Why is SEO important?

Harry Swayne

SEO, otherwise known as Search Engine Optimisation, is the way search engines find and rank websites that are relevant to the entered search query. These results are then displayed to the searcher through the SERP’s.

SEO works via search engines looking for the specific keywords that relate to the search terms. They then rank the results based on which page has the most relevant keywords.

How does it work?

Keywords are what connects a website page to the search engines, if you don’t have the right keywords, it will be difficult to drive traffic to your page.

To easily define SEO, you can separate the term into three parts:

Organic Search Results
Quality of Organic Traffic
Quantity of Organic Traffic

Organic Search Results:

These are the listed searches that are unpaid. Businesses can pay to place advertisements higher on the SERP, although these cannot be ranked amongst the algorithm of a Search Engine.

Organic Search Results are placed higher if they score well in the algorithm, optimising your pages to match what the algorithm wants will consistently make you rank higher on the SERP’s.

Quality of Organic Traffic:

This is how well the content on your website matches with what has been entered into the search bar. This is important as if your content does not match the key search terms, you may attract the wrong audience.

Quantity of Organic Traffic refers to the number of users that, through the organic search results, have ended up on your website. It is common knowledge that when people use a search engine, they click on one of the top results. Having a high-quality SEO strategy to rank higher on the relevant SERP’s will, over time, boost your rate of quality conversions.

Wait, what’s SERP?

SERP is the abbreviated name for Search Engine Results Page. It’s the way a search engine, like Google, will display the results that were found. SERP’s can be broken into organic results and paid results.
When a business pays for optimisation, their pages are automatically placed at the top of the results page, while the organic results are determined via the SEO.

It’s all in the data!

If you’re wondering whether ranking highly on the results page is necessary, there’s data that firmly suggests that it is!

The top 3 organic search results accumulate a whopping 75.1% of the total clicks. However, this data can be skewed via paid results jumping to the top of the page. The page snippet (the small amount of text under the main headline) can also skew the data. This is because these can sometimes display the answer to the searched query. As a result, searchers don’t need to click through to the website.

How long will I have to wait for SEO to rank my website?

This is a good question, and the answer is that it can vary.

We should point out that every website is different, so there is a strong likelihood that the time needed to rank will vary from website to website. Keep in mind that SEO is intended for long-term success.

At the beginning of managing SEO, it could be anywhere from four months to a year to start seeing any major developments and/or benefits for your website. We weren’t kidding about it being a long-term project! However, if you have a good domain name or use more commonly searched terms it may help you to see results sooner.

But why does it take so long?

There are a few factors as to why SEO takes time to deliver. One of these is that the search engine will have to re-rank and re-assess your website considering all the new variables and keywords you have put into it.
You would also need to make sure that you are consistently producing high-quality content that users would want to engage with. Using social media can be beneficial, if your website is getting attention on one the main networks, the search engine would favourably look at it.

So why should we use SEO?

Well, there are quite a few reasons why it is necessary to incorporate SEO into your digital marketing strategy.

It improves visibility and drives traffic – This is one of the most well-known benefits of SEO because this the main intention of optimising results. Skilful use of relevant keywords will help push your website onto the first page of search results.
Boost brand awareness – If you utilise SEO well and regularly appear on the first page of results. Searchers are bound to get more familiar with both your business and your website.
Credibility and legitimacy – Remember earlier when we mentioned that approximately 75% of clicks came from the top three search engine results? Well, did you also know that less than 1% of searchers click a result on the second results page?This is because searchers are more likely to find a higher search result as a more trustworthy source. It would also have a most legitimate answer to your query. So, if your website is sitting at the top of the SERP – you will be perceived as a more credible source than those on page 2.
Cost – Yes, SEO will benefit you monetarily! In comparison to some marketing strategies, SEO is certainly cheaper!
Paying for the top search result may work in the short term, but it will not necessarily provide consistent lead conversions. The same with pay-per-click advertising, great in the short term. But you are paying for each click and if you’re a popular business your bill may keep getting extended. SEO may be slow, but in the long term, you will see the benefits of learning how to improve SEO over time.

So, SEO is good for businesses?

Yes! We encourage each business with a website/online page to utilise SEO. There are so many benefits to being at the top of the SERP’s – and SEO is your best way of staying on page one!

Thanks for reading and we hope we’ve inspired you to look into improving your page’s SEO.

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