Is SEO important? – You’ve probably heard this question before… This vital digital marketing tool is one of the core components of a full digital marketing strategy for virtually every business.
In this post, you will learn the following:
- How to determine good SEO services?
- Why do you need to hire an SEO Specialist?
- What are the SEO Best Practices?
- Why it’s good to do SEO in Business Website?
It’s one of the main ways of getting your website in front of your potential customers. And this means more traffic, more opportunities to convert your prospects into new customers, a better reputation for your company and increased brand awareness.
So the answer is simple: YES… SEO is important, but there’s more to it. Here’s what you’ll need to know:
How to determine good SEO services?
A good SEO agency will guide you through all the main concepts of SEO and will work out a strategy for your business. Here’s what you’ll need to focus on to get the best service:
- define your goals – which areas of your online presence do you want to improve? Is your website new or does it need just a slight redesign? Do you need a completely new website or just a simple SEO campaign for an already established website? Think about all these questions and try to find the right answers. If you are not sure about your goals, you can get a digital marketing analysis done. This will tell you what your priorities should be.
- data tracking – good SEO agencies will always use some kind of data tracking for their campaigns. Tracking is one of the most important aspects of a successful SEO campaign – you can’t plan or schedule your strategy without knowing the data behind it – it’s as simple as that. It involves measuring site visits, click through rates, contact forms, phone calls, keywords, SERP rankings, backlinks, and many other factors. Good SEO is always based on precise data and numbers, not on gut instincts.
- reviews, testimonials, case studies – reviews say a lot about companies, and the same goes for SEO agencies. Try to look for unbiased reviews or testimonials online, either on their website or on 3rd party websites like Google, Glassdoor or Yelp. Also, a good idea is to use the contact form on the agency’s website. See what their response is and how they handle your request.
- schedule a consultation – see how well you connect with the agency and discuss your project. A good agency will love to talk about the importance of SEO in digital marketing, how your company can benefit from it, as well as their previous work, their strategy and how they can handle your project.
Why do you need to hire an SEO Specialist?
Most website owners know and understand the basics of SEO, but that’s not enough in the highly competitive online world. Basic SEO will simply not get you too far in terms of organic traffic, visibility and overall results.
The same goes for do-it-yourself SEO campaigns: they might work in very specific cases, but not in the long term. The competition is fierce, and without a professional, you won’t enjoy the full benefits of SEO.
So how do you know you need a professional? Here are some of the reasons:
- limited SEO knowledge or experience – let’s face it – you have to focus on your business and your specific field of work. It’s virtually impossible to master both your industry and SEO. A professional SEO agency will know how to handle your project, create a plan and implement it. You won’t have to learn and experiment with SEO.
- not enough time – SEO is not a “one and done” marketing strategy. It doesn’t work as a billboard on a busy highway. SEO is an on-going strategy that should be nurtured over time, adapted and constantly tracked. The online world is an ever-changing system, and this why SEO matters so much; it helps your website adapt in the hectic online environment;
- great website but no traffic – if you already have a website that you are proud of, it’s time to get traffic to it. You worked a lot on your website, it works great, it has all the information people look for, but there’s no traffic. It deserves to be noticed and SEO is a great way to get visitors, new leads and new customers.
What are the SEO Best Practices?
To have a successful SEO strategy, you should try to implement as many best practices for SEO as possible. Here are the best ones to focus on:
Keywords:
- have one primary keyword per page on your website
- don’t use the same primary keyword for multiple pages
- use the primary keyword in the title, the first paragraph, the meta title, and the description
- focus on a keyword density of 2 percent
- use secondary or related keywords for each page at least once
On-site content:
- don’t publish poor content; write high-quality content and publish it periodically; use good photos and videos; outsource content creation if possible
- don’t publish duplicate content
- use brief image file names
Links:
- Include links on each page
- use internal links; use the page’s target keyword as the anchor text
- fix broken links
- attract links from good websites, blogs or other high-quality online sources
Local SEO:
- create a Google business page
- add your website to directories and other online platforms
- link your website with social media profiles
- make sure your name, address, and phone are correctly written in your contact us area
Technical aspects:
- add an SSL certificate to your website
- Increase the speed of your website
- use a responsive, mobile-friendly design
- track analytics and monitor your website’s activity and performance
Why it’s good to do SEO in Business Website?
Search engine optimization is one of the best ways to increase traffic and get more clients for your business. Here’s why SEO is important for your online success:
- SEO leads convert better – a study* has shown that SEO leads result in a close rate of 14.6 percent, compared to just 1.7 percent for outbound leads
- good SEO optimization means better user experience – your visitors want to experience a mobile-friendly design, good photo and video integration and excellent written content
- ranking in local search gets better leads – local leads are the best: more than 50 percent of consumers who did a local search visited a store on the same day. Also, 20 percent of local mobile searches led to a sale within a day
- SEO makes your business more credible – the importance of SEO extends far beyond getting organic traffic. Ranking higher in the SERPs signals that you are a leader in your industry. It shows your business is trustworthy, professional and an authority in its area.
