Did you know 53% of all website traffic comes from organic search?
For some people, a stat like that is enough to convince them that SEO is worth their time.
However, you may not be convinced, and that’s perfectly reasonable. After all, people might throw around lots of stats like that, but is SEO really all it’s cracked up to be?
In this article, we’re going to have a good look at why SEO is important. And why you should invest in and improve your website’s SEO. Whether you’re in an ‘old’ industry, a new one, or an obscure one, there’s a good chance these ‘reasons’ apply to you.
Once you’ve finished this article you’ll be an SEO convert. And you might just be ready to write an apology letter to all of the SEO people you’ve ignored in the past!
Reason #1 — It brings in targeted traffic
No matter what you want to sell online, you’re going to need traffic. After all, you might have the best product/service in the world. But if nobody actually sees it, you’re not going to get very far.
This kind of thinking actually applies to brick and mortar businesses too, right?
You might have an amazing store, but if it’s in the middle of nowhere, you might not do that well. However, if you have a storefront on the busiest street in your city/town, it’s going to be a lot easier to get people into your store.
Now, at this point you’re probably thinking — “okay, so how can I get lots of people to visit my site?”.
This is a perfectly reasonable thing to think about, but it’s generally the wrong way to go about things.
That’s because, when it comes to driving traffic, the main name of the game is driving targeted traffic. So, the more targeted visitors you can drive to your site, the more revenue you will likely generate.
After all, if you’re selling a fishing rod, there’s no point in driving 1,000 visitors to your site that have no interest at all in fishing. I mean sure, one of these people might just buy a fishing rod from you just for the hell of it. But you can’t really rely on this kind of approach!
Well, one of the amazing things about SEO is that it can actually help you drive targeted traffic.
In fact, when compared to other traffic sources. SEO traffic is right up there when it comes to driving targeted traffic that’ll convert into sales. So much so, that one survey found 70% of people said that SEO is better than PPC at driving sales
One of the main reasons for this is that SEO gives you the ability to reach people when they’re just about ready to buy a product/service from someone in your niche.
After all, people who are actively looking to buy something will use certain kinds of keywords when they’re searching Google.
For instance, if we take the fishing example from earlier, a person that’s interested in buying a fishing rod might type in something like ‘buy fishing rod’ or ‘best fishing rod 2021.’
If you know how to identify, and then rank for these keywords (which is something we can help you with). You’ll be putting yourself right in front of these people. Assuming you have justifiable prices and a decent-looking site, you should end up converting a lot of these people into actual customers/leads.
Reason #2 — The traffic doesn’t cost that much
Another great thing about SEO is that it can actually be one of the most cost-effective ways to drive traffic to your site.
This is especially the case when you consider how much SEO might cost when compared to paid traffic.
For instance, let’s suppose that the best AdWords PPC keyword in your niche costs around $10 per click.
If you’re going to create a campaign around this keyword, you’ll have to pay $10 each time someone clicks on your ad. What’s more, there’s no guarantee that any of these people are actually going to buy something from you once they click on your ad.
If you invest in SEO, and you do a really good job. You should be able to rank on the first page and maybe even in the top three listings.
When someone clicks on your link in the search listings, you won’t have to pay any money. Even though your website is being shown on the same page that people are paying $10 per click to advertise on.
It’s because of this that SEO is often considered to be a really cost-effective source of traffic.
Plus, it’s also worth noting that one study found that 70-80% of people actually ignore paid ads. Therefore, even if you do focus on paid ads, you might still underperform when compared to someone that’s focusing on SEO.
Reason #3 — Diversify your traffic
One of the most dangerous things you can do when it comes to online marketing is relying on a single source of traffic.
To help explain why this is the case, let’s take the brick-and-mortar example from earlier…
Imagine you have a storefront on a really busy street. Sounds amazing, right? Lots of people will see your store, and so lots of people will be visiting your store and buying from you.
However, what if one day, the landlord or local authorities decide they don’t want your store to be there anymore.
Suddenly your store comes to a halt, and your business no longer has visitors and you can no longer generate any transactions.
Your business has essentially no longer has any visibility, and to a certain extent, people don’t even know it exists anymore.
So, how would you protect your brick-and-mortar business from a situation like this?
Well, one way you might protect yourself from this is by having lots of storefronts all around the world.
Now, sure, these storefronts might not all perform equally and some might do better than others. But that doesn’t matter too much because the important thing is that if one storefront closes down, you’re not going to be in trouble.
Having multiple traffic sources is a lot like having storefronts open on multiple streets.
If one traffic source stops working, your business will still be visible in other parts of the internet. And you’ll still be able to make money.
There are countless stories of people that have seen their business fall off a cliff overnight. And this is just because the traffic source they were relying on, decided to change the rules of the game.
If you’re worried about this happening to you, SEO can be a good way to diversify your traffic sources. After all, if you’re generating traffic from both PPC and SEO, your business will still have a decent online presence if PPC is no longer viable.
Of course, there are stories of SEO algorithms hitting people badly too. But, again, the main point here is that you need to make sure you diversify your traffic sources.
SEO is just one way you can do that. There are many other traffic sources you can focus on too. But considering all of the benefits that come with SEO, it’s the best traffic source to focus on, if you’re not already using it as your main source of traffic.
Reason #4 — Improve credibility
Finally, you should focus on SEO. Because it’s a great way to improve the credibility and authority you have within your niche.
If someone needs help with something that is associated with your niche. They will likely turn to Google to learn more.
For instance, suppose someone wants to get into fishing, and they need to buy fishing gear. In a situation like this, they might use Google to find out exactly what they will need. This makes sense when you consider that 53% of people use search engines to do product research.
If your website pops up when people are searching for this advice, your business will seem more credible and authoritative. Following this, people might feel better about buying from you, when they’re ready to actually make a purchase.
The Bottom Line
So, we’ve covered four major reasons here that highlight why you should focus on SEO.
If you need a little more convincing, you may want to check out some of the case studies and results we’ve delivered for our clients.
And if you are convinced, and you want to learn more about how you should approach SEO, or even what a good SEO strategy might look like in your niche, consider reaching out.
No matter what niche you’re in, we will be able to help you figure out how SEO can help you grow your business. Besides reading the best digital marketing books you can also book a free strategy session here.
