Why is SEO Important for Business? Benefits & Helpful Tips
Search engine optimization (SEO) offers the fourth-highest return on investment (ROI) of any marketing strategy. But what does that really mean? What is the importance of SEO for business?
As an SEO Writer and Consultant, I've helped many businesses increase their organic website traffic and generate strong leads. In this article, we'll explore why SEO is important for business, its benefits, and how to decide if an SEO strategy is right for you. I'll also answer common questions about search engine optimization and share helpful tips for implementing it.
What is SEO?
SEO is a set of techniques you can use to optimize your website for search engines like Google. SEO includes on-page, off-page, and technical strategies.
On-page practices, including helpful content, keywords, and internal links, are the most common and can be done directly on your website. Off-page SEO takes place externally and includes guest blogging, backlinks, and press releases. Technical SEO refers to tech elements, like backend structure, code, and settings.
On-page SEO is what I specialize in, and it’s what we primarily focus on when discussing how to reach a target audience. These practices give Google more information about your website and business, including who your ideal website visitors are. This helps you rank on the search engine results pages (SERPs) to reach your target market and increase your website traffic.
Why is SEO important for business?
SEO is important for businesses because it helps you rank on Google so your target audience can find you. Without search engine optimization, you lose out on reaching people who would have otherwise bought from you at some point in the future.
According to Backlinko’s study of four million Google search results, less than 1% of people click on the second page of Google. Therefore, an SEO-friendly website is important for ranking on page one and getting your website seen.
Search engine optimization helps you increase your organic website traffic, generate strong leads, and create an evergreen marketing strategy on a budget. We’ll learn more about each of these SEO benefits below.
Organic Website Traffic
Organic website traffic refers to visitors to your site who get there from unpaid sources, like Google. You might also get organic traffic from your email newsletter or a social media post that’s not a paid ad.
If you’ve ever noticed “sponsored” next to top-ranking pages on Google like you see below, these are paid ads. While I’ve never paid for ads, I’ve worked with several clients on their website SEO who have reported that paid ads aren’t worth the investment.
Sponsored results like this are paid ads, while SEO is unpaid, organic traffic
Strong Leads
While paid traffic can be helpful, many find that organic traffic for high-quality content can generate stronger leads. Strong leads are people who could potentially become paying clients or customers.
When your website is optimized for SEO, you're using keywords your target audience is specifically searching for. Keywords help you reach the right people.
For example, I sell website SEO and blogging resources and services. The keyword phrases that people most search Google for before landing on my website include “Do people still read blogs,” “How many keywords should I use for SEO,” and “Advantages of blogging.”
When people search Google for these phrases, my website shows up because I have SEO-friendly blog articles on these topics. This helps my business because they often sign up for my email newsletter, purchase my blogging course, or contact me to inquire about my services.
Having a blog on your website is ideal for connecting with your website visitors who aren’t ready to buy yet. Not only can you optimize your articles for SEO, but a blog offers valuable information that can build trust with your audience and potentially encourage them to buy from you.
Evergreen Marketing Strategy
One reason I prefer blogging over social media is because website SEO has a longer shelf-life than social posts. Evergreen content can reach people for many years and work for a long time to bring in potential clients and customers.
The two articles on my blog below still get ample organic traffic, and I originally published them a few years ago. That said, it is helpful to update your website content at least yearly to ensure it stays relevant, which helps keep your pages on Google.
SEO-friendly content on your website can bring traffic for years to come, like these articles on my blog
Budget-Friendly
With website SEO, you don’t have to pay for ads, and your content lives for many years. This makes it one of the most budget-friendly marketing strategies.
Even if you hire a copywriter to help write your website and blog content, you'll likely earn your money back. Blogs specifically are among the top three media with the highest return on investment (ROI) because you're writing to attract your target audience, which helps increase your revenue.
To save even more, you can create your own content. Let’s connect if you’re interested in learning about my done-with-you and DIY website SEO support.
Is an SEO strategy best for your business?
With so many digital marketing strategies, including social media, blogging, and email newsletters, deciding which is best for you can be difficult.
There are many nuances when it comes to choosing how to market your business and reach your target audience, but you can consider these questions to guide you:
What platform(s) does your ideal customer or client use?
Where do your competitors show up?
What marketing strategies are you willing to invest your time and/or money into?
How fast do you need to see results?
Website SEO is my go-to marketing strategy, but I’ve been working on it for years. Although it takes time to see results with SEO, I’m okay with this because I’ve used other methods in the meantime, including personal outreach, job boards, and social media.
No matter what marketing strategies you choose, it’ll take time and effort, which is required for running a successful and sustainable business.
Helpful Tips for Implementing SEO – According to Google
With the significant importance of SEO for ranking on Google and reaching your target audience, you must know how to implement it. Search engine results are automatically generated, but according to Google, key factors affect whether or not your web pages show up in the search index on Google, ideally page one.
Meaning – Meet User Intent
User intent is the meaning of someone’s search on Google. For example, if you sell skincare products or you’re a beauty blogger, your target audience might search “skincare for dry skin.” Or, if you’re a web designer, your target audience might search “how to hire a web designer.”
Your content should meet user intent by answering their search query. With the example above for web designers, you might have a blog article that acts as a guide for those looking to hire a web designer. Your article needs to include the keyword phrase and meet user intent by answering their search query, as you see here:
SEO-friendly content helps you rank on Google like this website so your target market can find you
When creating content for your website, write with your target market in mind. Consider what information they're looking for and how your content can satisfy them.
Relevance – Incorporate Keywords
When people search for a specific phrase, like “skincare for dry skin” or “how to hire a web designer,” Google looks for published content with those phrases. This is how Google understands your content is relevant to the user's search.
You can use a keyword research tool to find phrases people are actually searching for. My favorite tool is Keysearch. If you decide to try it out, use code KSDISC for 20% off.
Keysearch gives you keyword options that relate to a specific topic. Below, you'll see skincare-related search queries from Keysearch. A skincare brand or beauty blogger might use these keywords on their website and in blog articles to rank on Google and reach their target audience.
No matter your niche, Keysearch can help you find keywords your target market is searching Google for
Quality – Share Helpful Content
Google’s ranking system is designed to share helpful content with users so they can have a satisfying experience when they land on a web page. That’s why the quality of your content is incredibly important for SEO.
When creating your website content, ask yourself these questions to ensure it’s helpful:
Does it provide original information?
Is it descriptive of the topic?
Does it provide interesting and insightful details beyond what’s obvious?
Does it draw on other sources and provide additional value?
Does the page title give a descriptive summary of the rest of the content?
Is it written or reviewed by an expert on the topic?
Does it share reliable sources?
In my SEO Blogging Course, I have a lesson on writing helpful content, where I discuss how to write high-quality content that ranks on Google and satisfies user intent.
Usability – Offer a Good User Experience
One of the most important and effective SEO techniques is offering a good user experience. Not only does Google want to share good websites that provide an easy experience, but people will leave your site if they land there and it doesn't.
To create a good user experience, your web pages need to:
Load within 3 to 5 seconds - Check PageSpeed Insights for your loading times
Be easy to navigate - Include a drop-down menu at the top of your site and buttons throughout each page to tell your audience where to go next
Have a good design - It should be aesthetically pleasing, not too busy, and have fonts that are easy to read
Be mobile-friendly - Check to ensure your website shows up well on mobile
Context – Be Relevant
Much of this is beyond your control as Google uses a user’s location, past search history, and search settings to show relevant content.
However, if you’re a local business, be sure to optimize for local SEO. You can do this by including your location in your content and creating a Google Business Profile.
Having various content (e.g., landing pages for each service or product, blog articles, etc.) can also help because it lets Google better understand who to show your website to.
Why is SEO important for business? Conclusion
I hope you found this article helpful and have a clear understanding of the importance of SEO. When your website is optimized well for search engines and your audience, you can rank on Google and reach the right people – those who could be potential customers or clients.
If you’d like support with your website SEO, contact me. I offer DIY, done-with-you, and done-for-you support and love helping businesses increase their organic website traffic.
