Importance of SEO in the current digital world

SEO Definition

SEO is an abbreviation for "search engine optimization." In plain terms, it describes the process of improving the website so that it appears more noticeably when users look for products or services related to the company on Google, Bing, and other search engines. The greater the accessibility of the company pages in search engine results, the more likely users are to grab interest and attract new and existing customers to the company.

Because search is one of the primary ways that users navigate the web, search engine optimization is an important component of online marketing. Search results have been presented in an ordered set, and the greater a site ranks on that list, the more traffic it receives. For example, for a typical search term, the first result will receive 40-60% of traffic volume for just that query, while the second and third findings will receive substantially less traffic. Only about 3% of searchers go beyond the first page of results. As a consequence, even minor improvements in search engine rankings can result in increased traffic and potential business for a website.

Why is SEO important?

To understand the value of SEO, let's break our definition into three parts:

• Organic search results: Unpaid listings on a search engine results page (SERP) ascertained by the search query to be the most meaningful to the user's query. Ads (in this context, PPC or pay-per-click ads) make up a significant portion of many SERPs. Organic search results differ from these ads in that they are positioned based on the organic ranking algorithms of the search engine rather than advertiser bids. It is not possible to pay for your page to appear higher in organic search results.
• Organic traffic quality: How appropriate the customer and their browse lookup is to the website pages. You can attract all the visitors in the world. Only visitors who are sincerely interested in the products, info, or other resources your site provides constitute lots of traffic. High-quality SEO takes advantage of a search engine's effort to match a user's search intent to the websites listed in the SERP.
• Quantity of organic traffic: the number of visitors who arrive at your site through organic search results Users is far more likely to click on search results that appear near the top of the SERP, so use your SEO strategy to rank relevant pages as high as possible. The more high-quality visitors you bring to your site, the more likely it is that you will see an increase in valuable conversions.

How SEO works?

Google, for example, uses algorithms or a system of rules to ascertain which pages to display for any given query. To determine the rankings of their SERPs, these algorithms have evolved to be extremely complex, taking into account hundreds or even thousands of different ranking factors. However, there are three key metrics that search engines use to determine a site's quality and where it should rank:

• Links - Links from other websites play an important role in deciding a site's ranking in Google and other search engines. The reason for this is that a link from another website can be interpreted as a vote of quality, as site owners are unlikely to link to low-quality sites. Webpages that obtain links from a significant number of other sites gain authority in the eyes of search engines (referred to as "PageRank" in Google), particularly if the sites linking to them are authoritative themselves.

• Content - In addition to links, search engines look at the content of a webpage to see if it is relevant to a given search query. A large part of SEO is creating content that is targeted toward the keywords that search engine users are looking for.

• The third and most important aspect of SEO is page structure. Because webpages are written in HTML, the organisation of the HTML code can affect a search engine's ability to measure a page. Webmasters can improve their site's SEO by including related searches in the page's title, URL, and headers, as well as ensuring that the site is crawlable.

The search engine optimization process entails optimising each of these core elements of search engine methods to rank higher in search results.

Why is SEO important for marketing?

SEO is a vital component of digital marketing even though people perform trillions of searches each year, often with the advertising intent of finding information about the products. Search is frequently the main source of digital traffic for products, complementing other promotional tools. Greater visibility and ranking higher in the search engines than your competition can have a significant impact on the bottom line.

However, search terms have evolved in recent years to provide users with much more straight answers and details which is more likely to keep users on the outcomes page rather than driving them to other websites.

Also, features such as rich results and Knowledge Panels in search results can boost visibility and provide users with more information about your company directly in the results.

To summarise, SEO is the bedrock of a well-rounded marketing ecosystem. When you know what your website visitors want, you can apply that knowledge to your campaigns (paid and organic), website, social media properties, and more.

Core elements of SEO are the below things

1. On-page SEO - On-page SEO is the practice of optimizing web pages for specific keywords to improve search visibility and traffic. It involves aligning page-specific elements like title tags, headings, content, and internal links with keywords.

Some SEOs mix up on-page SEO and technical SEO. However, it’s preferable to keep them separate. Technical SEO addresses issues such as page speed and site speed, duplicate content, site structure, schema, and indexing. In other words, technical optimization is concerned with your entire website, whereas on-page optimization is concerned with specific URLs. URLs aid in on-page SEO - Google has clearly stated that URLs assist them in better understanding what a page is about. One can optimize the URL by including the following -

• Include a keyword: Including your primary keyword in your URL helps both search engines and users understand the content of a page.
• Focus left: Place the keyword as far to the left in the URL as possible.
• Use real words: As much as possible, use real words in URL instead of the indecipherable gobbledegook that some content management systems pump out.
• Keep them short and sweet: Ideally, the URL structure should be short and easy for both search engines and users to understand. The easier it is for Google to understand the type of content on the page, the better. 
• Use hyphens between words: Hyphens make URLs more readable.
• Avoid session IDs: When possible, avoid the inclusion of session IDs in your URLs, as they produce an avalanche of URLs for the same page.

      2. Off-Page SEO - 

"Off-page SEO" (also called "off-site SEO") refers to actions taken outside of the website to impact the rankings within search engine results pages (SERPs). Along with on-page SEO, these include several of the factors of basic SEO that help a site to rank.

Optimizing for off-site ranking factors involves improving search engine and user perception of a site's popularity, relevance, trustworthiness, and authority. This is accomplished by other reputable places on the Internet (pages, sites, people, etc.) linking to or promoting the website, and effectively "vouching" for the quality of the content. Now anyone can ask why does off-page SEO matter?

It is because while search algorithms and ranking factors are constantly changing, the consensus within the SEO community is that the relevance, trustworthiness, and authority that effective off-page SEO affords a website still play a major role in a page's ability to rank.

While we don't know the full algorithm Google uses to rank content, data from our Search Engine Ranking Factors study show that off-site SEO-related factors likely carry more than 50% of the ranking factor weight.

Reasons Why SEO Can Help Your Business Survive The Age of Covid-19

With the COVID-19 pandemic raging in many countries around the world, it's not uncommon to see businesses scrambling to stay afloat by slashing spending. With the challenges posed by the pandemic, it is critical to understand not only where to cut the fat, but also which strategies can generate growth amid the crisis. Search engine optimization (SEO) provides unique advantages that can weather economic downturns for businesses looking to gain a competitive advantage in this situation.

Here are a few reasons why you should invest in SEO in the age of COVID-19.

1. SEO Offers Long-Term Gains

While paid advertisement strategies such as Pay-Per-Click schemes may provide an initial boost, SEO works by establishing your website’s authority in your given field. This means that as long as you work with a credible website development company and publish credible content that addresses people’s needs, your website’s ranking will more or less remain rooted.

For example, a piece of content that has proven effective in driving traffic and establishing your credibility will earn you clicks, traffic, and even revenue for years to come. With the pandemic forcing millions of people around the world to stay at home and use the internet for everything from groceries to paying utility bills, there’s never been a more opportune time to invest in SEO.

      2. SEO Does Not Need To Be Tied To A Single Location or Time

Unless your business prefers to—or can only operate in a single country or state—then SEO can earn you revenue from basically anywhere around the world. This is unlike traditional forms of advertising such as TV or print ad campaigns, which are quickly becoming impractical due to their costs and limitations in reaching people. Instead of having to worry about whether enough eyeballs will be seeing your ads in a given location or timeslot, with SEO, you can focus on trying to truly bring solutions that work.

    3. SEO Allows You To Reach The People Who Are Already Interested

The beauty of SEO is that you are trying to appeal to people who are already interested in the products and services that you already offer. This means that instead of spending valuable resources on inexpensive and traditional methods merely hoping for the best, you are going to reach more of the right people, for less budget. But how do you achieve this with SEO?

SEO achieves this by prioritizing organic search, which works for you just by simply existing online! Because you don’t pay for the content to be displayed, you are not subject to the limits of time restrictions or location-based costs. Instead, the more useful content that you post, the better chances of search engines—and by extension, potential clients—finding you and recognizing your authority.

    4. Social media marketing is not enough

Yes, channels like Facebook and Instagram are hot. You'll find plenty of marketing experts recommending them. And sure, they can play a vital role in your overall marketing efforts. But in reality, social media marketing is never enough to market your business.

That 50% number quoted above? The same study found that social media only accounts for 5% of traffic generation. In addition, even the best presence on your (or your audience's) favourite networks will have no direct impact on your search rankings.

Social media is great for brand awareness. It might be even better for customer service interactions. It does not, however, lead to traffic to your website that drives actual leads and customers.

Google only includes quantifiable data in its search algorithms and because it doesn't have access to social media metrics, it disconnects social from search rankings. If you want to rank highly, you need an SEO strategy.

   5. Slow and steady can win the race

Closely related to the above notion is the idea that SEO is not effective because it cannot achieve results quickly. That's true. It takes the average business 4-6 months to see a tangible increase in web traffic as a result of search optimization. The important thing to remember is that this slow and steady approach is a good thing.

When you're embracing SEO, you're playing the long game. The reason it's such a good long-term investment is that even though it takes some time to build, that build will pay off multifold. If you are looking for immediate results, don't abandon SEO—instead, look into some paid SEM ads that can complement your long-term efforts to rank on relevant keywords.

   6. You can still beat your competition

Looking at relevant keywords for your business and industry can be depressing, especially if your competitors are already ranking highly and you are nowhere to be found. That doesn't mean you shouldn't begin. It is impossible to beat your competitors and climb to the top of the rankings if you do not begin somewhere. Remember that you miss 100% of the shots you don't take.

In a different light, your competitor's head start might not be such a bad thing. It enables you to detect flaws in your competitors' defences. They're not doing everything they can, and once they've climbed to the top of a relevant search results page, they tend to become complacent. The time has come to strike.

Conclusion

While SEO may not bring you significant changes overnight, it helps your business grow a competitive edge by helping you nurture leads and establish your authority with one piece of content at a time. Provided that your website ticks all the right boxes, incremental improvements in your search engine results will compound over time, allowing you to remain relevant, despite this ongoing pandemic.