Whether you’ve recently launched a startup or want to inject new life into your existing business following the impacts of COVID-19, customer engagement should be a priority at all times. The first step is to make people aware of the brand and its products. SEO, short for Search Engine Optimization, is the way to do it.
SEO in Charleston can transform your business, both locally and further afield, by bringing more customers through the door in a highly cost-effective fashion. Here’s all you need to know about the whats, whys, and hows of SEO in 2020 and beyond.
What Is SEO?
As a business owner, you’ve probably heard the term and understand that it plays a big role in modern marketing. It’s defined as the process of growing organic traffic gained from web search engines, which extends to an increase in both the quality and quantity of unpaid results. It’s commonly split into two main sections:
- Local SEO in Charleston that targets traffic from the geographic region.
- Organic traffic that does not have a geographical component.
All websites (excluding those that opt out or have been penalized) are indexed by search engines. When a user makes a query, all relevant websites are ranked on the Search Engine Results Pages (SERPs). SEO processes essentially tell Google that your website should be shown in a prominent position in order to give their users the best experience.
The higher up the rankings you appear, the better your SEO strategies are working.
Why is SEO so important in modern business?
SEO is the cornerstone of digital marketing. While social media, PPC, and an array of other tools can be used to generate sales, search engines remain your greatest ally. Some of the most telling statistics include;
- Google processes over 70,000 searches per second.
- Search engines produce 3x as much online traffic as social media.
- Over 70% of consumers who do local searches will visit a store within five miles.
- Effective SEO generates conversion rates of over 14%.
- Over 90% of all online sessions start on search engines.
Search engine marketing is the quickest way to boost online visibility and gain more traffic. Moreover, the people searching for products and services are actively considering a purchase whereas those on social media and other platforms may simply have a passing interest in what your business is about.
Therefore, making it a central feature of your online marketing strategy is essential.
How to grow your business through SEO in Charleston and beyond
Over half of all digital marketers state that SEO is the #1 priority in 2020 and beyond. Therefore, if you are planning to shoot your way up the SERPs, you should be aware of the fierce competition that you’ll face. Only a dedicated strategy that covers all bases and acknowledges the latest trends will be destined for success. The ultimate goal is to ensure that the SEO processes are both user-friendly and search engine-friendly to gain increased visibility and more clicks and better lead generation.
Search engine algorithms rank websites on over 200 metrics while the algorithm itself is updated over 500 times per year. However, prioritizing the following issues will serve you well:
Links from other websites to your web pages are seen as a recommendation. Securing more links, ideally from authoritative sites that search engines already trust, will fire you up the rankings. Moreover, linking out to other websites makes your business a part of the online community, which is another plus point in the eyes of the search engine crawlers.
Search engines want to provide users with the best experiences, and they know that they will get frustrated if sites are slow to load or regularly hit by 404 error messages. Over half of all users will abandon a website that takes more than three seconds to load. So, ensuring a faster load time through steps like image compression is vital.
Search engines need to know what your website is about before showing it off to users. Keywords and phrases that relate to your products and services are, consequently, the lifeblood of Search Engine Optimization. However, they must be used in an appropriate fashion as a web page with the words “cheap clothes Charleston” typed 1,000 times will actually do more harm than good.
There are many other contributing factors, such as the value of Google reviews and client testimonials, to consider. You also need to evolve your SEO strategies to reflect user trends. For example, over half of all web browsing now occurs on mobile screens rather than desktop. Meanwhile, voice searches are growing at a rapid rate and websites should be adapted accordingly.
SEO is an easy idea to understand, but an immensely difficult concept to master. Aside from the complexities, it is a time-consuming assignment that needs regular updating and cannot simply be ticked off as ‘done’. Our agents can devise and implement a comprehensive strategy for fast and sustainable results.
Let us take care of getting users to visit your business, and you can focus on ensuring it delivers the goods and services needed to keep them coming back.