Why SERP SEO Matters.
There’s an old saying that the best place to hide a dead body is on the second page of Google search results; although it started as a joke, it becomes more important every single year as fewer people venture past the first page.
According to Chitika, an online ad network, the first result for a given keyword or phrase receives around one-third of all clicks. Meanwhile, the second gets around 18% and those further down only receive single-digit numbers…and this is still on the FIRST page. Therefore, those on the second, third, or further down the pages are extremely unlikely to enjoy any form of organic traffic.
With these statistics, you can see why search engine results page (SERP) SEO is becoming more and more important. Today, we’re going into more detail to assess why every digital marketing strategy needs to consider SEO optimization, and why local search may be the answer to growing your customer base.
Brand Exposure
As the statistics above suggest, the first reason SERP SEO is so important is because it gets your brand name in front of the people that need it. There’s a common misconception that websites are ranked, but it’s actually the individual pages. Therefore, you have an opportunity to get onto the first page of search engine results several times. With each page targeting different keywords, you can target phrases that customers use at all stages of the purchasing process. If you’ve never done SEO optimization before, there’s a sweet spot with keywords between competition and traffic. If you target the keywords with the most hits, it will be nearly impossible to get onto the first page of results. By targeting those with less traffic, they also have less competition and you can make an impact.Authenticity
With your content and SEO, it’s important to reach out to those looking for information as well as those ready to make a purchasing decision. By getting onto the first page of results with content that has the intention to inform, your brand grows in authority and reputation. Suddenly, you can become a leader in the industry and people will look to you for news and opinions. Even if you’re a fairly new company going up against giants of the industry, there’s still an opportunity to increase authenticity and improve your Google ranking.Reduce Marketing Costs
Alongside SEO optimization, your digital marketing strategy might have paid ads and various other marketing techniques. While there’s nothing wrong with paying for ads, they don’t allow for organic traffic (i.e. you pay for every single lead you generate). With SEO, being on the first page will lead to endless organic customers without paying individually. As long as you maintain your position on search engine results pages, people will come across your brand every time they type one of your focused keywords. With a certain amount of organic traffic, you won’t have to pay so much on other marketing tools, and this is a huge benefit.Show Your Expertise
Currently, we’re in a content-driven environment. Before buying a product, we research online. Before visiting a local restaurant, we research online. When comparing two laptops, we research online. With this in mind, there’s a real opportunity to position yourself as a leader in the market. As long as the content is of a high-quality, people will link back to your pages and Google will see this. Over time, your value will move the page up the search engine results pages and the whole process continues in a positive spiral. Content leads to links, this leads to a boost in rankings, which leads to links, etc.Increased Engagement
As well as getting more traffic and therefore more conversions, ranking higher in the search engines also opens the door for engagement. After reading a particularly good guide or report, your audience might feel compelled to share the content on social media. All of a sudden, the discussion has moved to Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and even forums and other locations. Not only does this increase exposure, it gets your pages external links and the whole growth process becomes organic. Assuming you have social media profiles, you can get involved in the discussions and show your expertise once again. With all this exposure, you’re showing your value and coming across as a brand that has something to offer.Local SERP SEO
Local optimization, in search engine results page optimization has increasingly become a significant factor on page ranking. As seen on the image on the header, the searcher does not even need to specify the location he is looking to find a dentist. Google determines his location based on a variety of signals, and displays local results based on those signals. Google is increasingly returning a percentage of blended (paid and organic) results for local queries in their results. What this means is that not only do you need to optimize your website for the right long-tail key words, you also need to optimize your off-page listings, reviews, social media, links, etc. to rank for local search in your particular segment. If your business sells products or services to customers located in your geographic area, particularly if you have a brick and mortar store, optimizing for local search is a must for you. Over 20% of all desktop searches are local in nature and over 50% of mobile phone queries are local. These percentages are expected to grow in the coming years and that is why Google & Bing are placing such an importance on local businesses appearing on the first page of search results.SEO Optimization
With these reasons alone, it’s easy to see why so many people are talking about SEO and why brands make a big fuss about getting onto the first page of results. Of course, we haven’t even mentioned finances and the positive ROI that SEO offers too. Thanks to the organic nature of the incoming traffic, successful campaigns are able to yield a positive return on all investment!Recent Posts
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