This is a follow-up from our previous article:
"Why You Should Spend More Time Thinking About Search Engine Optimisation"

Times have changed and the online landscape is very different to even a couple of years ago.  The rise of social media marketing, the millions of websites competing for a spot on page 1 of Google's organic search results and the increasing number of "paid" results taking up space on page one have lead some business owners wondering if it's  necessary or even possible to have a website properly optimised for search.

Hold on though - 40,000 search queries every second?

Over 90% of visitors to a website have been referred by a search engine. Given the sheer volume of search queries it is only logical that some of these are going to be relevant to your business.

Now consider that even a small percentage of these searches find your business online for a commercially focused search and that all these clicks are free...

Also consider that, as mentioned in the previous article, that a properly optimised website will reduce your cost per click if your running Google Ads and make your pay per click budget go further. Yes that's correct - the quality score of your Ad campaigns is negatively impacted by a poorly optimised website.

So yes - SEO remains an essential part of any marketing strategy today will continue so for some time to come providing it combines a strategy that covers a multifaceted approach.

You sill need an SEO strategy that not only outlines your basic plan of attack, but lays out the goals you’re trying to achieve and profiles the audience you’re trying to reach.
​

Creating a solid SEO strategy means employing a thoughtful, multifaceted approach that covers numerous aspects of web promotion.

You need an SEO strategy that not only outlines your basic plan of attack, but lays out the goals you’re trying to achieve, profiles the audience you’re trying to reach, and digs into the competitive landscape in which you’re trying to win.

​Search engine optimisation (SEO) is an essential part of any marketing strategy. It's a proven way of improving how and where your website links get shown in search engines like Google. If your website is not optimised for organic search it's unlikely to receive many visitors.

You can think of SEO as buying your house as opposed to PPC which is more akin to renting. SEO and Paid Search (AdWords etc) work well together but when you stop your paid Ads, traffic to your website ceases. An optimised site will continue to attract relevant visitors and these clicks are free.  For those reasons, it makes sense to start seriously thinking about SEO. Still not convinced? The following will get you to change your mind:

SEO helps you get quality traffic to your site and reduces your cost per click if using paid search

Did you know that your website should still be optimised even when using pay per click? A properly optimised website will reduce your cost per click and improve the quality score of your campaigns.

SEO helps you to save money on your marketing budget

Some organisations spend a tonne of cash on advertising their brands online — part of those ad strategies usually involve pay-per-click marketing. SEO helps you improve your organic ranking in search engine results pages and organic search results found on the first page receive more attention from visitors than paid results. The click through rates are higher.

If your website is not visible anywhere in the results pages of Google than you can be sure your competitors are getting the traffic. 

Even the most niche of markets face hefty competition online. A properly optimised website will ensure that you receive a proportion of the traffic searching for your goods or services.

Your target audience will trust what you have to say

Even if you're not selling anything as such, reaching out to an audience is hard. A proven way to achieve your goals is by instilling trust with those people. People trust Google to give them the right answers to their questions therefore a website returned at the top of Google's search results will confer credibility on your brand.

Results are measurable with SEO

It's easy to measure conversions and their sources using the right SEO tools. You can find out which keywords are the most valuable to your business and the searches that are driving visitors to your site, where those visitors are located and more. These insights are invaluable to your offline marketing activities.

So if your website is not properly optimised for search you're missing out and should definitely consider SEO as part of your marketing strategy.

From its earliest days, Google's core search algorithm offered the most relevant and most organic search results quickly and accurately on a simple site with an iconic logo that has now become synonymous with the search giant's business. Searching amidst the world's vast data, Google cleverly cataloged and categorized pages using its PageRank formula, which assessed the quantity and power of links to any given webpage. For a few years, Google's search worked seamlessly, repeatedly predicting the most relevant search results every single time, again and again. In fact, it was so good that it sent shockwaves through the internet, digitally obliterating its rivals over time. However, as Google's clever search engine grew into a colossus corporation, and both individuals and businesses realized the inherent power of appearing organically at the top of any search, things began to change.

​The changes occurred at the behest of some unscrupulous characters who were hell-bent on gaming the system. With so much money at stake, do you really blame them? Once they learned the majority of the rules, they began poking and prodding Google's innards by building massive link farms and content farms, spinning low-quality articles, and auto-generating links in an effort to outgun other listings and secure the top spots on Google's lucrative Search Engine Results Pages (SERPs).

As a result, Google introduced several now-infamous adjustments to its algorithm that went by the names of Panda, Penguin and Hummingbird, just to name a few. As the less-than-savory characters began dominating Google's search by supposedly gaming the system, Google had to act or risk losing its relevancy. These algorithm adjustments were intended to both weed out the spoofs and scammers, while also fine-tuning its semantic search.

Local SEO has grown significantly over the last few years, particularly given the rise of smartphone usage and better connectivity while out and about. Although it has a lot of similarities with organic SEO, it’s ultimately very different. Local SEO is focused on providing results that are relevant to a searcher based on their current location.

​Local SEO uses a variety of strategies — getting your site ranked on search engines like Google, business directories such as Yelp, Superpages, Foursquare, Yellowbook, Google My Business listing, Bing Places for Business page, localized content on your website, online reviews and other strategies.

Millions of customers use local search every day to find the best local businesses in their area. You can help increase your chances of getting found by these potential customers through Local SEO.