I don’t just say this to myself, but to anyone who’s willing to listen: SEO – Search Engine Optimization – is not boring. Seriously, it’s not. I like to joke about it, but it’s actually one of the most exciting things out there. And to show you why SEO is so exciting and relevant, I’ll walk you through its most important benefits.
WTF is SEO?
Let’s start from the beginning, so that everyone knows what SEO is all about. Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is a small step in search engine marketing—but a big leap for your online visibility. SEO ensures that your business ranks highly on search engines, making it easier to reach potential customers. But it’s not just about gaining customers; it also boosts the visibility of your company, brand, product, or service.
The goal of search engine optimization is to make sure your website is not only technically sound but also highly appealing and user-friendly for visitors.
Seek and you shall find
Put yourself in the shoes of someone searching. Google your product or company. Are there competitors ranking ahead of you in the search results? If so, it’s time to take action to ensure you get found. Unlike traditional methods of customer acquisition, online marketing has a major advantage: you’re not searching for customers; customers are finding you.
The question many people are now asking is:
How do I get found?
And how can I attract new customers?
Sound exciting so far? You bet it is!
Here are the five most attractive and compelling reasons why your business should invest in SEO:
- Expand Your Visibility to the Universe
Reaching the universe might be a stretch, but with the right SEO strategies, you’ll be pretty close. The right content, paired with industry-specific keywords, relevant posts, and regular updates, is crucial for visibility. On average, there are about 65,000 searches per second on Google—just here on Earth! And this number is expected to increase dramatically as the world becomes more mobile and digital every day.
2. Watch Out, the Internet is Growing
We all know the feeling: you’re out and about, you get hungry, and—bam—you Google where the nearest restaurant is. Which one will show up on top? Exactly: the restaurant that uses SEO.
Internet traffic is continually increasing, along with the use of search engines. SEO has already become incredibly important, but its significance is set to rise exponentially.
To ensure you don’t get lost in the crowd, keywords play a crucial role—they ensure your visibility. What matters is which keywords you use and how frequently they appear in your content. Keywords are excellent indicators of search intent, helping you achieve not only a better ranking but also more credibility compared to other results below you.
3. Get to Know Your Customers Better
You don’t get to know your customers through Tinder—you get to know them through data. Statistics don’t just help you optimize your website; they also provide insights for improving your products or services.
By implementing tools like Google Analytics, you gain valuable information about your customers. Details like location, age, and gender are crucial.
These statistics can answer important questions like:
- How do customers find your website?
- Which pages interest them the most?
- How do they behave on your site?
4. Create a Unique User Experience
Create a user experience so engaging that even Bob the Builder would be amazed at how well-structured your website is. SEO now recognizes whether your site offers a great user experience. Yes, we can build it!
One key aspect is structuring your content to directly answer search queries. If you use a key keyword frequently in your content, Google will take notice. And once Google notices you, not only will you rank higher, but you might even earn “Featured Snippets.” These snippets often appear at the top of search results, even before the listed results. By continuously updating your content, you stay current, which helps maintain and improve your SEO ranking.
5. SEO Is Measurable
That’s right, SEO is measurable—not with a tape measure, but with data and statistics. This is where an SEO professional like me comes in. I ensure that the strategies we develop are tracked, analyzed, and evaluated. But it’s also up to you to understand the value of increased traffic and the resulting sales.
With tools like Google AdWords, you can see how many people are actually clicking on your website.
By tracking ad clicks, you can measure key metrics like:
- What does a click cost?
- How many AdWords clicks occurred during period X?
- How many AdWords clicks during period X led to a purchase?
So, for anyone who still claims that SEO is boring and overrated, I hope it’s now clear what it’s really about and the true advantages that can be gained through search engine optimization. SEO is a continuous cycle, all about staying at the top of the search engine rankings—and it will keep you there in the long run.