marketing. Using SEO, businesses can reach their target audience through organic search results, without having to pay for each individual click or impression. This can result in substantial cost savings, especially when compared to the cost of traditional forms of advertising.
SEO also provides long-term benefits for businesses while costing less than other forms of marketing. For example, once a website has been optimised for search engines, it can continue to rank well in the SERPs and attract organic traffic over time. This sustained traffic can help to improve a business’s overall online presence and increase its visibility to potential customers. On the other hand, paying for a social media ad will only increase its visibility and performance for a set amount of time.
Another advantage of SEO is that it provides a measurable return on investment (ROI). Unlike traditional forms of advertising that may not paint a clear picture of the results (think about a billboard on the side of a highway), SEO can be easily tracked and measured. This makes it easier for businesses to determine how effective their marketing efforts have been.
Finding The Right SEO Partner
SEO is something that your business could take into its own hands. However, SEO can be complex and time consuming to learn, which means that you might not have the time and resources to focus on other areas of your business. On top of that, SEO is constantly evolving. Google makes thousands of updates to its algorithm every year. To keep running well, you need to constantly be aware of these updates and how they affect your website.
It’s much easier and faster to partner with an SEO agency that specialises in getting your website to rank as highly as possible. Always make sure to work with experienced agencies who have an impressive portfolio of clients with good testimonials and reviews.
