Search Engine Optimization (SEO) remains an essential, the most essential, an aspect of online marketing. While the scope of online or digital marketing has expanded and become more complex, your website or homepage is still the bedrock of your online presence.
While PPC, Social Media Marketing and other forms of promotions and advertising are helpful and effective, nothing beats good old organic ranking.
Why Organic Search Engine Optimization is Important
When looking for a product or service, a quick takeaway, a theater ticket, or a breakdown service, amongst many other things, the first place most people turn to is Google. Sure, there are other search engines and other sources of information, but the overwhelming tendency is to do a Google search. If your company is not ranking high in the Search Engine Results Page or SERPs, you will not be noticed and the business will go to your competitors. It is as simple as that.
People are not going to look further than the first few options that appear on the SERPs and if your site is not there, you are losing business. Worse still, your competition will benefit.
Organic traffic, on average, accounts for 60 percent plus of all your website traffic. Best of all, it is free. Yes, you must invest money in quality SEO, appropriate content, and web design but thereafter, there is no cost. The other elements of your online marketing strategy are all important, but they should ultimately all lead to an engagement with your website. That is your home base and your foundation. Everything else revolves around it.
Here are several reasons organic search engine optimization techniques should still be used.
Visibility
It is important that your brand establishes a powerful online presence so that you are visible and noticed. Quality organic SEO will ensure that your business page is one of the first that people see when searching in your field. Poor SEO will mean that you are one of the also-rans that few people ever get to see.
Quality SEO will keep you near the top of the SERPs and ensure you are noticed and get traffic to your website.
Get an Edge on Your Competitors
Online marketing is extremely competitive and if your competitors are doing a better job than you, they will get the visibility, traffic and ultimately, most of the business. As more people search and shop online, this becomes increasingly important. You must stay one step ahead of the competition to ensure you outrank them wherever possible.
Good Return on Investment
Quality SEO will give you traffic that you can convert to leads and sales. Organic traffic provides an excellent ROI.
Best Search Engine Optimization Techniques
SEO consists of two aspects, on-page and off-page search engine optimization techniques. Both are critical to the success of your SEO efforts.
On-Page SEO
These are best practices that must be in place on the website itself for Google and other search engines to rank it favorably. It consists of several factors, all of which are important.
- Meta description
- Hi & H2 Tags
- SEO friendly URL
- Page title
- Keyword selection and usage
- A great design incorporating images, video, and multimedia
- Quality content
- Authority links
- Website speed
- Mobile responsiveness
It is critical to create a great user experience and optimize the site for voice search. It is also important to use great graphics and video is becoming extremely important.
While all aspects are important, content, as the cliché goes, is king. Without quality content that is unique and engaging, you will have an uphill battle ranking on any search engine.
There are a few other more technical details that the web developer needs to take care of but it essential you get these basic on-page mechanics right before attempting any off-page SEO.
Off-Page SEO
All SEO efforts have done online that are not executed on your page are known as off-page SEO.
Link Building
Link building is still the single most important aspect of off-page SEO. In the past, you could get away with any old link. Google has tightened the screws and now, only links from quality, authoritative and relevant site will help you. Poor backlinks can hurt your SEO.
Harness the Power of Social Media
Social media is a powerful tool to attract and engage your target market. Use it to drive traffic to your website.
Make Content Shareable
A sure-fire way to improve your SEO is to get people to share your content. Make sure it is easy to share and worth sharing.
Directory Submissions and Business Listings
This is still relevant and important. There are numerous directories, platforms, and forums on which your site should be listed. It is necessary to ensure your details are on all of these and are correct.
At the same time, becoming active on relevant forums and positioning yourself and your website as an authority on your specialty is an excellent way to boost your SEO.
Last Thoughts
There is little doubt that organic SEO is critical to the future success of your business and it is essential that you get a quality service that will ensure you rank high in a Google search so that your customers and potential customers will see your business website.
