Optimizing for Google, Bing and Yahoo search bumps up your site's traffic and trust from customers. We're breaking down which businesses should really invest in SEO promotion.
SEO, short for search engine optimization, emerged as a marketing tool in the mid-1990s, almost alongside the birth of the internet. Its essence lies in boosting a site's rank in the organic, non-paid search results. The goal is for a site to appear on the first or second search page in response to queries that a business's target audience types into Google, Bing or Yahoo when in need of a certain product.
Back in the day, SEO optimization was the sole method to climb up in the search results, but then Google and Yandex introduced contextual advertising, which appears above the organic results. Nonetheless, SEO promotion of a site remains a crucial marketing tool, impacting both sales and brand image, with its demand only growing.
Back in the day, SEO optimization was the sole method to climb up in the search results, but then Google and Yandex introduced contextual advertising, which appears above the organic results. Nonetheless, SEO promotion of a site remains a crucial marketing tool, impacting both sales and brand image, with its demand only growing.
Pros and Cons of SEO Promotion
Let's start with the benefits of working on website search optimization.
- High conversion. Landing on the first pages of search results guarantees increased website traffic. When a user searches for "hardware development services" on Google, it means they're already interested in fitness and considering purchasing a membership. Such targeted traffic is more likely to convert into sales.
- Long-term effect. With regular SEO work, achieved positions in search results last a long time—even if you haven't done any search optimization for several months. The same can't be said for advertising: it only works as long as you're paying for it.
- Low cost. Due to its long-term ROI, SEO is cheaper than contextual advertising. SEO work can be tailored to a business's current financial situation: if the budget is limited, even $500 can cover a number of SEO tasks, which will positively affect the site's search positions.
- Increased consumer loyalty. Internet users have learned to identify ads in search results and often skip them. For example, 62% of consumers only click on sites from organic search results. They trust these more, seeing them as recommendations from the search engine itself and the thousands of people who have successfully used the site before them.
Despite all the advantages of SEO, be prepared for its main drawback—it doesn't deliver immediate results. With contextual advertising, site visits can increase on the day of launch. But with search optimization, you'll have to wait: the first noticeable results won't appear for at least three months.
The good news is that SEO specialists continuously improve their tools. Now, there are ways to speed up results, such as publishing articles about your business in thematic blogs, which additionally "signals" search engines about the site's reliability.
The good news is that SEO specialists continuously improve their tools. Now, there are ways to speed up results, such as publishing articles about your business in thematic blogs, which additionally "signals" search engines about the site's reliability.
How does search optimization work?
Search engines, when generating results for a query, aim to display the most relevant sites at the top – those capable of solving the user's problem or fulfilling their need as quickly as possible. SEO experts work to make a site appear to search engines as the most relevant match for a query. Google, Yahoo and Bing also consider the experience of previous users, so SEO optimization efforts simultaneously improve the usability of your site for consumers.
Typically, SEO promotion begins with the following steps:
- Installing Google Search Console and Google Analytics to monitor current traffic and sales from search results, as well as track progress in promotion efforts.
- Registering with Yandex Webmaster and Google Search Console: these services allow for an analysis of the site's visibility to search engines and the identification and correction of issues preventing the site from appearing in search results.
- Using search query tools like Yandex Wordstat to identify and incorporate the most relevant phrases into the site's content.
- Improving the site's structure, adding current information about the company, products, prices, and services.
Who should dive into SEO and when?
SEO promotion is recommendable for any brand with a website, regardless of the industry. For most businesses, their website serves as a sales channel, and SEO effectively attracts people searching to make a purchase.
SEO is also highly effective for "image" websites where active sales aren't conducted. Using contextual advertising to promote such a site can be unjustifiably expensive, whereas promotion in organic search can help investors and partners easily find information about the company, indirectly communicating its authority and reliability.
Businesses often wonder if it's too late to start SEO promotion, especially when facing larger competitors who have been utilizing SEO for a long time. There's no "right" moment to start SEO promotion, and it's never too late to begin. However, the longer you delay, the more time you lose.
The relevance of SEO promotion in the current internet landscape remains as high as ever. SEO optimization is the best way to promote a website on search engines, as Google continues to prioritize its relevance algorithms in determining query results. Those who focus on search optimization won't make a mistake: it remains a reliable tool guaranteeing long-term effects in a turbulent internet market.
SEO is also highly effective for "image" websites where active sales aren't conducted. Using contextual advertising to promote such a site can be unjustifiably expensive, whereas promotion in organic search can help investors and partners easily find information about the company, indirectly communicating its authority and reliability.
Businesses often wonder if it's too late to start SEO promotion, especially when facing larger competitors who have been utilizing SEO for a long time. There's no "right" moment to start SEO promotion, and it's never too late to begin. However, the longer you delay, the more time you lose.
The relevance of SEO promotion in the current internet landscape remains as high as ever. SEO optimization is the best way to promote a website on search engines, as Google continues to prioritize its relevance algorithms in determining query results. Those who focus on search optimization won't make a mistake: it remains a reliable tool guaranteeing long-term effects in a turbulent internet market.
