Business growth is one of the primary goals of all business owners. Achieving that growth can be done through many different means. However, one of the most effective ways to grow your business is through Search Engine Optimization (SEO).
SEO enables you to reach more of your target audience by increasing the visibility of your site, as well as the overall user experience. Your online presence is an asset to your business you can’t afford to neglect. Here’s the business value of SEO.
Increased Visibility
Regardless of how great your business services or products are, it does no good if people can’t find your website. SEO addresses that problem by increasing your online visibility. There are several ways in which this happens.
Keyword Research
Keyword research is what most people think of when they hear “SEO”. While there’s much more to it, keywords are indeed an important factor. Keywords are the phrases and terms your target audience is searching for when they type their query into the search engine.
Search engines like Google crawl and index websites and rank them based on their relevance to specific searches. If your website contains the keywords and phrases used by the consumer, then you’ll likely rank higher than if it didn’t.
For example, say your website sells shoes made from repurposed materials. It’s unlikely your site will show up if someone searches “grand piano” because there is zero relevance between the two. Search engines serve to meet the needs of the user. So using relevant keywords and phrases on your website will increase your chances of being seen. Keywords like “repurposed shoes” would serve your company much better as they have greater relevance.
The more keyword research you do, the more relevant you can make your content. This increases your overall visibility and draws more traffic to your website.
SERP
Another way SEO increases business value is by impacting your position on the search engine results page (SERP). As you optimize the keywords on your site, Google bots will begin to recognize the relevance of your content. However, you’ll still be ranked against competitors using the same keywords.
95% of web traffic goes to the first page of results on Google searches. This means that your position on the SERP is incredibly valuable. SEO allows you to rank yourself against competitors, see what words they’re ranking for, and optimize your content to improve your position in the SERP.
Featured Snippets
SEO can help increase your visibility by including you in the featured snippets on Google’s results page. A featured snippet is a block of text that appears before organic results at the top of the SERP. This position is reserved for the content Google determines is most relevant to the user’s original search. This is one of the best places to be as it maximizes your visibility.
SEO offers value to your business before consumers even get to your site simply by increasing your visibility on the results page. Optimizing your site with keywords will help you rank higher and draw more attention from those who use search engines such as Google or Bing.
Better User Experience
Once your visibility is up, you’ll begin to generate a lot more traffic to your actual website. SEO continues to benefit you by working to provide a better user experience for those who visit your website. This is done in several ways.
Increased Site Speed
SEO can increase the speed of your website by optimizing page content such as videos and pictures. We live in a fast-paced world and people are used to having their needs met quickly and efficiently. If your website can’t meet this demand, then the user will go somewhere else, regardless of how good your content is.
Studies show that most users won’t wait more than 2 seconds for a page to load. Thankfully, SEO can help you meet that threshold by optimizing your content and increasing the speed at which your pages load.
Simple Layout Design
Simple layout designs will improve the user’s experience and make their interaction with your site an enjoyable one. Even if a consumer is interested in your brand, it’ll be difficult to convert them if they can’t find information on your site. Websites that are difficult to navigate are frustrating to users and can hurt your rankings over time.
Simple layouts with search bars and landing pages make it easy for users to find the information relevant to their needs.
Optimize For Mobile Use
Mobile searches now account for about 63% of all web searches. This means that your content needs to be optimized for both desktop and mobile use. Web design is changing, even in 2021. And as more people begin to use mobile devices for everyday searches, it’s important to adapt. Companies like Google are already preparing for these changes. You and your website must prepare as well.
Boost Sales
SEO isn’t just about increasing your visibility. It’s about optimizing your site for user experience as well. SEO will help generate more organic traffic to your site, and then convert that traffic into leads.
Proper website layout can encourage leads to take action and increase your company sales. Simply put:
- Greater Visibility = More Traffic
- More Traffic + Great User Experience = Leads
- Leads + Optimized Layouts = Sales
In short, SEO adds business value by increasing your company sales. While SEO may seem overwhelming at times, it’s important to remember that it’s an investment in your business’s future.
If you’re interested in optimizing your site for SEO, consider reaching out to an expert for a consultation. Even if you can’t afford a total rework of your site, little changes can be made over time that will still see a return on your investment. Don’t wait, reach out to an SEO expert and increase your business value today.
Let Us Help You Succeed!
We can meet your SEO needs and help you rank higher in the Local Pack, organic search, and YouTube. Whatever your business goals, we will work to build an SEO strategy that reaches them. We do everything we can to work with our clients to make web design and online marketing affordable. Contact us for more information.
