However, when budgets are tight, it’s normally the marketing budget that’s the first to be on the chopping block. Unfortunately, more often than not, when finances get tough, many will turn to SEO for the necessary loss – but this is the biggest mistake they could make!
So, why is a strong SEO strategy so crucial to your business? We’re here to show you a few of the many reasons why it should be included in your marketing mix.
Since the world ground to a halt due to the COVID-19 pandemic, millions were placed into lockdowns across the globe. As a result, millions of people go online as a source of entertainment and more, increasing total internet hits by between 50% – 70%.
As we adapt to the ‘new normal’, we are seeing a trend of consumers relying on the internet to conduct activities that we used to normally do in person. These activities range from going to the movies (e.g. streaming services such as Disney+ premium access) to shopping for groceries. It’s crucial that businesses adapt to consumer trends and shift to an online space.
One of the most important functions of SEO is increasing visibility, which means making it easier for prospective customers to find you when they search for something you have to offer. The higher you rank on a search engine result page (SERP), the more likely prospects are to see you and click through to your site.
Increasing web traffic is one of the main goals of SEO, and this is increased when you increase your visibility and rankings. The higher you are ranked, the more traffic you will receive, “nearly 33% of clicks go to the first ranking page, and the first five listings get over 75% of all clicks.” (Digital Marketing Institute, 2018).
Trustworthiness is at the heart of SEO. When a consumer performs a search, they expect that the result of their search will be correct and reliable. That is why Google introduced its E-A-T guidelines which ensures that content has Expertise, Authoritativeness and Trustworthiness.
“Consumers want brands they can rely on, and research has shown that trust is a major factor for customers buying from brands”. When you rank high in search results, it shows consumers that you are a trustworthy source of information.
One of the best benefits of SEO is that it may not need to cost you anything at all! SEO is not like other forms of marketing which require you to pay for advertising space, clicks, or to get your brand in front of your customers. SEO can be absolutely free – it just requires skill, effort and time (quite a bit of time).
Although there are opportunities to include paid search components into your marketing strategy to help boost your visibility, these are not crucial to a successful SEO campaign. SEO does work extremely well for those with tight budgets – it just needs to be executed properly. “That’s what is so great about SEO: Results don’t come from more money put into it but from all the simple efforts that add up to your success”.
If you want to speak to us about how your business can benefit from SEO, get in touch today >>
