Anyone who has ever had a conversation that revolved around aspects of digital marketing is probably familiar with the term SEO. Those who aren’t familiar with it should really pay attention because the concept between these three small letters can make or break your business. Sadly, a lot of people don’t go further than “it has something to do with search engines.” While technically true, SEO is much, much more than that, and here’s what it can do for your business:

The foundations of SEO

When quality and quantity meet, you get the essence of SEO. Your website should be in great condition on both ends, front and back, and if you manage to do this, the traffic will follow. Search engines love well-rounded websites and your ranking will keep increasing over time, resulting in even more people visiting. SEO is also great for your marketing strategy regardless of the kind of business you’re running. You will be able to build SEO by focusing on keyword analysis, creating quality content, and backlink building.

Better visibility means more visitors

The key here is to generate as much organic traffic as possible. This means that your website will appear when your customers search for something specific. Keywords are really handy here because you can use them to attract more customers your way. When they are looking for something they need, customers (willingly or not) use keywords and when you have the said keywords on your website, it appears on their search engine. They will notice you and conclude that your business will be able to meet their needs, and it’s up to you to engage them further after that.

More visitors means more sales

When (potential) customers become aware of you through your website and take notice of your products and services, they will engage. Through SEO, you will be able to draw the attention of a great number of people, and many of them could be your potential leads. Becoming more visible will result in more visitors to your website, which will inevitably result in more sales too. Through thorough research, you will see what the people are looking for and what their needs are, but don’t forget to target the right audience. You shouldn’t really focus on what people on the other side of the globe are interested in – local SEO is the key here.

Customers will trust you

User experience (UX) and SEO are virtually inseparable. You are focusing on organic trust-building. One of the main things to keep in mind is how exactly users see you and your website. A positive experience means more clicks which means better traffic and results in increased SEO. This is supposed to happen over time, and your SERP rank (search engine results page) will get closer to the top 10. Your customers might hope to find a great recruitment agency, look for the perfect wedding cake, or need new pair of shoes – the process is the same. If they are happy with what they see on your website, they will come back and move you higher up on the results page in the process.

Shortcuts don’t really pay off

It might be tempting to look for shortcuts and pay your way to the top of the results page, but it won’t matter. You will spend a lot of money and still be beaten by someone with a great organic search because that is how you keep up. Building trust takes time; building it organically might be a bit frustrating, but it pays off in the end. Organic searches build SEO, and it will give you a chance to grow and further optimize your digital marketing, resulting in a better and more successful business as a whole. By taking time to learn what the customers are looking for and providing them with it, you build your reputation and become someone they trust, which isn’t something that can be done via shortcuts.

Marketing is a field that’s constantly growing and evolving, and even people who are experts in marketing can find it hard to keep up with all the innovations. Marketing strategies might be many and difficult to remember, but SEO is something that shouldn’t be taken lightly. If you take the time to study SEO and implement it, your business will thrive without you having to do a lot of legwork on your part.