SEO continues to be considered one of the most effective growth strategies for marketers. In fact, a BrightEdge report found that over 40% of business revenue is generated through this channel. That is an enormous amount of revenue to be ignoring if you do not currently have an SEO strategy.
SEO is an essential component in increasing a company’s Return On Investment from their marketing channels – whether they are a Solopreneur or a Multinational Corporation.
In today’s article, and using our approach as an SEO-specialised digital marketing agency, we will analise our five key benefits of using SEO for your online business:
1. Increased Visibility
One of the major benefits of SEO is that it increases brand awareness. Brand awareness is an indication of how many customers know, can recognise, or recall your brand. A high level of brand awareness is essential for a company to generate revenue. In fact, the state of Digital marketing found that 37% of businesses stated increased brand awareness was their priority.
SEO increases brand awareness by appearing at the top of Google search results for specific and relevant keywords or phrases. By ranking well, your brand is viewed by more people and you will begin to gain trust as the authority in your particular area.
An increase in visibility, awareness and recognition can also result in a surge of clicks to your website. People are more likely to visit a brand they know than one they are unfamiliar with.
This is because a known brand is referred to as a safe search. So, if you achieve a high level of brand recognition, then you may be perceived as a safe search and increased website traffic will naturally follow.
An additional benefit to a warmer, nurtured perception of your brand is that increases the probability of attracting quality clients.
2. Attracts Quality Clients
Quality clients are the clients that businesses dream of. They are the people that you specifically target because you believe your business can truly help them the most. In digital terms, quality clients can be defined as those that are most likely to work with you. Therefore, they are an essential part of a successful business strategy,
An effective SEO strategy helps to attract relevant and ready-to-buy users to your site. Appearing high on search engine results establishes trust and authority for your business that signals you are the expert in your chosen field.
Why does this matter?
Leads or prospects from traditional marketing channels have a 1.7% close rate. Leads coming from SEO services have a close rate of 14.6%. That’s an enormous difference. The financing and time-saving benefits of attracting quality clients cannot be understated.
SEO, as a marketing tool, is able to achieve such high conversion rates because it is specific, targeted and relevant. The concept of SEO is built upon providing people with the content that they are looking for. If you are able to do this, your clients will be more likely to work with you.
It is essential that your investment in SEO is complemented with other lead-nurturing and educational content across your marketing funnels. If you have a high-performing SEO strategy, but your website is difficult to use, then you may suffer from a limited return.
3. SEO gives you a competitive edge
Want to outrank your toughest competitors? It can feel like an insurmountable task, but it is necessary to increase your share of the market in order to keep a constant stream of clients.
This is because the top five ranked companies on each specific Google search result gain around 75% of the website traffic. For anybody lingering on page two, the data is underwhelming. According to Ahrefs, only 0.78% of users click on results on the second page. Therefore, the first page has almost 1000% more revenue potential for business than ranking anywhere on the second page.
Another key benefit of SEO is the strategic insight that it gives into your competitors. Investigating and benchmarking your competitor’s performance – through an SEO audit or technical SEO audit– encourages you to generate differentiation for your business, which can provide a competitive advantage within your SEO campaigns and wider marketing strategy. Gaining an edge on your competitors can also provide long-lasting benefits, such as reducing your advertising spend, without losing your revenue capabilities.
4. Reduces your advertisement costs
Paying for Google Ads will help you immediately reach the top of search results – if you do it well! However, this can be very costly over time and often people bypass the adverts to click on the first organic result.
If you want proof of this, WebFix state that only 10% of website traffic is through paid search adverts. And with the major uptake in AdBlocker technology, the visibility that paid ads generate may continue to decrease. Another concern with ads is that when you stop paying for them, they immediately disappear. Inmediatly. Which feels like if you were paying Google on a retainer basis.
In contrast, an effective SEO strategy may get you to the top of Google and, most importantly, stay there. As businesses and marketers forecast a decrease in advertising budgets, Forbes has categorised SEO as a “Smart Investment In Uncertain Times.”
5. SEO is strongly linked to long-term success
It is no secret that businesses with strong SEO performance have reaped the rewards.
Perhaps the great benefit of SEO is sustainability, and not a game of quick wins. But the return on investment for SEO compounds over time. Eventually, the cost of your SEO maintenance will decrease, while your revenue will continue to grow.
The first four benefits demonstrate how SEO provides the foundation for your business in terms of marketing strategy, developing relationships with customers and ensuring your budgets are working for you.
It has been proven that SEO can help to drive long-term success for your company, which is why it is one of the most effective strategies for ROI. If the benefits of SEO were only short-term, then they would be less effective at achieving a high ROI. The combination of these highlights that SEO is a marketing medium for businesses that are looking to become digitally established and are motivated by calculated growth, not quick wins and volatility.
Please note that Google does change its algorithm over time. Therefore, if you are currently appearing at the top of search results, there is no guarantee that this will last. It is essential to monitor your performance and the latest trends in SEO to ensure your performance does not deteriorate due to updates.
Of course those are only a few examples but, one thing is clear, SEO is one of the strongest tools in Digital Marketing and can drive amazing results if executed properly.
If you want to know more on how SEO can help your business, give us a shout!
Table of Contents
