SEO — otherwise known as Search Engine Optimization — is one of the most powerful ways a business can accelerate their growth, but many business owners don’t recognize the importance of it or even know what it is.

First, let’s make sure we’re crystal clear on what SEO is: SEO is the art of tailoring your website and digital marketing practices to ensure that you rank highly on search engines. If your SEO experts are good at what they do, your business will rank highly when someone searches for products and services related to your business, in your area or even nationally.

A crucial distinction is that SEO is not paid advertising on search engines — to rank highly in paid advertising is search engine marketing (SEM). Search engine optimization places you within the high rankings of the free listings, otherwise known as organic or natural search results.

With this in mind, it’s pretty easy to understand how SEO benefits your business. Every day, millions of people turn to Google and other search engines to find services and products in their area.

A study from 2014 suggested that somewhere between 47 and 64% of all web traffic comes from search engines– meaning it’s likely that over half the visitors find your site through a search engine.

Through SEO, businesses are able to competitively rank on search engines, placing higher than similar companies when someone searches for their particular products or services. Unless someone is really dedicated or having a hard time finding what they’re looking for, most people don’t even look past the first page of results when they search for something. As such, placing within that first page is highly competitive. SEO enables a business to increase their visibility, brand awareness, and makes it more convenient for customers to find them.

Let’s say you own a company that sells pizza– think about your storefront. First and foremost, you want your storefront in an area that gets a lot of traffic. You want your store to be in an area that gets as most traffic as possible, where people will see your store, know you’re in business and be tempted to stop in. Now imagine if you could put your store somewhere where you know passersby will be hungry, or better yet, hungry for pizza. The traffic to and by your store will greatly influence your sales. This idea illustrates the beauty of SEO– that SEO allows you to not only boost traffic to your site, but to boost traffic that is highly relevant and very likely to translate into leads and increased sales.

SEO isn’t going to perform miracles for your business. It’s still only one aspect of advertising. That said, it is a tried-and-tested method for accelerating growth that is one of the most relevant aspects of marketing in 2016. If you’re neglecting SEO, you’re harming the growth of your business.

 

PGN Agency has an extensive track record of bringing our clients returns on their marketing and advertising campaigns. If you would like to learn how PGN can come up with creative marketing solutions to drive YOUR business’s growth, feel free to contact us directly at 248-414-6860. One of our friendly team members will help assess your needs, and put together a game plan for success!