Reasons why Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) should be top of your marketing priorities

Over the last 30 years, the internet has had a massive effect on the way companies operate and helped firms expand both how and where they do business. Today, it’s estimated that around 70% of all consumer journeys start with an online search, so making sure your site is visible in Search Engine Results Pages (SERPs) is now almost a prerequisite for all companies, of all sizes, in all sectors.

What is Search Engine Optimisation (SEO)?

Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) is the detailed and highly involved process used by skilled web marketing firms to push sites up the SERPs under specific keywords or phrases most likely to be used by prospective and existing site visitors. In essence, you can think of SEO as marketing and promoting your firm in search engines like Google – just without the rather obvious and off-putting paid adverts you often see in results. You should visit this web design agency – ALT – right here to get a better idea of just how SEO, web marketing and online branding function, as well as the considerable benefits it could bring to your company.

Why SEO is so vital to your company’s fortunes

As mentioned earlier, most consumer journeys start with a search – typically on Google, which accounts for around 92% of all search-engine-generated traffic. It’s estimated the top-ranking page on Google (i.e. the first link you see when you search a term) gets 32% of all clicks, so achieving a high ranking under your desired phrases or keywords can have a dramatic effect on the amount of traffic your site receives. However, good SEO goes far beyond just traffic and can also affect several other aspects of your company, including:

Improved visibility, online profile and reputation: Having a high ranking in Google (and, to a degree, other search engines) often has the knock-on effect of helping your firm look like a respected authority. Of course, a higher ranking will also bring more traffic but being listed high up the SERPs will give you a greater online profile and improve your reputation.

Better usability: In 2016, Google announced its policy for mobile-first indexing and started prioritising those sites that are built to scale on mobile devices higher up its SERPs. In recent years, the internet has gone mobile and, depending on which research model you believe, it’s estimated between 60% and 70% of all internet use is now done on mobile devices. As part of an SEO strategy, a professional development firm will first check to see if your site is built to a so-called Responsive Format – one that can scale to fit any size of screen.

Improved User Experience (UX): Good SEO will also improve the User Experience (UX) of visitors to your site by pushing the most pertinent and important content higher up your site’s hierarchical tree. A skilled SEO company will first perform a full audit on your site content to check and see which pages are most popular so you can serve the information users want most – and give it to them quicker. SEO practitioners will also ensure your images are properly tagged and optimised for quicker delivery to users.

More authoritative, engaging content: In web terms, content remains king and, in a world where there are now more web pages than there are people, your site must grab the attention of users quickly. A skilled SEO firm will help you optimise your content, headings and images to make them more engaging for users.