by Search engine optimization (SEO) improves the visibility of your website to drive traffic organically. It utilizes relevant keywords that consumers search for that pertain to your products and services.
Search engine optimization (SEO) improves the visibility of your website to drive traffic organically. It utilizes relevant keywords that consumers search for that pertain to your products and services.
For example, if you sell athleisure clothing, your target market may be searching for keywords such as
- athleisure for men
- athleisure for women
- wrinkle-free polos
- pants with stretch
- breathable pants
and so forth.
An SEO strategy will work to analyze your target market and perform research to determine keywords that can attract consumers to your website. The more targeted and aggressive your SEO strategy is, the more traffic and conversions you can bring to your website.
A 2024 statistic proved that the top 3 organic search results on Google captured 68.7% of all clicks. Furthermore, only 0.78% of users made it to the second page of search results. Both statistics reinforce the importance of an effective SEO strategy that helps your website rank high in search engine results.
Getting customers on your website is the first step, though.
Once they are there you can work on capturing their email or information, tracking cookies, remarketing, and more. It can take multiple contacts with a customer to capture their business, so sometimes small business owners may feel as if their SEO investments are not worth it.
However – when you look at the big picture, a strategic SEO approach is pertinent to surviving in a world driven by online business. Afterall, the first step is getting the customer on your website and becoming aware of your product or brand.
Importance of an Online Presence in Today’s Market
With about 81% of consumers researching products online before purchasing, SEO is the key for almost all industries.
Whether you operate solely online, or operate retail locations or offer local services, the online market will still weigh heavily on the success of your business. Helping new customers find you and previous customers return for more business involves a strategic approach of SEO and marketing techniques.
Customers may search by location, features, descriptions, product names and types, service types and more to find what they’re looking for.
As a business owner, you can target the keywords that customers are searching and help them discover your product or service.
Better yet, if you appear in multiple searches, a consumer’s perception of your brand can improve.
Once you’ve landed a customer on your website, you can proceed to phase two: obtaining their information, convince them to buy your product, also such as conducting a call or filling out a contact form.
Financial Investments Required for SEO
As you weigh the costs versus benefits of investing in SEO or simply wonder if your budget can support it, you’ll need to define the costs.
The good news is that SEO plans are customizable depending on your goals and budget. Compared to other marketing efforts, SEO is a long-term approach. If you decide to stop efforts, you can continue to benefit from results, unlike pay per click (PPC) where it would go to zero if you stop the effort. Ideally though, you’ll want to opt for an SEO stratety that’s sustainable for your budget to maximize results.
Overtime, the return from an effective SEO strategy can far exceed the investment.
As you sift through pricing you’ll notice a variety of estimates. Some budget SEO packages may advertise rates as low as $600 per month.
While this may sound appealing, the return on your investment will ultimately trump the cost of SEO. Low cost budget SEO plans may appear to be effective according to reporting provided, but overtime you may not see the tangible results you hoped for. You know what they say, you get what you pay for.
Investing in an experienced SEO team may cost more but the return can be greater. The cost of an appropriate SEO strategy can be determined based on the size of a company, and customized based on goals and budget from there.
- Large companies: $5,000 – $40,000 per month
- Mid-sized companies: $2,600 – $4,800 per month
- Smaller companies: $800 – $2,400 per month
DIY SEO Approach – Is It Worth It?
Mastering SEO on Your Own Becoming an SEO expert requires dedication, time, and effort—like mastering any discipline. For those with an analytical, technical mindset and a touch of a hacker’s curiosity, SEO can be one of the most exciting fields to explore. It’s about navigating complex challenges and uncovering innovative solutions among endless possibilities. Taking the DIY approach to SEO is not only possible but also highly rewarding. Dr. William Sen has created an excellent guide to help you get started:
Long-Term Benefits vs. Short Term Gains
Investing in SEO can deliver both long term benefits and short term gains. However, SEO is primarily focused on delivering long-term benefits. Short term gains are more likely realized through approaches such as paid media, whereas SEO returns compound year after year. To maximize your return on investment, stick with SEO indefinitely. However, in the event you choose to stop you can still benefit from the efforts you made. Customer needs are constantly changing as are your competitors and their approach. To stay relevant and continue to rank high in search results, you’ll want to maintain your SEO strategy regularly. Here are some of the long-term benefits that an effective SEO strategy is proven to deliver.
Long term SEO benefits:
- Increase organic search result ranking
- Lower customer acquisition costs
- Establish a sustainable foundation for organic website traffic
- Increase brand authority and reputation
- Exceed initial investment in dollars on return
- Drive website traffic
How SEO Can Be Seen as an Investment for the Business
SEO can truly become part of your brand, making it a valuable investment. Let’s break down all of the ways investing in SEO is an investment in growing your business.
- Reach more customers: SEO can expand your reach by allowing you to appear in more searches. For example, perhaps your products can serve more than one purpose. Implementing an SEO strategy that targets all fronts that would attract customers to your product can help you reach more customers. It can also add value to your products, helping customers understand the products through quality content.
- Educate consumers: SEO and quality content go hand-in-hand. From unique landing pages to informative blog pages, SEO can help attract customers as well as equip them with information to make purchase decisions. In addition, keeping customers on landing pages longer can positively impact your website rankings. Providing customers with the information they are looking for can help keep them on your website and avoid them wandering off to a competitor page.
- Help customers make purchase decisions: One way SEO is implemented is through quality content. The content can be product descriptions, blog pages, landing pages, and more. You can utilize the content to drive traffic and provide customers information needed to make purchase decisions. Examples include providing information or comparisons with competitor products or services, explanations on support services or return policies, or an elaboration on product features.
- Drive website traffic organically: Unlike paid searches, SEO organically drives traffic to websites. Through the use of keywords that customers search to find your products or services, you can appear in more searches.
- Grow your customer database: With more traffic on your website, you can increase the opportunity of capturing customer information and behaviors. You can then use the information to continue marketing to customers.
- Compound results year after year: Compared to short term efforts such as paid media or marketing for promotional sales, SEO is a steady long term approach that continues to build success. The broader your SEO strategy becomes, the more searches you appear in. Furthermore, the longer visitors stay on your website and the more clicks they make, the better your website can rank. Objectively you can become a top ranking search engine result in more and more searches, thus organically driving traffic with minimal effort.
Prioritizing SEO Within a Tight Budget
Operating a business is all about making the right decisions. As you evaluate your budget, you may try to prioritize activities. While SEO is not an actual necessity, it can be thought of as one. Overtime, SEO efforts build on one another, making your website more visible and higher ranked on search engines. If you’re on a tight budget – we get it. Our team of experts can craft an SEO plan that maximizes efforts and fits in your budget. As with most things, you may be able to DIY an SEO strategy, but this may not be in the best interest of your business and customers. Partnering with a professional SEO agency to create and implement an effective SEO strategy can boost your ROI in the long run.
An effective SEO strategy will consider your business’s unique situation and value proposition. The key is to attract your target market to your website, which involves a targeted SEO plan. As with any lead, you’ll want to ensure the traffic is quality traffic that could have intent to purchase.
Key points to consider for SEO strategy:
- Long-term business goals
- Target market
- Competitors
- Marketing strategies in tandem with SEO
- Known factors that drive purchases
- Avenues to help customers self-serve online
SEO versus traditional marketing strategies
Diversifying your marketing strategy has its benefits. Choosing to have SEO be a key component though delivers one of the greatest benefits. . . long-term results. Other forms of marketing can drive short-term results, but when efforts are slowed or seized so are results. SEO on the other hand can continue to deliver results even if efforts are stopped or slowed. The investments you made will continue to help consumers find your business online. Let’s review some popular traditional marketing strategies that can be paired with an SEO strategy.
- Pay-Per-Click (PPC)
PPC is a marketing strategy that allows you to advertise your website, but when consumers click on your website you’ll pay per click. If you’ve searched Google before, you may have noticed the first few results are sponsored. The sponsored links are examples of PPC marketing. PPC advertising delivers immediate results, but stops as soon as the budget runs out. In contrast, SEO provides lasting results, with rankings that can continue to drive traffic even without ongoing investment. - Social Media
Social media marketing is highly resource-intensive, requiring a constant stream of high-quality content like videos and graphics. It is one of the most challenging platforms to master effectively. Social media is best purposed as a means to put your brand on display and connect with customers. When it comes to attracting new business though, SEO requires less effort and delivers a greater return on investment. - Email Marketing
Email marketing requires a reliable email list, which can be difficult to build. Targeting the right audience while avoiding spam filters presents additional challenges in today’s landscape. Despite the challenges, email marketing is still proven to be highly effective. Similar to other traditional marketing approaches, email marketing can produce short-term results. Again, to drive long-term results and continue to attract new business – and build your email list – SEO is a necessary resource.
If you are interested in Small Business SEO, check out SEO Services for Small Businesses
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