When I network with business owners, I’m often shocked at the resistance they have towards SEO and the lack of understanding. SEO is an integral part of keeping a modern business alive, and if you haven’t already done so, here are five genuinely convincing reasons your company should invest.
- Marketing on social media platforms is not enough to keep your business alive.
Most industry experts will tell you the importance of social media marketing, but very few mention that these platforms alone can’t help your business succeed. Your company requires bigger and better exposure in order to cement brand awareness.
A recent study’s findings have surprisingly revealed that only a small percentage (5 percent) of traffic actually derives from social media. Even the most popular and well-liked platforms will have very little impact on your actual search rankings.
There’s a time and a place for social media. It’s a fantastic source for raising awareness of your brand and interacting with your consumers. However, it simply doesn’t have the ability to drive traffic to your website or to lead to high conversion rates.
Google can’t access social media metrics, therefore, it opts to remove social media pages from direct rankings altogether. If you want your business to do well and rank in the top ten results, you will require a smart SEO strategy.
- SEO is not as expensive as many business owners are led to believe.
One of the biggest misconceptions in modern marketing is that SEO is expensive. In truth, the costs are highly subjective, and in many instances, results are easily achieved with a minimal budget. SEO is one of the few places where the competition really evens out as no one can pay their way to the top of search results.
The real working mechanism behind SEO is the time, thought, and experience invested in the myriad of strategies. If your skills aren’t up to the task, you may look to outsource SEO, which does mean having to spend some of your marketing budget. However, there are a number of things you can do without money, such as creating ads as they only help your business or website rank.
At some point it is reasonable to assume that SEO will cost you money, but it all comes down to your own perception of this additional spending. Start thinking of SEO as a future investment for your business rather than just another expenditure. The actual results of your campaign will remain long after your money is spent, which is why it’s seen as a long-term business investment.
- SEO offers a slow and steady solution that outlasts any other form of marketing.
Some business owners I have interacted with have voiced their opinions that SEO isn’t effective because it takes too long. As a viewpoint, this is correct in that SEO can take anywhere from 4 to 6 months to show tangible results. However, when it comes to building a long-lasting business, this slow and steady increase in brand recognition is actually a plus for your company.
When you embrace all that SEO has to offer, you’re investing in a solid future for your business. Though your campaigns may yield minimal benefits at first, it will all pay off in the end. If you feel restless because none of your tactics are showing signs of working, don’t abandon SEO! Instead, pay for SEM ads as they can help you rank for relevant industry keywords much faster.
- You don’t have to admit defeat when it comes to competitors.
There’s a chance you’ve probably Googled your business and your desired keywords only to find you have a great deal of competition. This is disheartening to anyone just starting out, but don’t let it get you down! It is possible to beat competitors and slowly make your way to the top, however, you need to have the willingness to invest your efforts into SEO.
Think about it this way: you know where your competitors stand and you can use their success as research to jumpstart your own campaigns. What are the mistakes they’ve made? Are there any flaws that you can spot and think you could address better? In due time, many business owners start to get lazy with their SEO efforts once they rank well, which is when you will have a chance to simply do better and outrank them!
Of course, it’s hardly enough to know what your competition is doing to climb in search results. You need to devise your own strategy that will allow you to weaken them in search results and bring your business to the top. Most importantly, you have the element of surprise as no one will know what you’re up to until it’s too late.
- Previous bad experiences with SEO shouldn’t dictate your future.
I do sometimes run across business owners who have sworn off of SEO due to previous bad experiences. Though it’s understandable how hard it is to get back up after dealing with unscrupulous SEO professionals, not investing in SEO is detrimental to modern businesses. At the end of the day, it’s important not to let these experiences cloud your sound judgment.
Use your negative past as a learning experience. Knowing what you know now, choose an SEO partner who can offer the following for you:
-Complete transparency about pricing, the tactics and strategies employed, and experience in the field.
-A solid business relationship where you have an open line of communication between you. The right professional should show commitment to your business and not raise any red flags.
-No guarantee that they’ll get you top search rankings. SEO marketers do not have a relationship with google, and a search algorithm is purely responsible for your rankings.
-No secret strategies that purportedly help you rank better. In reality, there’s no such thing as a secret recipe for success.
-Avoid black hat tactics that may do more harm than good. Anything that’s designed to rank your site quickly in a short timeframe is considered banned. For example, auto-generated content, keyword stuffing, and buying linkbacks are all against the rules.
-No cutting corners or cutting costs. A cheap SEO specialist may seem enticing at first, but you get what you pay for! It makes more sense to invest in better quality help at the start of your campaign because it’ll mean better lasting results down the line.