SEO has become a major buzz term in the digital marketing world for years, but it’s not just for digital professionals anymore. In fact, everyone who wants to be found on the internet needs to know about these three magical letters and why they’re so important for business.
According to the latest Telstra Small Business Intelligence Report, 71 per cent of consumers say their purchase behaviors are most driven by online search, and yet, up to 64 per cent of sole traders continue to operate without a website.
Want to learn more about SEO and how it could help give your business a lift? Read on for answers to business owners’ biggest questions.
What is SEO?
SEO, an acronym for “search engine optimisation”, is an organic method of increasing your website traffic. It’s also a science and an art, requiring a combination of extensive research and technical skills. The main goal of search engine optimisation is to get your website or blog in front of people who are searching for certain terms so that you can convert them into customers or clients.
SEO for search engines also encompasses many different marketing activities, including keyword research, link building, on page optimisation, content strategy, off page optimisation, competitor analysis, and improving your customers’ experience. And, because it relies on search engine algorithms, the goalposts are constantly moving. The one constant in the industry is that quality content is constantly becoming more valuable as search engines get smarter and more discerning.
Does SEO still work?
The short answer is yes – as long as you’re willing to invest time or money to get it done right. This method of marketing won’t require any ad spend, but because there is so much competition, many business owners choose to outsource their efforts to a dedicated SEO agency – one with the knowledge and experience to answer all the biggest questions for SEO providers.
What are the benefits of SEO?
It’s true: once you have your SEO strategy working for you, the incoming leads you get in return will pay dividends. In fact, companies with a blog (a hotspot for keywords) have 4.34 times as many indexed pages as companies without a blog. When you consider the fact that SEO leads are eight times more likely to become customers, working on your SEO or hiring a SEO company will seem like a no-brainer. If your business sells or services a local area, then it becomes critical that your customers, current and future find you and not your competitors; for that you need to do local SEO and engage a company that specialises in local SEO services.
How do I do SEO for my website?
Doing SEO for your own website can be as simple or as complicated as you like, and it will probably boil down to the competition in your market and for your keywords.
Here’s a bite-sized how-to:
Get your free SEO Audit
The first step is to identify the issues that may be affecting your website. To identify the issues, you will first need to conduct a SEO audit. Based on the results of the audit, you can choose to fix them.
Choose the keywords you want to rank for
There are plenty of keyword research tools you can use, but before you start, you should try brainstorming the terms your ideal customer searches for when they want to find a business like yours and consider search intent.
Conduct competitor research
Find out who is currently ranking for the keywords you want, and use backlinks search tool to find out where they got their links for each term.
Create content
If you can create higher-quality content than your competitors (and it’s always possible), you’ll have a good chance of getting your work published on the same sites – and/or more reputable sites looking for similar content.
What does SEO cost?
Assuming that you plan to follow SEO best practices (which you should), you won’t need to pay anything for the links you create – but that doesn’t mean SEO is free. Most of the money spent on SEO services goes towards paying agencies to do it for you, and depending on the size of your business, it could cost anywhere from $750 to $2000 per month or more.
Forget DIY – trust your business with the SEO pros
So, why shouldn’t you just do SEO yourself? Technically speaking, there’s no reason why the DIY approach can’t work, but therein lies the main reason why most companies choose to delegate this job: success takes work, and a lot of it. When you pay a company to plan, create and execute a SEO strategy for you, you’re really paying for a long-term approach that builds real authority online.
Looking for a SEO team with proven results to help your business rank on search engines organically? Get in touch with UR Digital – SEO Agency Sydney.
About UR Digital:
UR Digital is a full-service SEO agency based in Sydney with over 10 years of experience delivering rankings for their customers on search engines. We are on a mission to fundamentally change the way businesses think about SEO and to prove that it is possible to rank on Google. To claim your free SEO audit + book in your free 30 minutes discovery call (worth over $499), visit https://www.urdigital.com.au.
