Being on page one of Google is the dream for many businesses, particularly those with a lot of competitors. However, with so many digital companies approaching your business and talking about SEO (Search Engine Optimisation), how important actually is it?
What Is SEO?
SEO isn’t just an optional add-on extra for any kind of business these days. A presentation by NewsCred revealed that 57% of B2B search marketers say that it’s the single most important thing for lead generation that a business can possibly be involved in. Whether you’re a start-up or an established multi-national corporation, the aim is to always increase lead generation in addition to actual, tangible ROI. Your profits will thank you.
SEO ensures that when people are searching for the services that your business offers, you have organic visibility within the search engine results pages (SERP). Steve Olenski, writing for Forbes, cites CEO of a marketing firm, Joshua Guerra, on the matter, who said that: “As long as you are focusing on optimal user experience while performing methodical SEO strategies, you will be rewarded with higher positioning and organic traffic.”
When you’re searching something yourself, you’ll know that you tend to click the first few results that show up. In fact, Hubspot say that 60% of all clicks are through to the top three websites on the SERP. You don’t want to trawl through pages and pages to find what you need. And nor do your customers.
Can Positions Change?
Once you’re towards the top of the results, things can get even more competitive. As the top performers all have the same idea and are actively seeking to be the best, the top few positions can change regularly. In fact, according to Greenlight Digital, there’s evidence to suggest that positions can fluctuate in as little as 24 hours, as cited in their extensive research: http://www.greenlightdigital.com/blog/posts/how-much-do-google-rankings-fluctuate-in-a-day/.
It can be disheartening if you’re great in your industry but you’re suffering financially because you simply cannot drum up the business – which can happen on account of the top position taking 33% of all of the clicks (found by Chitika and published in Search Engine Watch). Over time, a suitable SEO strategy can be implemented to solve this issue. You can quickly be on the first page of Google with some insight, knowledge and action.
“seo-blocks” (CC BY-SA 2.0) by Paloma Gómez
How Do You Get To Position One?
Getting to position one is a complicated matter, and you’ll most likely need the assistance of an agency or a search marketer hired in house to deal solely with this task. You will need to take into account a number of on-page and off-page factors. According to Moz, the ‘SEO Bible’ in many respects, more than 8 in 10 of the top 150 search marketers believe that receiving authoritative and high-quality links back from established domains is the most important ranking factor. However, there are many other factors, such as keyword density on any given page, and plenty of behind-the-scenes stuff as well.
It can seem a world polluted with jargon to the outsider, but it’s an important one. If you don’t understand it, make sure that you get somebody on side who does. According to statistics collated by Search Decoder, 66% of the very best companies out there take SEO into account in any content creation for their site from day one. This figure will only rise, so don’t get left behind!
What To Look For In An SEO Agency
At the end of the day, results bring money. Don’t be tempted to be cheap, because you will lose out in the long run. E-commerce is the fastest growing industry, according to the Centre For Retail Research, and so many transactions are made online in our internet culture, which is rising almost 20% yearly. You don’t want to miss a huge chunk of business from new customers by being overlooked and impossible to find.
A good agency uses data, research and, most importantly, up-to-date knowledge to deliver a long-term strategy which will allow you to perform in a way which keeps Google happy and, in turn, your customers.