As a consumer, how often do you use a search engine to source a product or find a local business? Research shows that search engines are increasingly popular, with Google alone processing more than 40,000 global queries per second. As a modern-day business owner, SEO is a digital marketing technique that has the power and potential to make a huge difference to your customer numbers, and ultimately, your profits. If you’re new to search engine optimization, here are the main reasons why business owners shouldn’t ignore SEO.
Competition
In business, you have to beat your rivals to succeed. With a growing number of companies investing in SEO, it’s essential to be able to keep up with the competition and give yourself the best chance of outperforming businesses that sell similar products or services. If a rival firm is making waves at the top of a search engine results page, there’s every chance that they could take customers away from you and you may get left behind.
Consumer trends and moving with the times
As a business owner, you have to able to adapt to emerging consumer trends. Research shows that search engines are becoming an increasingly popular means of finding products and services. If you can capitalize on this trend by using SEO and scaling your SEO strategy, not only will you boost customer numbers, but you’ll also improve your online credibility. If you’re at the top of the first page, consumers are more likely to trust you, and you should find that your lead conversion rates improve.
Local business
If you have a target market in your local area, SEO can transform the way you attract clients. Even if you don’t have a website that sells goods, you can benefit from having a strong, visible online presence. Research cited by Hubspot suggests that 50% of consumers who carried out a local search on their phone visited a physical store in their local area within 24 hours.
Increasing traffic
There’s no point in having a fantastic website if nobody can find it. Whether you have an online store, or your site contains information about a physical shop, restaurant, salon, or hotel, SEO can help you increase traffic, improve the quality of leads and encourage consumers to take the next step. This might involve booking a table or a hotel room, making a purchase, subscribing to emails or picking up the phone to make a call.
Staying relevant
The world of business evolves on a continual basis, and customers have changing desires and demands. If you ignore SEO, there’s a chance that you’ll fall behind, and potential clients will lose interest. Modern consumers want to be able to find information and buy products online within a matter of seconds, and if your site and the content you produce cannot be found, they’ll take their business elsewhere.
If you’re looking to drive sales and increase your profits, it’s hugely beneficial to be aware of effective digital marketing methods and to use techniques like SEO to attract customers, to ensure you’re responding to evolving consumer trends and to compete with business rivals.
SEO Locale is a premier digital marketing agency in Philadelphia and Jenkintown. If you are looking for SEO or a digital marketing strategy for your business, give us a call today!