What is search engine optimisation?

Search engine optimization (SEO) is a process that focuses on increasing your website’s visibility on search engine results pages. The benefits of SEO evolve around organic searches that help to boost your brand awareness and conversion rates. Organic search is the way that most users will find their way to your website. 

A winning SEO strategy will rank your website higher on the search engine. How often do you go beyond the first page of results on Google? You’re not alone. 3 out of 4 users don’t scroll to the second page of search results. The goal is to get your website onto the first page for your specific keywords to help sell your product or service.

 Search engines, including Google, have their own algorithms that crawl the internet to find the most valuable and relevant website pages. The content on your website’s page, along with its other assets, such as external links, are read by the crawlers. This information is fed into the database index that then produces organic search results.  

Different factors are considered during SEO work. These factors include on-page, off-page, and technical SEO strategies.

Why is SEO important for your digital strategy?

Almost 70% of user experiences start at a search engine – primarily Google. The platform holds almost a 92% market share across all search engines. Organic search results are determined by the search engine’s algorithm. Unlike ads – that appear at the very top of the page – you’re unavailable to pay for this position. 

Organic search makes up the largest type of traffic most websites experience. While it’s easy to get caught up in your social media presence, organic search still reigns supreme. An SEO strategy is essential as they help to drive traffic to your website while establishing your brand as an industry leader. 

SEO goes hand in hand with the user experience. It creates a funnel to convert users to customers and forms a buying cycle. A positive user experience is essential for SEO. The organic search algorithm is more likely to promote your website when your website is easy to navigate and loads quickly.

How does SEO help your business grow?

Whoever your tragic audiences are, SEO strategy is here to help you grow. 61% of B2B businesses say organic traffic and SEO generates the most leads out of any marketing strategy. 

If you’re selling directly to customers, the stats are even more favourable. 63% of transactions start online, even when the customer eventually makes their purchase in-store. With 66% of users carrying out online research before they make a purchase, you want to leverage SEO to get your product right in front of the customers looking for it.  

That’s because there are 3.5 billion+ searches made on Google every day – that’s over 40,000 searches a second! 

Your SEO strategy builds your business’ engagement and conversion rates. The higher up your website is in the search engine results, the more organic traffic you get. In turn, this boosts your engagement rate by leading customers to your social media pages, contact forms, and product listings.   

Companies spend more than $79 billion on SEO strategy because of its high ROI. It’s cost-effective, leads to long-term growth, and continues to build your brand awareness.

Local SEO to attract potential customers

Following an SEO strategy isn’t just for e-commerce business. Most SMEs see increased engagement and conversion rates across the board by using local SEO. This strategy focuses on optimising your content to a geographic demographic.

It’s about tailoring your backlinks and content to focus on your business’ location. Customer reviews also feed into local searches, becoming a vital part of your content strategy as 79% of consumers trust online reviews. Skipping on your SEO strategy means you’re missing one of the best opportunities for business growth.  

Still not convinced about the benefits of SEO for local searches? Developing your local SEO strategy can get more customers in the door.  

·        Almost one-third of customers use the internet to find local businesses.

·        76% of users who search for a local business visit it within 24 hours. That’s not all.

·        30% of those local searches lead to the customers purchasing within the same time frame. 

You nail your local SEO by working with a marketing agency like Bark Street Digital. We’ll utilise the tools that will help your website rank for local searches to grow both your brand awareness and footfall.

Benefits of SEO for long-term growth

One of the benefits of SEO is that it’s cost effective. Running cost-per-click ads can get expensive very quickly. These ads often deliver short-term results and offer a lower long-term ROI. Paid banners ads on websites also perform poorly compared to SEO. 86% of people choose to ignore these ads and instead select organic search results. 

By comparison, SEO work ties into your long-term strategy and is easier to budget for. Working with a marketing firm like Bark Street Digital means you know exactly how much you’re paying each month. 

A high-quality SEO strategy will promote brand awareness and lead to long-term growth. It’s an investment that keeps giving back to you over time. While social media platforms come and go, SEO is here to stay.

How can Bark Street Digital assist?

Bark Street Digital work with businesses of all shapes and sizes, over a range of sectors, helping to improve their online visibility through search engines as well as social media and email marketing.

 If you are still wondering, how does SEO help your business grow?, get in touch to discuss our services further.

Are you interested in SEO and content marketing to scale your business? Contact us today for a free no-obligation consultation. You can call us on 01204 263028 or by completing our Contact Us form below.