Contents
SEO helps businesses to expand their reach primarily by allowing them to rank better in search engines, which both increases traffic to them and boosts their credibility. SEO has further benefits, including secondary ones like an improved user experience which creates returning customers.
In the rest of the article, we are going to look at what an SEO company is and how SEO helps a business’s organic traffic, its credibility, and its user experience. We are also going to learn about SEO for local searches, its feasibility as a long term strategy, and the competitive edge a business gains from it.
What Is an SEO Company?
An SEO company is one which offers services to businesses that optimize their online visibility. The major focus is frequently on performance with search engines, which gives the industry its name – search engine optimization. Although Google continues to be the dominant search engine, a good SEO company will work to get your business better results across all of the major search engines.
In spite of the name, SEO is not exclusively about search engine performance. A lot of the services that an SEO company may provide will increase the overall quality of a business’s online presence. An SEO service can also help you rank better locally so that you can gain the exact business that you are aiming for, like the best SEO company Melbourne offers.
How Does SEO Affect a Business’ Organic Traffic?
By improving your business’ ranking in search engines, SEO can dramatically increase your organic traffic. This is critically important for two reasons. The first reason is that the amount of organic traffic a business gets tends to correlate with the number of clients they gain. You can think of organic traffic to a business’ website like footfall in a store or shopping mall.
The second reason organic traffic is such an amazing resource for a business is because it is free. Unlike pay per click advertising, you as the recipient of the traffic do not have to pay the search engines anything for each person they send to your site. You only need to invest in getting your SEO up to scratch, and the rest will follow.
Is SEO Important for a Business’ Credibility?
As more and more people do the bulk of their business online, a company’s web presence has become increasingly important in establishing its credibility and the trust that users have toward it. This works on multiple levels.
If potential clients struggle to find a business on search engines, many will think this is a sign that the business is not fully above board. Maintaining a consistent and visible reputation will allow people to be more willing to try a business that they have not worked with before.
Being able to rank on the first page of Google for more general or industry-wide search terms also gives a business a massive boost in credibility and therefore the flow of new clients. People trust search engines to recommend only the best solutions at the top of their search results.
Does SEO Help a Business’ Users’ Online Experience?
One of the secondary benefits of good SEO is that it will improve the usability of a business’ website. Initially, many of these gains were accidental insofar as improving elements like navigation would be just as beneficial to users as to search engines. More recently, search engines have begun measuring usability as it affects solely users and ranking websites in accordance with this.
By increasing a business site’s user experience, not only will the site’s ranking improve, but customers that have already found their way onto it will be able to use it much more easily. This translates to more business since, for example, customers will be able to find products easier, the sites will load faster, and customers will be left feeling like they got what they wanted without hassle.
Will SEO Help a Business With Local Searches?
Although the internet is a global medium, good SEO will help a business make the most of local searches as well. This can, depending on the nature of the business, be the most important factor. Back in 2014, for the first time, the majority of local searches ended with a conversion. The same study found that the proportion was closer to 80% for local searches on mobile devices!
Local SEO is not simply about ranking position. A good SEO company will also ensure that the correct details for the business are available to local customers. This will include anything from having the correct phone numbers and addresses, to presence on search engines’ maps, to up-to-date opening hours for local visitors.
Is SEO a Long Term Strategy?
Although certain elements within SEO, like more intuitive navigation, can give you instant gains, the bulk of the benefits that SEO offers are in the long term. For a business with patience, this can pay dividends. As already discussed, organic traffic is most business’ biggest factor for success, and the longer a website builds authority through good SEO, the more traffic it will earn.
SEO is also a financially wise decision precisely because it is a long term strategy. The biggest investment in SEO is up front, but once it kicks in, it will pay itself off many times over.
What Edge Does SEO Give a Business Over Competitors?
SEO makes a business stand out among its competitors both directly, like with better search engine rankings, and indirectly, like with a smoother user experience that leaves customers more satisfied with the experience, not just the product or service.
If you are not convinced, another way to consider the benefits of SEO is to think about how varied they are and that there are no downsides to implementing it. With that in mind, all things being equal between two businesses, the one with good SEO will automatically be ahead.
Conclusion
We’ve learned that when trying to examine exactly what does SEO do for a business, the most obvious advantages are search rankings and credibility, but that there are a lot of more subtle ways in which it is beneficial too. Ultimately, we understand now how good SEO brings only benefits and no risks to a business beyond the initial investment.