Why Your Business Can No Longer Afford to Ignore SEO
Your corporate brand is a digital representation of your business's persona, voice, mission and values. When it comes to digital visibility, nothing outperforms search engine optimization.
Search engine optimization (SEO) refers to the art and science of optimizing websites utilizing both "on-page" and "off page" factors to influence Google's search algorithm to rank that site or page for specific keyword queries entered by web users. This process is an ongoing endeavor that ideally will be adjusted to keep up with Google's never-ending updates.
Google reports utilizing over 200 ranking signals and makes minor updates to their algorithm hundreds of times per year in addition to a handful of "core" or major updates. Enterprises that rely on Google to drive brand awareness, visibility, leads and sales should constantly analyze their sites, identifying both opportunities and potential optimization bottlenecks that could be hurting performance.
Just how impactful is SEO for your business?
Curious how impactful SEO is for your organization? Consider the following stats:
- 81 percent of shoppers conduct online research prior to making a purchase (Adweek)
- 97 percent of consumers research products online prior to making a local purchase (BIA/Kelsey)
- 66 percent of B2B buyers rely on blog posts to shape their purchasing decisions (Forbes)
- 71 percent of B2B buyers report starting with a Google search
As you can see from the above stats, SEO is a core driving factor. Businesses that fail to keep up with the rapidly evolving world of SEO risk losing up to 70 to 80 percent of the market that starts when consumers search online (usually through Google) for products or services.
With global competition heating up, most businesses simply can't afford to ignore SEO as a part of their marketing and branding mix. Below are four steps businesses can use to incorporate SEO into their current marketing strategy.
