Top 10 Benefits of SEO for Businesses

You've heard a lot about SEO, but you're not really sure how it can help your business. Read on to learn the top 10 SEO benefits for businesses.

If you don't understand SEO benefits, you don't know what you're missing.  Search Engine Optimization (SEO)   is the most approachable form of digital marketing. In today's market, your business will fail without it.

If you have a business website, getting started is easy. Even the smallest companies can be masters in this area. Whether it's money, effort, or both, the payoff is what you put into it.

Simply put, SEO affects your rankings in online search results. If potential customers are looking for services in your area, you need to be at the top.

In fact, organic search drives  64% of traffic   to websites. This is compared to all other sources, including email and social.

SEO benefits extend beyond traffic as well. Greater traffic can result in inbound links from reputable websites. This increases rankings and prestige in your field.

Read on to learn more.

What You Need to Know About SEO

In a moment we'll review the top 10 benefits of successful SEO. First, you must understand how SEO works. There are several moving pieces for your site.

It starts with understanding your audience. What are your customers looking for? You need to include their search words naturally in your content.

Take a look at your competitors. How can you differentiate your content from theirs? You want to capture customers that are right for your business.

Soon you'll have some keywords and phrases. Your target customers are most likely to use these as search terms. You're ready to develop content for your site.

The biggest challenge for most companies is developing great content. Assign this to a passionate internal writer to get started. Many companies hire third-party services to develop their content as well.

Your architecture and sitemap play a role. How logical is your page navigation? If your website leads to dead ends, this can lower your search rankings.

Finally, link to other websites and get other websites to link to yours. This is called  link building   , and there are dozens of strategies. Don't be discouraged if this is an ongoing challenge for your team.

Top 10 SEO Benefits You Can't Ignore

Any marketing ambition you have must start with SEO. But while it's easy to begin, it's an ongoing investment.

Fortunately, the benefits greatly outweigh the costs. Here are the top 10 benefits of building a winning SEO strategy for your website.

1. Low-Cost Marketing Tool

Your greatest investment is your website itself. Now that you're online, SEO is all about intellect and elbow grease.

Since SEO is so cost-effective, the comparative ROI is huge. It's a great foundation for all future marketing efforts. Those efforts will invariably drive traffic to your outstanding website.

2. Greatly Increases Website Traffic

Great SEO will drive lots more traffic to your website.

The best SEO will drive traffic that leads to conversions. SEO benefits grow stronger when you're always optimizing your website.

3. Visibility in Your Niche

Your customers are unlike any other. With SEO, you can treat them the way they deserve.

SEO lets you choose the best elements for the right type of customers. It's your best opportunity to maximize value in your niche.

4. Great Way to Start Collecting Data

The web is not a static place. You need to leverage data to stay competitive. But data only comes from activity in your target market.

Even basic data tools can provide great insights about website traffic. When you've got a strategy in place, you can start measuring the results. Discover which elements of your site work best for you.

5. Long-Term Results

You will need to optimize your site as time goes on. But traffic to your website will soon become a well-tread path. Your visitors--and search engines--will know how people prefer to get there.

Your SEO benefits include opportunities for loyalty. Your best customers will open the door for more great customers to come.

6. Greater Credibility and Prestige

The higher your ranking, the more legitimate your appearance in the eyes of your audience. And given Google's algorithms, that perception will be accurate.

Despite its name, SEO isn't just about search. Your great content may be linked on third-party sites as well. If these are prominent news or thought leadership sites, it increases your prestige.

7. Better Usability

Part of your SEO efforts will involve improving site architecture. Your architecture's SEO benefits include better rankings. They also allow you to improve the usability of your site.

Generally, search engines like websites that provide the best experience for users. They like websites that are most relevant to users as well. Your approach to SEO can be very natural in this way.

8. Greater Brand Awareness

Traffic is great, and conversions are better. But awareness itself is good as well. The higher your search rankings, the more impressions you receive.

Impressions don't always result in immediate business. But SEO benefits go beyond immediately driving revenue. Members of your audience who can remember your brand drive future purchasing decisions.

Consider how costly advertising can be. SEO is its own opportunity for visibility in your audience. Brand awareness is just another reason to leverage great SEO.

9. Platform for Inbound Marketing

Inbound marketing has proven results across industries. In short, it's about helping customers naturally arrive at a purchase.

In the future, you may be offering free value to drive customers to buy. That inbound strategy can start with search engines. Visitors who arrive at your site naturally are objective in considering a purchase.

10. Become the Subject of Your Audience's Research

The vast majority of consumers research online before they shop. This includes in-store purchases and online purchases. Your company should be their first destination.

What kind of information are you providing when they arrive? Consumers want helpful content more than marketing. This is also an element of inbound strategy.

Ultimately, good SEO is about natural selection. Search engines want to find the right solutions for searchers. Your goal in all things is to be the right solution for your audience.

The Best Branding and Marketing Solutions for SMBs

 Flowerpot Marketing   provides the care you want with the power to deliver. Whether you're building your first website or developing a marketing strategy, we're here to help.

 Contact us now   and let's talk about your project. We'll provide a free consultation to help you begin.