Why SEO Is Important to Future-proof and Boost Your Business Growth

The inevitable wave of digitalization has urged all businesses to find a more sustainable method to grow. Implementing effective digital marketing strategies to build a strong online profile is one sure way.

Among various digital marketing disciplines, SEO is undoubtedly a wise investment for any forward-looking business.
This article will help you understand why SEO is important for your business and what needs to be done to tap into the unlimited potential of this powerful tool.

Why SEO Is Important: Get the Basics Straight

Though SEO first emerged in the 1990s and has gone through all ups and downs, there are still many misconceptions about its definition, mechanism and benefits. Let’s clear away all misunderstandings before jumping on board.

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What is SEO 

For starters, SEO or Search Engine Optimization is a strategy in digital marketing to naturally improve a brand’s visibility on SERPs (Search Engine Results Pages). Done well and your site’s organic traffic will receive a boost.

Take one closer look, search engine optimization is a long-term strategy with various elements to care for and multiple steps to be taken consistently and structurally.

Though SEO is about “search engine” in general, most marketers mean “Google Search” when talking about this topic. It is because most users choose Google Search, with more than 70% for desktop search and over 90% for mobile search.

What SEO is NOT

First, SEO is not a short-term investment. It means any promise of results overnight is a bluff.
Think of search engine optimization as a tree (or if you prefer, a “money tree”). You water it every day and do other nurturing tasks once in a while with the expectation of reaping great rewards in the end. If you neglect it for some time, everything is back to square one.

Even when changing your digital marketing strategies in pandemic or other crises, SEO should not be in the cut-down list because it will cost much more when you decide to restart it.

Second, SEO is not fixed. In other words, there’s nothing like “doing SEO once and for all”.

In billions of Google searches on any day, 15% are new searches. It means your potential customers don’t always use keywords that are known.

Without frequently updated keywords, your business will not be able to optimize content to attract the increasingly demanding customers. That’s why keyword research is important in a long-term, effective SEO strategy.
And that’s just one example to show that SEO is always changing, so are search engines and the customers.

Third, SEO is not the magic bullet. It means solely search engine optimization can’t make your digital marketing great.
Your branding will be optimally improved with the right combination. For example, many companies choose to implement both SEO and PPC – paid ads including Google Ads and Facebook Ads to appear on the top of SERPs in a limited time.
Finally, don’t listen to baseless rumors roaming on the Internet. Have an SEO reality check to stay away from other common myths.

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Why SEO Is Important: Benefits for Your Business

While search engine optimization provides a lot of advantages, the answer to why SEO matters is mainly about 4 key benefits:

Boost organic (and quality) traffic

Just as with any other types of goods, we prefer anything with the prefix “organic”. In the case of organic traffic, it signifies higher quality leads.

Without frequently updated keywords, your business will not be able to optimize content to attract the increasingly demanding customers. That’s why keyword research is important in a long-term, effective SEO strategy.

And that’s just one example to show that SEO is always changing, so are search engines and the customers.

Third, SEO is not the magic bullet. It means solely search engine optimization can’t make your digital marketing great.
Your branding will be optimally improved with the right combination. For example, many companies choose to implement both SEO and PPC – paid ads including Google Ads and Facebook Ads to appear on the top of SERPs in a limited time.
Finally, don’t listen to baseless rumors roaming on the Internet. Have an SEO reality check to stay away from other common myths.

While search engine optimization provides a lot of advantages, the answer to why SEO matters is mainly about 4 key benefits:

Just as with any other types of goods, we prefer anything with the prefix “organic”. In the case of organic traffic, it signifies higher quality leads.According to Search Engine Journal, “over 25% of people click the first Google (organic) search result”.

Even if your site can’t appear on the top of the first search result page, it’s still much better than being pushed to the second page or more. Do you know that second pages have less than 1% click-through rate (CTR) for each position?

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Improve credibility / branding

Sites organically ranked top on SERPs create a sense of trustworthiness. But not all first page results earn clicks.
Google has improved user experience with “featured snippets” – short paragraphs presented right on SERPs so that users can read the answers without clicking on any link. Though this does create more zero-click searches, it also increases users’ trust in the site that provides those short answers. So as long as you appear on the first page, your brand awareness will enjoy a small boost.

Also, effective link building will help push up your rankings. Important backlinks from reputable sites will definitely increase your page authority (PA).

Enhance user experience

This is a major ranking factor of Google. Specifically, sites with relevant, useful information will earn higher rankings on SERPs.
It means you can’t be lax with your web design. It’d better be responsive, user-friendly and intuitive if you want to turn your hard-earned leads into frequent visitors.

Sites organically ranked top on SERPs create a sense of trustworthiness. But not all first page results earn clicks.

Google has improved user experience with “featured snippets” – short paragraphs presented right on SERPs so that users can read the answers without clicking on any link. Though this does create more zero-click searches, it also increases users’ trust in the site that provides those short answers. So as long as you appear on the first page, your brand awareness will enjoy a small boost.Also, effective link building will help push up your rankings. Important backlinks from reputable sites will definitely increase your page authority (PA).

This is a major ranking factor of Google. Specifically, sites with relevant, useful information will earn higher rankings on SERPs.
It means you can’t be lax with your web design. It’d better be responsive, user-friendly and intuitive if you want to turn your hard-earned leads into frequent visitors.

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Cost-effective

Of course it takes time and effort in exchange, but in general, SEO is one of the most affordable among all digital campaigns. Be patient, thorough and consistent in your search engine optimization practices, and your great results will blossom. Even better news is that your competitors can’t copy this overnight.

Why SEO Is Important: The Mechanism of Search Engines

It’s essential to learn about how search engines rank pages to match your search engine optimization techniques. As mentioned, SEO today is mostly about Google SERPs, so that’s what we will focus on.

Of course it takes time and effort in exchange, but in general, SEO is one of the most affordable among all digital campaigns. Be patient, thorough and consistent in your search engine optimization practices, and your great results will blossom. Even better news is that your competitors can’t copy this overnight.

It’s essential to learn about how search engines rank pages to match your search engine optimization techniques. As mentioned,

SEO today is mostly about Google SERPs, so that’s what we will focus on.

Basically, Google Search will find out new or updated pages (this is called “crawling”), evaluate them (“indexing”) and present the rankings on SERPs.

The whole process is carried out automatically and free of charge. You don’t need to submit any form for Google Search to find you.

There are 2 things that call for your attention:

There are more than 200 Google ranking factors, including what is on your page and beyond. They also count what you do outside of the page in order to promote it – off page SEO, an important but usually ignored part of a comprehensive plan.
Google’s search algorithms are updated frequently to optimize user experience. It means obsolete content will not fare well after some time, and sites that use black hat techniques to boost rankings will have to pay a high price sooner than they thought.

So, the big question is: Which ranking factors should your business focus on?
Each search engine optimization expert will present you with their own priority list, and it’s hard to say which is better without the specific context.
A trusted digital marketing agency will analyze your business’ situation, the past, current and future business strategy and digital marketing strategy before consulting you on the best solution. To reap the highest ROI, most of the time you need a comprehensive solution, not a stand-alone one or a quick fix.

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Why SEO Is Important: The Long-term Process

When you are ready to build your search engine optimization strategy, think far. Don’t settle for a temporary traffic boost. And make sure your plan includes these 4 key steps:

Technical setup

Search engines currently read texts and links on your site to return search results. Therefore your stunning yet text-less page in their “eyes” is just… blank, which inadvertently hurts your rankings.
To optimize your communication with search engines, pay more attention to your site navigation, links (avoid any broken or dead links), URL structure (the shorter the better), page speed, sitemap, etc.

When you are ready to build your search engine optimization strategy, think far. Don’t settle for a temporary traffic boost. And make sure your plan includes these 4 key steps:

But it doesn’t mean a text-only site is the best. Search engines will be upgraded to read images and videos. And even if that day is not going to be around the corner, visitors are certainly unhappy with a dull-looking site.

Remember, the main reason why SEO is important is because it helps drive more organic traffic to your site, but the final result – conversions – is what matters most.

Content creation

This step is more than just writing compelling content. It also includes keyword research and on page SEO.

All of these must be done regularly and consistently to reflect the changing search intent and keywords. Repurposing or updating your old content is also a way to boost SEO with less effort.

Also, your goal here is not only to provide great digital content but also to optimize each and every piece of content, regardless of their formats. It means all of your articles, infographics, images and videos.

Links

Try to avoid creating a piece of content without any link. Whether it’s an internal or external link, it provides more value to your site and the readers.

Many internal links are signals of a content-rich website with a history. So visitors are more likely to stay on your site and explore other relevant content.

Remember, the main reason why SEO is important is because it helps drive more organic traffic to your site, but the final result – conversions – is what matters most.

This step is more than just writing compelling content. It also includes keyword research and on page SEO.
All of these must be done regularly and consistently to reflect the changing search intent and keywords. Repurposing or updating your old content is also a way to boost SEO with less effort.

Also, your goal here is not only to provide great digital content but also to optimize each and every piece of content, regardless of their formats. It means all of your articles, infographics, images and videos. Try to avoid creating a piece of content without any link. Whether it’s an internal or external link, it provides more value to your site and the readers.Many internal links are signals of a content-rich website with a history. So visitors are more likely to stay on your site and explore 

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Measure results

There are many SEO metrics, that’s why your business needs to select wisely based on your priorities and business strategy at that time.

The most commonly used metrics are quantity & quality of backlinks, referral traffic, organic traffic growth, conversions from organic traffic, landing page performance, time on-site, bounce rate, and number of indexed pages.

All in all, every step in your SEO strategy must be customer-centric and the ultimate goal should be to provide the most relevant, helpful information to visitors. Because everyone likes new stuff (even search engines update themselves once in a while), don’t forget to update your plan regularly to provide an always fresh experience.

On the other hand, outbound links mean multi-faceted, objective content with proper research. And inbound links or backlinks are “votes of confidence” from relevant sites. Backlinks are the most wanted here, but also the hardest to earn. It takes time and a lot of effort to prove yourself credible as a source of information, especially in the eyes of reputable sites. There are many SEO metrics, that’s why your business needs to select wisely based on your priorities and business strategy at that time.

The most commonly used metrics are quantity & quality of backlinks, referral traffic, organic traffic growth, conversions from organic traffic, landing page performance, time on-site, bounce rate, and number of indexed pages.

All in all, every step in your SEO strategy must be customer-centric and the ultimate goal should be to provide the most relevant, helpful information to visitors. Because everyone likes new stuff (even search engines update themselves once in a while), don’t forget to update your plan regularly to provide an always fresh experience.

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Why SEO Is Important: A Look Ahead

Among many predictions about the future (and even the downfall) of search engine optimization, there are 4 key trends to take into consideration:

Mobile optimization

Google’s mobile-first indexing means Google now predominantly uses the mobile version of pages for rankings.
After giving this a vote, Forbes also claims that voice searches will increase in the future, and this is a commonly used feature on mobile devices.

Local SEO

“Go global” has ceased to be the go-to choice for all businesses, especially for SMEs and startups.

Among many predictions about the future (and even the downfall) of search engine optimization, there are 4 key trends to take into consideration:

Google’s mobile-first indexing means Google now predominantly uses the mobile version of pages for rankings.
After giving this a vote, Forbes also claims that voice searches will increase in the future, and this is a commonly used feature on mobile devices. “Go global” has ceased to be the go-to choice for all businesses, especially for SMEs and startups.

SEO for an SME is better to be local than global, because nearly half of Google searches are about local information and “97% of people learn more about a local small business online than anywhere else”.

That’s why local SEO is important to smaller and local businesses and your business needs to tackle search engine optimization a bit differently.

Evergreen content

It means your content’s value is here to stay and its information is still relevant after some time. To do this, instead of news articles or similar types of content, focus on creating ultimate guides or content that you can update periodically with minimal effort.

Semantic search

Search engines used to search lexically, which means returning results based on the exact words inputted. But they have since evolved to understand the search intent of users, leading to the birth of semantic search.

That’s why your business needs to research about search intent and optimize your content around this to boost SEO effectiveness.

Let’s pause for a second and try to answer this question before moving on: What is one thing that these 4 trends have in common?

That’s why local SEO is important to smaller and local businesses and your business needs to tackle search engine optimization a bit differently.

It means your content’s value is here to stay and its information is still relevant after some time. To do this, instead of news articles or similar types of content, focus on creating ultimate guides or content that you can update periodically with minimal effort. Search engines used to search lexically, which means returning results based on the exact words inputted. But they have since evolved to understand the search intent of users, leading to the birth of semantic search.

That’s why your business needs to research about search intent and optimize your content around this to boost SEO effectiveness. Let’s pause for a second and try to answer this question before moving on: What is one thing that these 4 trends have in common?

Read more: Why local SEO is important for businesses with a physical location?

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Conclusion

Search engine optimization is not new to any digital marketers today, and it has become a must-have tool to any online business who wants to expand their influence. The accelerating shift to digital intensifies the online competition.

Compared to other digital marketing strategies, SEO is much more affordable to implement, but it is far from effortless. Instead, an effective search engine optimization strategy and implementation require expertise and experience in many other related digital marketing disciplines. Trying to do everything in-house when you’re lacking critical skill sets will do more harm than help.

On Digitals is here to free you from all technical stuff and let you focus on other equally important business aspects. Contact us today to receive free consultancy on how to tap into the power of SEO for the long-term success of your business.