Why SEO Matters

Why use SEO?

As potential customers turn more and more to the web as the way they research before making a purchase or engaging with an agency or business, being able to score a coveted slot in the top 5 Google search results is only becoming more essential as a business tool. It is only through the savvy use of Search Engine Optimization (SEO) that you are going to be able to achieve that goal.

Using SEO effectively so that you will appear high up in search engine results pages (SERPS) means that you can make that connection with potential customers without paying money to appear in the ad sections on the Google result page. Scoring high on these organic search results, in other words, will save you money, so it pays to use SEO to your advantage.

In 2014, a study by Conductor found that 64% of visits to a typical site are through these organic searches, and the Define Media Group found that the vast majority of those searches (93%!) are made through Google, so knowing how to play the SEO game effectively will make a huge difference in driving traffic to your site.

Using SEO: The Game Plan

Making SEO an integral part of your marketing plan is not rocket science, but it may well require making changes in the way you present yourself on the Web. Start with a website design that is responsive to the Google search engine. Your homepage doesn’t have to be keyword-heavy to be an effective SEO tool, but it should have a clear focus on your brand name and services or products being offered. While images are effective to keep visitors once they are there, you need some text as well to help it show up in searches.

Make sure that you offer good-quality content on your site, and not just keyword-loaded text. There’s a fine balancing act between not enough and too much SEO keyword use- and either one will result in a lower than desired page ranking! Articles, blog posts, and videos will all help attract and keep visitors to your site.
Realize that people are now surfing the Web on a whole variety of devices, from a full-size desktop computer to a small hand-held smart phone. Your website has to be accessible on all of those equally well to perform well in page rankings. Google expects you to use responsive design, and so your page ranking will reflect this as well.

SEO is simply a reality of conducting business on the Internet, and by evaluating where your existing website can improve, or designing a new site so that it will be able to compete effectively, you can move up the page rankings and attract the users that are out there looking for you!