SEO or Search Engine Optimization is a multifaceted tool marketers have been using since who knows when.
Whether you’re a marketing guru with the basics of digital marketing down or somebody running a small online business, you’ve probably heard the term a hundred times or even more. You might have heard how important it is and, on the other hand, it has become irrelevant.
The latter is not true BTW. SEO, to this day, remains an important part of digital marketing.
It’s not just keywords anymore. It has evolved into something of a complete strategy that can change how your business ranks on search engines and how easily your audience is able to find out.
In fact, the right SEO strategy can be vital to gaining new customers and sustaining a continuous online presence. You need to have a grasp of its essentials to understand its significance and how it can turn things around for your business.
Not only is it valuable for building brand awareness on multiple digital platforms, but it is also crucial for bringing more visibility to your website. It means more traffic and more opportunities to convert potential leads into customers.
But before we dive into understanding the importance of SEO in digital marketing, there are a few things you need to know.
On- and Off-Page Optimization
On-page optimization is what the general population associates SEO with. This mainly focuses on increasing visibility and traffic on your website. Measures are taken that include content marketing, keyword research, meta tags, and HTML source code. These are used to optimize web pages to improve rankings and bring more people to the website.
Off-site optimization is essentially the external optimization of websites through link-building and promotions. You’re basically trying to increase the authority of your websites to improve rankings without changing the content.
Other Elements of SEO
Keywords are not what they used to be in the antiquated days of SEO. It’s not just about using relevant keywords are much as possible on page i.e. keyword stuffing. Today, the saturation of search engines has made it crucial for marketers to conduct detailed keyword research before choosing them.
Then there is the differentiation of short-tail and long-tail keywords. Additionally, you can now use keywords in meta details, image tiles, and URLs to improve your rankings.
Content is the vehicle SEO rides on to improve your website’s rankings, increase visibility, and eventually increase user engagement. Content in SEO and digital marketing strategies comes in various formats that include web page content, infographics, social media posts, listing, videos, blogs, and more.
Local SEO or geographical SEO is very important for businesses that provide services to a target market limited geographically. This involves using the locations in keywords to further narrow down the reach and target local intent.
Besides optimizing keywords, local SEO practices involve creating location-specific pages on your website, creating pages on Google Maps and Google’s My Business.
SEM or Search Engine Marketing includes paid marketing practices. The most common ones are Pay-per-Click or PPC, native ads, Google AdWords, ad campaigns on social media outlets, and banner ads. This doesn’t directly influence SEO but is essential for targeting a larger audience.
SEO and Digital Marketing
Now that you have a better understanding of what SEO is, let us take a look at some of the main benefits SEO provides the overall digital marketing strategy for modern businesses.
Visibility, Rankings, and Web Traffic
The main goal of digital marketing is to increase brand awareness on digital mediums. SEO enables that function by increasing the website’s visibility and making it easier for prospective customers to find you.
The more visible your website is – the better Google will rank it. In layman terms, this means that your website will come up higher on a search engine result page (SERP) when somebody makes a search query using the keywords you optimized.
As a result of improved rankings and better visibility, more people will visit your website. The more people visiting your website, the more chances you have to convert them into paying customers.
Improved Site Usability
The SEO practices you use to optimize the content on your website and creating new meaningful content have a direct impact on your website’s user experience and site usability. And as we know, providing seamless user experience is the key to keeping users engaged on the website.
It also makes your site easy to navigate for search engines. The site’s architecture and links are rearranged so they can be easier to find, simplifying the process of finding information.
Authority
Both on- and off-page SEO plays a huge role in gaining your site authority. Search engines now have algorithms that rely on rankings, backlinks, quality content, and mentions to build authority. This will not only allow you to build trust with your audience but also further improve your rankings.
Attaining Business Growth Goals
Digital marketing aims to increase the number of quality leads and prospects so companies can gain new customers, driving sales and overall growth. SEO plays an important part in that. It can help build and increase brand awareness.
As we’ve mentioned before, it also improves user experience and authority on your website. This will ultimately become essential in attracting, nurturing, and converting users into loyal customers and marking a trajectory toward growth.
Final Thoughts
From all that we’ve discussed up until now, you can see that SEO is much more complex and has an equally important digital marketing practice. Business Marketing Solutions Group understands this and also how SEO changes with time.
We employ the best digital marketing and SEO practices to ensure you attain your goals. Get in touch with us to learn how our SEO services can benefit your company.
