Having a robust online presence in this digital era is crucial for businesses as it gives them a competitive advantage in the market. It helps them increase the number of their customers, expand their services, and generate sales.
A website is instrumental in building a business’s online presence. However, launching one is not enough for companies to establish a solid online presence. Business owners also need to promote their websites by implementing digital marketing strategies.
Various internet marketing techniques can help companies make their websites visible to people interested in their offered goods and services. And these methods are divided into outbound and inbound marketing. The difference between the two is that outbound marketing techniques like email blasts and internet advertising cast a wide net on anyone interested in the goods and services of a business. In contrast, inbound marketing tools, such as search engine optimization (SEO) and pay-per-click (PPC) campaigns, seek to make the company’s website easier to find for those searching.
Many modern consumers rely on search engines like Google or Bing to look for goods and services. And usually, they only browse through the first few pages of search results. Therefore, to increase their website’s visibility among search engine users, businesses must get it to rank or appear on the first few pages of the search engine results pages (SERPs), ideally on page one.
Pay-per-click (PPC) and SEO online marketing techniques help companies broadcast their services locally or the world. The two strategies are similar in that they work to get a business’s website as high on the SERPs or appear as close to page one as possible; however, they are different in terms of how they accomplish this task.
The big difference is that a PPC campaign helps a website land on the first pages of SERPs almost immediately. It uses paid search, paying search engines for ads displayed when people search using specific keywords or terms. In contrast, an SEO campaign can take months to produce results and get the site to rank because SEO uses organic search, focusing on bringing the site to appear in search engine results naturally or organically.
Though many business owners are already investing in SEO to improve their website’s overall visibility and searchability, some are still unsure if it is worth the expense. Most companies settle with PPC because they get to rank their website at the top of search engine results immediately; meanwhile, others choose outbound marketing techniques that are considerably cheaper to execute than SEO.
Aside from the expensive cost of an SEO campaign, some entrepreneurs hold themselves back from investing in this marketing strategy because it is labor-intensive, and results from this campaign take some time to appear. However, they fail to consider the benefits of search engine optimization compared to other strategies.
Businesses using an SEO online marketing strategy can improve their website’s overall visibility and searchability, which helps drive high-quality traffic to it. SEO ensures that the website gets in front of people searching for the business’s goods or services. Since these website visitors are already interested in the company’s products or services, they are more likely to sign up for newsletters or make a purchase.
SEO helps websites get more clicks and generate more web traffic by bringing them to rank on search engine results organically or naturally. Organically ranking websites earn more clicks because people usually trust sites that search engines deem worthy of being placed on the first page than those with the word “ad” beside the search result.
Moreover, search engine optimization promises a remarkable return on investment. It helps businesses achieve long-term success once the website ranks at the top of the search results. Because once a website ranks, it takes a while for it to lose this rank. With prolonged visibility at the top of the SERPs, companies can consistently drive high-quality traffic to their site, generate more revenue, and build their brand’s reputation among customers. In addition, a high-ranking website will allow them to gain a competitive advantage in the current business landscape.
Here is an infographic from Landau Consulting, which humorously discusses how SEO can contribute to a business’s growth.
