Why is SEO important?

Many early-stage marketers struggle with SEO – relegating it right up to the ranks of marketing voodoo – but hey, it is not that difficult as you might have seen in my previous posts.

So why is SEO important?

As per an article on Moz, over the years, search engines have evolved and mature, they still can't see and comprehend a web page the way we do. Search engine optimization does that – by helping these search engines understand what these web pages are about.

In case you are researching about any product to help you make your purchase decision, the higher a page is on search results, the better its perceived status, meaning more traffic, more potential for conversion and hence more revenue.

The number 1 reason why SEO is important is because of your customers.

The consumer decision making cycle is rapidly evolving – and we as marketers have to keep up. As per data compiled by minewhat.com published on Adweek, 81% of shoppers conduct online research before they make a purchase. 60% begin by using a search engine to find the products they want, and 61% will read product reviews before making any purchase. You can find this interesting infographic by clicking on the link in the description box below. Irrespective of the research design and the sample size, this behaviour is increasingly becoming the norm. And you have to ensure that your customers find you first.

You want to be where your customers are, and if your customers are online, SEO is your best friend.

#2: SEO also helps you improve your website discoverability.

There are hundreds of memes around how being on the second page of Google, is like a death sentence, and yes, sometimes it is.

Consumers rank brands on basis of perceived credibility. Search engines are ubiquitous and users trust search engines, and achieving a top spot in search engine rankings signals to searchers that your site is a credible source. SEO done correctly, can help you achieve psychological salience in the minds of the potential customers.

#3: SEO is consistently a major driver of growth and customer acquisition. Both on page and off page optimization implemented correctly can yield major gains in lead generation and customer acquisition and power the growth engine of your campaign.

There are countless other reasons to use SEO as well, such as it optimizes your marketing spends from those mediums that do not yield a legitimate RoI, amongst many other reasons. But I find customers, discoverability and credibility are few of the most important reasons why should intelligently integrate SEO intoyour marketing mix.

That's all for now folks - more on on-page optimization in my next post.