Common objections to SEO – and why it still matters
It can be difficult for some businesses to see the value in SEO. The problem is that many B2B companies have a long sales cycle. It can take months, sometimes years, for a single lead to convert into a sale. So how does SEO fit into the picture?
To answer that, we’ve put together some common objections to SEO – and outlined why it can be such a valuable investment:
“Our target market already knows who we are.”
Yes, but they’ll still need to find your website. Think about the last time you wanted to visit a website and didn’t know its URL. Chances are you went straight to Google. There’s a reason why 93% of online experiences begin with a search engine: they’re designed to save you time by delivering the most relevant results.
But SEO isn’t just about discoverability; it’s about establishing credibility too. If you already appear at the top of page one for searches related to your brand name, that’s great. But what about the other results on page one? How do they communicate your brand? Are they trustworthy sources? Do they align with your messaging?
SEO can help by keeping your page one snapshot in good check. It’s likely that your website and social media profiles will appear prominently when users search for your brand name. But if your wider media activity has resulted in quality coverage, then these websites could appear on page one too. Ultimately, it’s in the hands of the algorithms to decide what makes the top spots, but a range of quality search results will reinforce your company’s credibility in the eyes of your customers.
“In our industry, decision making is a lengthy process and includes numerous stakeholders. How is SEO relevant?”
When multiple stakeholders are involved, marketing can play a crucial role. The key is to get to grips with the stages of the buying process for your particular industry. Then you can understand exactly what information buyers will require at each point in the cycle, and tailor your content accordingly.
During the initial awareness phase, prospects might not search for your products or services directly. Try to get in front of them by understanding what specific problems they’re trying to solve and how they’re likely to discover – and shortlist – possible vendors. These findings will inform your keywords list and wider content strategy. For example, if you provide smart metering technology, prospects might initially search for ‘energy saving measures’ or ‘ways to reduce energy consumption’. These are unlikely to be your most important keywords, but they could be good to target in supplementary content, such as on your company blog.
Each stakeholder will have different needs and priorities. The difficulty comes in demonstrating that your solution satisfies as many of these needs as possible. Be clear about the specific benefits of your product/s and what makes them different – this will help encourage conversions during the vendor selection stage.
“We’re already ranking in Google.”
Yes, but for which keywords? Are they aligned with your objectives, do they drive conversions, and how do they position your business?
Just because you’re ranking well today doesn’t mean that you will be in three months’ time. Algorithms change and competitors might be silently working on their own SEO strategy. For long-term success, it’s best not to get complacent. Do the groundwork: you’ll see much better results if you think about keywords strategically – taking into consideration your market, your competitors, and your target audience.
Once you’ve finalised, then implemented your keywords, track their performance and make changes. If you don’t measure what’s happening, you can’t improve. To stay ahead of the curve, evaluate your strategy regularly and make adjustments – your competitors might not be too far behind.
Originally published on: www.aspectuspr.com