Nowadays, people trust search engines when it comes to discovering new things. Some go online to search for products or business addresses to visit in person. And not forgetting, some people use online for educational purposes, for instance, taking a course.
Therefore, this implies that prospective clients could be searching for what you are offering online. And all it takes is you tapping into this potential market and generating more sales for business growth. If you choose this path, search engine optimisation will be of great help to your business. It will help with capturing the audience’s attention and draw them to your site. As an established start-up, you must have been told countless times that you should leverage SEO; partnering with a company like SafariDigitalSEO Canberra can help you effectively achieve this goal.
That’s because SEO is a critical element in any successful campaign. For instance, Google accounts for over 90% of the global online traffic.
That being said, here are reasons why SEO is becoming more important in 2022:
Ads are becoming more expensive
If you want to develop instant attention today, Ads are the magic pills. They reach out to target audiences fast and help you stand out among rivals. Unfortunately, this has become the norm even in 2022, thus, it’s attracting higher charges.
According to the Adobe Digital report, ads rates have gone up by 12%. Further, this hike on charges is 5 times the inflation rate, just to indicate how dire the situation is. If that isn’t enough, it’s 70% higher than TV ads. Currently, the average CPC rates on several platforms are as follows:
- Twitter – $0.38
- Facebook – $0.97
- Pinterest – $1.50
- YouTube – $3.21
- Instagram – $3.56
- LinkedIn – $5.26
Luckily, there’s an affordable and sustainable approach that’s more impactful. And that’s search engine optimisation. Of course, the start-up fee is bound to be higher. For instance, you’ve got to hire an SEO agency or freelancer to help with your site optimisation. However, in the long term, it’s inexpensive and has lasting benefits. Once your site has a solid grasp of the market, there’s no paying continuously to remain visible to target audiences.
More people use search
Over 90% of organic traffic on the web comes from search engines. And on average, the click-through rate (CTR) is 19.3% in fast rank after Google Search. Further, nearly 50% of Google Searches target local things. And nearly 100% of online audiences leverage conventional engine searches monthly, according to statistics.
Local searches are especially important to startup and mid-size companies or businesses. And when you apply Local SEO, you can tap onto this market with maximum effect. Thanks to local searches, you can attract clients to your offline store. With your addresses included on the marketing content and business site, these clients will easily find your business.
That being said, clients have a higher tendency of stopping by the brick-and-mortar actual site. This allows them to interact with your services or products in person. From a Google study, 88% of online audiences who use local search stop by the related store within 7 days. But that’s not all, 76% of them visit the store on the same day. And 28% of the nearby searches end up with a purchase.
Strong branding
Brand credibility:
Search engine optimisation plays a part in developing brand credibility. When you rank among the top 3 on the SERP, it implies you are a credible source. As such, target customers who consider your brand as an authority in your industry. Also, SEO helps portray your brand as having better services or products than the rivals.
On the other hand, it doesn’t help to be at the end of the SERP (search engine result page). If anything, it’s a loss to your brand. And that’s because prospects may never locate you. And those who find you, they’ll consider you as an unreliable source with no expertise. Further, this may also prompt your current clients to reconsider their loyalty to your brand. And some of them will begin migrating to a brand with a better rank and reputation.
Since 2021, Google Top News has been available for everyone. Thus, regardless of whether you’re a publisher or not, here is a chance to develop a strong brand. Besides creating newsworthy content, it must also have SEO elements. Optimising your content gives it a chance to appear on Google Top News, the Google front page.
Brand awareness:
Besides brand credibility, you can leverage Google to develop brand awareness. From Investopedia, this refers to how familiar your brand is to target customers. Developing brand awareness is not easy, but it’s a key step in product promotion.
Thanks to SEO, you can achieve this step. When you optimise your site and its content, they become discoverable on a search engine during an organic search. And if you maintain the top position on SERP, people will identify your business easily.
Also, ranking at the top increases the rate of clicks and organic traffic to your site. In addition, leveraging SEO for brand awareness also helps with word-of-mouth marketing. Often, people share what they feel is the best. And your brand ranking at the top is enough reason to talk about it.
Final Take
Because of the global pandemic brought about by COVID-19, there has been a tremendous change in all sectors including online. There were lockdowns in almost all the countries across the world. And this prompted reliance on online services for various purposes.
With many consumers shifting online, competition for this marketplace is very tough. And that’s why leveraging SEO is not an option. It’s more sustainable and helps build a stronger brand that attracts prospective clients.
That being said, there are unlimited branding opportunities when you leverage SEO. And most importantly, it’s a chance to stand out among your rivals and claim more customers. While there are tons of ways to leverage SEO for your business, it can be challenging if you’re not an SEO expert. Luckily, you can seek the help of an SEO agency for SEO implementation and expert tips.