Why Is SEO So Important In Digital Marketing

Have you ever wondered why SEO is Important to your digital marketing strategy? Online presence is a crucial aspect of businesses today. So continually improving and updating that presence is imperative for companies to stay afloat in today’s highly competitive market.

That is why SEO is one of the most widely-used digital marketing strategies. Research shows that consumers place more trust in brands they can easily find on the web. In fact, 72% of consumers who searched find local businesses online ended up visiting the stores.

So having a professional website or official accounts across major social media platforms can help you establish a brand reputation and even result in more foot traffic. Businesses launch countless products and services online every single day.

But with all of the digital noise and streams of information out there, how can you make sure your brand truly stands out? That is where SEO comes into play. Interestingly, 61% percent of marketers cited that applying SEO and enhancing their organic presence is their primary inbound marketing strategy.

Graphic via HubSpot

But what exactly is SEO? How can you incorporate it into your digital marketing strategy, and how will it benefit your business?

Related Post: 7 Powerful SEO Best Practices That Will Boost Your Google Ranking

The Role of SEO in Digital Marketing

By definition, search engine optimization (SEO) is a type of digital marketing strategy with a focus on enhancing the searchability of a website. Marketers use this method to increase brand awareness and make their webpages rank higher on Google and other major search engine platforms.

By optimizing your website and content, you make it easier for potential customers to find your site and check out more information about your product or services. That is why businesses prioritize ranking on the first page of search engines with the help of SEO.

When online users enter your business name in search and don’t have to scroll through multiple pages to get the information they want, it increases your chances of converting them into leads and buying customers. Put simply, getting more eyes on your site gives your business a better chance of generating more leads and conversions.

SEO exists in the same vicinity as content marketing. Though SEO is more focused on the technical side of digital marketing, such as:

• Keywords research
• Site accessibility
• URLs
• Web design and structure, etc.

So marketers would do well to combine these digital advertising strategies to yield better results. First, to fully understand and make the most out of this tactic, brands should know more about the three methods of SEO and which type is best suited for their marketing strategy.

1: On-page Optimization

This method of optimizing your site focuses on the content and website in general. It includes all of the details that the audience is looking for on your page. Meta tags and target keywords are among the elements that should be optimized to increase searchability and generate more traffic.

2: Off-page Optimization

The main objective of this method is enhancing your site’s domain authority through link building, guest blogging, and site promotions, among many others. This process helps establish the credibility of your business’s website and brand reputation.

3: Technical SEO

This category includes all of the elements that will improve your website structure, such as

• Site speed
• Mobile responsiveness
• Website security
• Crawl ability.

Related Reading: What Is Crawl Budget? How to Optimize It to Improve Google Rankings

The Importance of SEO

Applying SEO to your marketing strategy provides plenty of opportunities for your business to increase awareness through organic search. Hence, let’s delve into some perks of SEO in digital marketing.

Increase Brand Awareness and Reputation

Consumers are getting harder to please, and most of them don’t trust a brand that they can’t find on the internet. In addition, discerning customers will think that what you’re offering is not credible if they find your business at the bottom of the search results.

Therefore, incorporating SEO techniques into your digital marketing strategy is a way to prevent that. It will help you more effectively promote your products and services through organic reach.

Expanded Reach

When you implement effective SEO strategies, you enable your site to reach more people that are beyond your target audience. It, in turn, will broaden your network and open up more business opportunities.

Increased Searchability

Search engine optimization helps your site rank higher on search engine results pages (SERPs). With over 50% of website traffic coming from organic searches, it becomes even more crucial for businesses to apply SEO techniques.

These strategies for SEO will help you keep up with the competitive market, and will also assist you to stand out. By adding relevant keywords to your site’s content, you will see an increase in website visitors.

More Leads and Returns

If online users can easily find your product or services, it can help you generate more leads. And as a result, increase your conversion rates.

Related Post: 6 Easy Conversion Optimization Strategies That’ll Improve Your Conversion Rates

Better User Experience

SEO helps enhance website speed and mobile responsiveness, which are two of the most important factors to consider when launching and maintaining a site. If you want potential customers to browse through your site long enough to influence their spending habits or buyer behavior, using updated SEO strategies is the way to go.

Factors to Take Into Account When Applying SEO

SEO is not just about investing and hoping that your strategy will move in the right direction. Incorporating SEO into your content strategy also requires careful planning and execution. Please, consider the following factors:

Knowing the Technicalities of SEO

As a marketer or business owner, you should place importance on the technical aspects of SEO. These undertakings will enable you to understand how to strategize your content marketing efforts. This process includes knowing how to choose and optimize:

• Website names
• Meta tags
• URLs
• Inbound and outbound links.

Another thing to remember is to keep track of the latest search engine algorithm updates, so your site stays on top of the search engine results pages.

Keyword Research

It is essential to gain insights into your target audience’s online activities and what they usually type in search engines. Keyword research will help you know how to place your keywords strategically to improve Google search visibility.

For example, an SEO-optimized blog post should have the right keyword density and relevant keywords.

Related Post: How to Find the Right Keywords That Will Improve Search Ranking

Web Design and Accessibility

Making your site easy to navigate saves visitors the inconvenience of browsing through endless pages to acquire information about your product or services. It is also smart to make your site mobile-responsive to help capture the interest of the majority of online users who use their smartphones regularly.

Local SEO

Think with Google revealed that four in five consumers use search engines to search for local information. Thus, to attract more customers, integrating a local SEO strategy like a Google My Business listing is an excellent way to start.

Measuring the Results of Your SEO Campaign

Having regular analytics reporting, depending on your industry, is imperative to track the effectiveness of your SEO campaign. For starters, you should monitor the:

• Traffic quality
• Backlinks
• Keyword rankings, and
• Conversion rates.

However, tracking your SEO strategy doesn't have to be complicated. There are a significant number of SEO audit tools that you can use to keep track of the metrics. These tools will help you make informed adjustments if necessary to improve your SEO campaign.

Related Reading: How to Use Google Analytics to Generate Content for Your Blog

Wrapping Up

Implementing search engine optimization into your content marketing strategy will benefit your business in the long run. Whether you are focusing on organic reach, or local SEO, the key is to understand what your target market needs, and to make it easy for them to acquire it. What is your purpose for applying SEO in your digital marketing effort? We want to know about it!

This article first appeared at mossmedia.biz